Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Cupcakes, Part Deuce

Lovely Confections: I stopped in here after work to pick up some dessert. The shop was clean and looked more "cozy" than the first time I was there. Perhaps it was because there were actually cupcakes in the display case! I will forgive that first time I stopped by when they were all sold out- they hadn't been open long and it was a holiday. The woman working there was very friendly. Everything on display looked gorgeous. There weren't tons of flavor choices, but that's not always a bad thing- you have to know what you do well and just do it. I can respect that. I ended up with one chocolate-chocolate for the boyfriend and one coconut for me. You can tell a lot of love goes into making these things. Mine sparkled with tiny shreds of fresh coconut, while the chocolate was generously sprinkled with bits of chocolate.

All of this aside, we know what's most important in a cupcake and that is flavor. I'm going to have to judge Lovely Confections' cakes in two separate pieces: the cakes and the frosting. Some people are cake purists, some are all about the frosting. Since I fall into the latter category, I really enjoyed my cupcake. There is no skimping on frosting with these babies- it's thick, thick, thick, but not overly sweet. For my cake lovers, you might be a bit disappointed. I found the cake fairly dry and dense without much flavor. Tasting it on it's own, I couldn't discern any particular flavor.

Overall, not a bad choice, but I don't see myself coming here repeatedly.

Pros: Beautifully presented; friendly service; clean shop; good frosting
Cons: Pricey ($3 each); not tons of flavor options; boring cake

Update:

I revisited the Shoppe the other night after the Colfax Cruise, and I wasn't in the mood for a cupcake. Say WHA?? It's true. I have been on a cereal kick, so I decided to take advantage of the cereal bar aspect. I ordered a S'mores extravaganza bowl- Golden Grahams, marshmallows, and chocolate chips all served up with a big, cold carafe of organic milk. I am in love. Delicious, sugar-coma love. (BTW, this is big enough for two, easily) Check it out:





3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I stopped at Happy Cakes yesterday and picked up 3 flavors. Vanilla on Chocolate; cookies & cream; red velvet. The vanilla on choc was by far my fav -- very moist cake and d'lish buttercream icing. Red Velvet was sort of dry, don't think I'll try that one again. nothing special in my book. The cookies and cream was good too; although I ate this the next morning for breakfast w/ my coffee. Again, even though it was the next day, a very moist cake and very good icing. They do put a ton of icing on the cake, but that's not such a bad problem to have, cuz you can always scrape some off. I am sort of torn on the price... $2.50 for such a small cake! but it tastes so darn good, so I might just have to overlook the price.

I also have tried Lovely Confections and The Shoppe. At LC, I tried the choc on choc and also the lemon. OMG...the lemon was divine! They were nice and fresh (they were cooling so I know they recently were made). Such a nice light cake and the icing was d'lish too. both were not overpowering w/ lemon flavor...just right. I wasn't a fan of the choc on choc. I felt the cake was too dry and the icing too sweet and too heavy.

The Shoppe... I've tried the mojito, the coconut, and a rasberry champagne (or something like that). I am love love love The Shoppe's icing. so light and airy... so perfect. The vanilla cakes, I'm not such a fan of. But I love the hip, cool, fun surroundings. I will def have to try a chocolate cupcake next time I visit.

amber said...

Hi. I love your blog, and I love that you have a picture of The Shoppe on it!

I live in Denver and I'm always looking for new restaurants to try, but I've had a few really bad experiences after taking advice from the Westword and 5280. I'm afraid to try anything without someone's previous (unbiased!) approval, so I hope to see more food reviews from you in the future. :)

Adrienne said...

My husband and I just moved here from Houston six months ago, and I must say that I will never take our hometown for granted again. We've yet to find that many great, eat-there-any-night restaurants in Denver — and you're right about the lack of cupcakes here. I was less-than-impressed with Lovely Confections. Apparently a new place has opened up in Cherry Creek though ... I've only done a drive-by.