3x3

Three cupcake locales in three days!

1. Lauren and I visited Crumbs located near Metro Center on Friday. Known for their large cupcakes-many of which contain some sort of icing filling-Crumbs is relatively new to DC. Renee raved about the cupcakes last summer before they had yet to arrive, so I was eager to try them this summer. I ordered a Cookie Dough flavor and Lauren chose the Blackbottom Cheesecake. The cupcakes were tasty. We both used forks to eat the cupcakes, a tactic which I am not particularly fond of with the smaller breed, but these cupcakes seemed to require it. We especially loved their size and selection, but the composition was nothing too breathtaking.

2. On Saturday, Lauren and I sampled two new locales. First up was Alexandria Cupcake in Alexandria, VA. The store was the most gourmet of the bunch, featuring a small selection of delicate flavors like Rosewater (my choice) and Lemon (Lauren's). The price and size of the cupcakes were comparable to the other's we'd visited, but the atmosphere seems that of a small bakery.

3. The second shop that day was a lesser known store also in Old Town Alexandria called Lavender Moon Cupcake. The shop was much larger than Alexandria Cupcake allowing customers to actually linger in the store and enjoy their treats at tables. The decor is hippy-esque, much more undone than Hello Cupcake! for example, with a relaxed atmosphere to match. The flavors were some of the most inventive that we had seen. Lots of fruit flavors including blood orange, raspberry peach and lemon blueberry. Unfortunately, Lauren and I chose to save our cupcakes until we arrived back at the apartment which I think sacrificed some of their integrity, but we were impressed none the less. We especially loved the icing!

As we eat our way through the summer, we add mementos from the shops to our cupcake wall. I must admit, our wall looks rather weak. Our busy schedules the past three weeks have made us rather lazy, but with only two weeks left, we are hoping to step-up our game and decide once and for all where the best cupcakes lie. Stay tuned!