Frost Bake Shoppe

"The Little Shop that Could..on TV...sort of"

Store Presentation: Probably the anticipated place that I have been this year was to Frost Bake Shop. When you go into the store the very first thing that you notice is the tall glass that houses all of the offerings that Frost Bake Shoppe gives. I have to say the store does a good job in using not that much a storefront. Instead they fully put your eyes in front of their delectable treats that they have concocted for that day.

Web Presence: No Twitter, which is critical in getting yourself out there and known. However they do maintain and use their Facebook page quite well. I haven't seen them make special deals to their people that like their page, however they do display current treats and tell you how long that they will be in the store. I did hear that they were running a groupon/living social deal the other day.

What set them apart: The whole cupcake trend honestly came by for me by watching "Cupcake Wars" on the Food Network. The day that we visited this store was literally a day after they had appeared on the show competing. While I don't have cable anymore and haven't been able to secure video yet, I found that they made it through the first round by were knocked out during the second round. It still was pretty cool that they were on the show. 

Now regarding their cupcakes. I was honestly impressed by their selection. They are constantly offering cupcakes that aren't over the top but are combinations of popular cupcakes.

Variety: I think variety is one of The Frost Bake Shoppe's strengths. They have a wide variety (See pic below). The offer the standard staples, but have gone above and beyond in my opinion in offering a great set for multiple palettes.


Frosting: Not over-powering. That's the best I can describe it, and not because it was bad but because it wasn't exactly memorable, and that's not a bad thing.  A great icing in my opinion either needs to be a homerun in taste or something that you like, but are able to forget. If I remember your frosting because it either wasn't a true frosting or because it was terrible then that's not a good thing.

Cake: A solid cake, the taste from the cake coinciding with the taste of the frosting is always a great hit. Frost Bake Shoppe does this with panache.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: I remember having the strawberry and being rather impressed by the consistency in the cupcake to the taste. The frosting didn't run over my mouth and make me lose track of the cake which is always a plus.

Number of Cupcakes: Corrie and I decided to get a full dozen because we were going to meet some friends in Conroe. I really enjoyed getting to get the smorgasbord of cupcakes. I remember trying the Strawberry, Chocolate Vanilla, and their Banana offerings.

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Sugarbaby's Cupcakes

"Boutiquing Cupcakes Not Needed"

Store Presentation: The store is by far the worst thing about the cupcake company (this won't be a positive review, you've been forewarned). I have never felt like I was in a boutique before. Everything was overdone. I felt like I was in a spoiled brats bedroom who just happened to sell cupcakes. The one positive about their space is that they have significant room to sit down and eat which is very uncommon with other cupcake places.

Web Presence: First off, they do have an iPhone app, which apart from Sprinkles is the only other cupcake store that I have found that has an app.

What set them apart: The Gotti-ness. Seriously, I realize that cupcakes will bring an upper echelon of life type of crowd, but it was over done. I really probably didn't wrap my head around the cupcakes enough because I couldn't get over the aesthetic experience.

Variety: There is a great variety of cupcakes, which is a plus comparatively. I did see when I was there that they had a Butter Beer version in celebration of the Harry Potter movie release. I do have to give props to the Sugarbaby's for that they seem to experiment from time to time.


Frosting: I'm not going to buy several times before I review, so let me say my one experience is my view in my review. The frosting didn't hold. Sugarbaby's is pretty explicit in telling you that you don't need to refrigerate the cupcakes and to keep them at room temperature. However when I got home I didn't immediately eat ours.  A few hours later, my frosting had fell off the cupcake partially. This was not something that I expected. We had taken it from the store to AC'd car to AC'd house. We didn't spend alot of time in direct sunlight either.

Cake: The cake didn't taste bad, it seemed like it was original to each type of cupcake.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: The naming of the cupcakes to try to create their own spin, while unique provided it hard to get me litmus test done at this cupcakery. I got a Velvet Rouge which I guess is their Red Velvet. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't a homerun like I feel all cupcake places should be.

Number of Cupcakes: Corrie got 2 and I got 2 as well. I had the Velvet Rouge and the 24 Carrot Cake. The carrot cake was memorable, but once again, not a homerun.

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The Sweet Boutique

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Celebrity Cupcakes

"Mini-Store, Mini-Cupcakes"

Store Presentation: Rice students are fat. Well they should be. This little store is within an arms throw of Rice Village. I particularly liked going into this store because of the visual appeal of it. For instance the doors, which you can see in the picture below are those huge doors that require a little bit of push. When you walk into Celebrity Cupcakes there isn't much room to get around anywhere as the counter where the cupcakes are is 8' from the front door. However the room allows for you too kind of peek into the process that owners go through in creating these great little cupcakes


Web Presence: Celebrity has a rather normal approach to their presence on the internet. They maintain a website that is informative of what days that they are serving what cupcakes. They have information available on celebrations, but they have yet to complete that page. They maintain the normal Facebook/Twitter social media strategy that most cupcake places do, however they don't do like Sprinkles ans others do and give promotional opportunities daily, weekly, or at all. It seems as if they only use it broadcast what they have made that day.

What set them apart: Mini-Cupcakes. Seriously. This was the one thing that made me go gaga over this place (yes I used the word gaga). I normally have a 2 cupcake rule when I go to any cupcake store, but alas when I stepped into this store and saw that they make mini versions of every cupcake that they are serving that day, I had to try out the minis. I got 4 mini cupcakes, making sure to try my strawberry and red velvet as a litmus test and then I branched out. I figured 2 minis were the same caloric intake as 1 regular cupcake, right?

Variety: 9-10 cupcakes served daily with a few daily staples mixed in. The variety is not over the top to the point that you can start to get their menu down, but it is a good proportional offering in my opinion.


Frosting: I didn't feel like the frosting was too sweet. I did feel like however they didn't throw in flavoring as an after thought. It seemed like every frosting that I tried had its own unique taste and texture.

Cake: Average, nothing to hit home about, but not dry really. I enjoyed these cupcakes, but they still didn't have the wow factor that Sprinkles does in my mind.

Strawberry/Red Velvet: I do remember the frosting for the Strawberry being on point. It wasn't too tart or sugary. The Red Velvet cake was very memorable. In fact, I believe it was Celebrity that made me decide to open up this little blog because I realized that I was getting Strawberry or Red Velvet on a consistent basis.

Number of Cupcakes: I believe that day because we tried the mini's we got a total of 8 mini's, with Corrie and I each getting 4. I couldn't tell you all the flavors however. I apologize.

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