Molly's Cupcakes

On the same afternoon a couple of days ago that we went to Lito's for the first time to have empanadas, we also stopped by Molly's cupcakes for desert.

We split 2 cupcakes - red velvet and their chocolate/chocolate/chocolate filled cupcake.

The icing on the red velvet was awesome - tangy cream cheese, not too sweet - though the cake itself was a bit dry and lacking in flavor. Coming from the south I've learned to expect moist-to-the-point-of-soggy dye-your-hands deliciousness. I think that the red velvet cake at Sweet Mandy B's is a bit better, but the frosting here at Molly's rocks.

The chocolate bomb thing was really good. It was chocolate cake, filled with chocolate mouse, topped with dark chocolate frosting. The cake was stellar - normally I prefer yellow/white cake with chocolate frosting for the contrast since the cake is never chocolatey enough on it's own, but that's not the case here. The mouse was good, albeit a tad grainy. The chocolate frosting was rich, perfectly smooth, and had good rich chocolate flavor.

As mentioned in the Lito's thread, the place just opened and definitely seems a bit chaotic. They only had a couple of kinds of treats in the display and said that they were in the middle of trying to fill a bit catering order. One of the guys mentioned that they've been having quite the late-night crowd that's been keeping them open until about 1am. Congrats to them on the success and hopefully they'll get a bit of sleep sometime soon.

On their price board they showed all the various options of cakes, fillings, and frostings and indicated that when stocked, you could request any pairing that you wanted. Unfortunately they were out of unfrosted cupcakes at the time, so I didn't get to try some of the variations I would have wanted (lemon curd filling!). I did spot "Brown Butter" as a frosting option and asked about it. They set us up with a little sample cup of the frosting to try it and I can honestly say that it was about the best frosting I've ever tasted (definitely the best non-chocolate frosting). The pastry chef said that it's made just like normal buttercream, but they brown the butter like you would for a sauce beforehand.

The two brothers running the place were super friendly as was the main pastry chef (who overheard me asking questions and came out to chat).

2536 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 880-5537

Cheers, -Dan

I tried Molly's a couple weeks ago. I was impressed by their cupcakes, which are very moist, and the icing selections I tried (brown butter and French buttercream) were solid.

But I found their display and signage confusing, and the staff still needs some work. There were maybe 6-8 plates of premade cupcakes, but none had signs on them to let you know what you were looking at. One customer was ahead of me, four or five people were behind the counter and I still had to wait several minutes to be helped. I asked the woman at the counter to explain the icings to me (there was a French buttercream listed, but the rest of the icings were just listed by their flavors with no indication of whether they were buttercream frostings). She clearly had no idea what went into the icings, and had to go back several times to ask the chef for more details. (I've learned that their French buttercream seems to be more of a merengue icing--googling "french buttercream" recipes showed me a lot of variation in recipes, some which included eggs and others that didn't) and most of their other icings are traditional buttercreams.

I was disappointed with the to-go packaging. Each cupcake was set on a piece of waxed paper then placed in separate paper bags. Not surprisingly, I had some icing loss by the time I got mine home.

I'd give it another shot.

After enjoying delish empanadas at Lito's, I stopped in here to try the cupcakes. I had to ask about what was in the case because nothing was labeled. I also asked whether the butter cream was made with butter (no shortening) and I never actually got an answer.
Anyway the cupcakes are decent and the frosting is pretty good. They are just cupcakes and I never really understood why everyone is so nuts about cup cakes.

sholl wrote:They are just cupcakes and I never really understood why everyone is so nuts about cup cakes.

Evidently, you have never actually eaten a cupcake.

sholl wrote: They are just cupcakes and I never really understood why everyone is so nuts about cup cakes.

I have to agree with you. For every decent cupcake I have had, I have had two or three really lousy ones. They are more difficult to do well due to the variations in oven temperatures within ovens.

I tried 2 different types of cupcakes here and neither impressed me. The cake was drier than I would have liked and lacked richness. I had the campfire cupcake with hot fudge, marshmallow and graham crumbs as well as the lemon curd with browned buttercream icing. The icing was almost bland, and to me the lemon curd tasted overly of egg, and wasn't tart enough. The overall decor was cute and the staff was quite friendly, but I don't think I would come back. I haven't had an amazing cupcake in Chicago yet, but I do prefer Sweet mandy B's and Southport Grocery's versions to Molly's.

How big are Molly's cups?

"They are just cupcakes and I never really understood why everyone is so nuts about cup cakes."

My favorite diss of a dessert was when a friend said: "I hate ice cream, it's cold and stupid".

My son's comments upon first tasting calamari in a seafood salad: "How can you eat this, it's slimy, rubbery, and has suction cups all over it." After due consideration, I couldn't think of an appropriate retort.

stewed coot wrote:"They are just cupcakes and I never really understood why everyone is so nuts about cup cakes."

My favorite diss of a dessert was when a friend said: "I hate ice cream, it's cold and stupid".

Funny, I have a family member that doesn't like ice cream because it is too cold.

I must admit that cupcakes, or cakes in general, are not my favorite of the sweets category-- but the cakes/cupcakes category is rather large, and I have had a few surprisingly good cupcakes before (still, I don't know if I would ever choose one over a pie ...).

But, I come from a family of big cake/cupcake eaters and bakers (actually big pie bakers too). My sister loves her desserts so it has been quite the dilemma to decide what to have as her wedding "cake", for her upcoming wedding in a few months. It came as a surprise to me when she decided to serve cupcakes for her wedding. I believe the final consensus was chocolate, cream cheese cupcakes... we'll have to see how it turns out.

Hi everyone,
Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a lot of continuing press on the popularity of cupcakes in Chicago. From what I have read recently, Molly's seems very popular. Has anyone been? Does anyone have any other cupcake recommendations? Please help me in my continuing quest for quality baked goods in Chicago.
thanks.

Cogito wrote:How big are Molly's cups?

I wonder how much they are. Cupcakes is a bit pricey - an average 2-1/2" diameter cake for about $2.50, I think. For that size it should have been more like $1.

I went a few weeks ago on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

I had two mini-cupcakes ($1 each) and a cup of coffee. I had a white cake with buttercream and the red velvet with cream cheese.

The white cake was good and the buttercream was also good--not too much and not to sweet ( a problem with several cupcakes I have had). The red velvet cake was decent, but the cream cheese frosting was too salty. I find when using cream cheese for frostings you have to find one that is not too salty. In my opinion, some cream cheeses are more appropriate for savory outings than sweet. It seemed that Molly's cream cheese falls into that camp.

The coffee was intelligentsia. It was not bitter and served in a large cup with a saucer.

I will go again and try the brown butter for sure.
They also have homemade ice cream on the menu ( a must try ) and gluten free cupcakes.

They are not open on Mondays, yet, but will be open pretty late once that starts. I believe they are open until 11 or midnight on Friday and Saturdays.

There's a coupon on ScoutMob for a free Red Velvet cupcake. Expires 10/16.
http://scoutmob.com/chicago/deal/1505

I polished off a box of three Molly's. The Ron Bennington and Boston Cream are great. I wasn't wild about the Red Velvet Peppermint. I see this combo a lot but I don't think red velvet and mint go together. Even though I really dug the first two cupcakes and the Red wasn't bad, I think they put too much filling. Next time I'd only order unfilled.