Time for a Frosty Farewell to Cupcakes - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _lifestyle

...cupcakes may be ceding pride of place to pies.

Well, it's about time! Really, are there any decent pie shops in town besides Hoosier Mama, especially any you can comfortably eat in?

I so hesitate to raise the topic, but have to ask if anyone has had cupcakes from Turtle Cupcakes in Highland Park? Took my daughter to a doctor appointment in the area today and "rewarded" her with a cupcake. Actually I bought several and brought them home. Of course there was the usual ridiculously priced cost per item ($3.25 for a regular cupcake like the ones I've made for about 30 years, though I will cede the fancy icing to these places). And a couple interesting sounding flavors.

So we got them home and I thought that other than the red velvet one, they reminded me far more of muffins with frosting than actual cupcakes. Very dense, flavor as well as texture just felt, well, muffin-like. My son grabbed the regular chocolate one so I can't comment, but the other flavors all surprised me.

Hate to slam the place because they are recently opened, were very nice and I fully support entrepreneurial non-chain places whenever I can, but....I just don't think I'd ever go back there. So I was just wondering if anyone else has been there, had a similar impression, or thought they were great and I just had a downer day today.

My friend Matt and I recently tried both of the new Highland Park cupcake establishments. First we went to Marla's Sweet Bites. Marla's has much bigger cupcakes (you could easily share one), but cost over $4.00 each. My cookies and cream cupcake was dry, WAY too sweet, and it had too much buttercream frosting (which I've never been a fan of, I like whipped cream frosting best). I did like the creamy center though. I'm not sure what Matt got, but he hated it.

Then we went across the street to Turtle's. By this time I wasn't about to spend $3.25 more on a really small cupcake, and Marla's was so sweet that I was already turned off by the thought of any more sweets. Matt got a red velvet cupcake and thought it was much better than Marla's and said he would go back.

That being said, I just can't see these places surviving, but maybe it's me. I'm already talking like they are gone, "Remember when there were those two cupcake places across the street from each other?" They just look so plain, simple and boring inside. Overpriced cupcakes that aren't even that good? No thanks.

The next big thing seems to be coming to HP as well - Gelato. Arrive Dolce opened on St. John's at Central recently (it's ok - they don't do the fancy gelato displays that you see at most gelato shops), and a new one called Frost is coming to the part of the space where Borders was. Personally, I'd like to see a frozen custard place in town - even Andy's would be ok with me. Even better would be a place that serves killer Belgian Fries.

Turtle's Cupcakes
Marla's Sweet Bites
On Central Ave just east of Sheridan Rd Highland Park.

Ram4 wrote:That being said, I just can't see these places surviving, but maybe it's me. I'm already talking like they are gone, "Remember when there were those two cupcake places across the street from each other?" They just look so plain, simple and boring inside. Overpriced cupcakes that aren't even that good? No thanks.

The next big thing seems to be coming to HP as well - Gelato. Arrive Dolce opened on St. John's at Central recently (it's ok - they don't do the fancy gelato displays that you see at most gelato shops), and a new one called Frost is coming to the part of the space where Borders was. Personally, I'd like to see a frozen custard place in town - even Andy's would be ok with me. Even better would be a place that serves killer Belgian Fries.

I'm taking on bets that one or both cupcake spots will be gone within a year. Remember the short-lived bakery across from Port Clinton?

There's another gelato/ice cream spot under construction just north of Norton's.

Dave148 wrote:There's another gelato/ice cream spot under construction just north of Norton's.

You're joking... a THIRD one?!

Ram4 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:There's another gelato/ice cream spot under construction just north of Norton's.

You're joking... a THIRD one?!

Nope

As announced in Mike Sula's profile, there's a new place called Rowie's Bakery (across the street from Tampopo). Although full cakes can be ordered, the retail space seems to specialize in cupcakes. As a disclaimer, I am not a cupcake connoisseur. In fact, it would be fair to call me a cupcake detractor. Actually, that's not strong enough -- I think that one day Magnolia Bakery should be forced to answer for what it has foisted on the country. And by "answer" I don't mean filling out a questionnaire, if you catch my drift.

All that aside, I thought Rowie's cupcakes were fantastic -- the cake part moist and both cake and frosting extremely light. These are not the overgrown, overfrosted diabetes bombs that have been popping up on every other block the past couple of years. If you're used to those monstrosities, these may strike you as tiny and insubstantial. I thought they were exactly the right size. They're about $2 each and there are many interesting flavors, including Filipino ones like ube and buko pandan. The coffee is from Metropolis. The folks who own the place could not be nicer.

5664 N. Lincoln Ave
1.888.ROWIES.B

Dave148 wrote:

Ram4 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:There's another gelato/ice cream spot under construction just north of Norton's.

You're joking... a THIRD one?!

Nope

http://menchies.com/

There has been a bakery explosion in my neighborhood, with Pierre's and Bleeding Heart outposts opening within a block of each other in the same month. Pierre's had two or three kinds of cupcakes (red velvet and I don't remember what else) in their case yesterday, $1.99/piece. They looked pleasantly run-of-the-mill. I've found Bleeding Heart too vast and overwhelming to even tell if they had cupcakes, but I'm sure they have them and probably 3x bigger and 1.5x more expensive than anyone needs.

Pierre's
1926 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-360-8878
http://www.pierres-bakery.com/

Bleeding Heart
1916 W. Chicago Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-904-1414
http://www.thebleedingheartbakery.com/

happy_stomach wrote:There has been a bakery explosion in my neighborhood

You hear that, Magnolia? Better sleep with one eye open!

I've been sampling around of late, and I can't find cupcakes I like more than at Sweet Sensations - 1918 W. Montrose. It's weird, because they're not overly pretty, but my husband is addicted to the vanilla with white buttercream, and I'm addicted to the chocolate with ganache frosting (I ask her to make those when I come in - otherwise, the closest and next best thing is the triple chocolate which has a so/so milk chocolate mousse in the middle - still delicious, but not the pure chocolatey goodness of the straight-up chocolate cake.) I can't vouch for the other things - they look OK. I tried the Boston Cream once, and it was great. My friend had the red velvet and didn't like it. I can't stress enough, however, how good the quality of the chocolate cake is. One of the best I've ever had, period.

I've never thought much of cupcakeries I've encountered in the suburbs, but I recently tried several cupcakes from JenyLee Cupcakery and was very impressed. She's located in Naperville and does delivery/catering only. She does not have a brick-and-mortar location as of now. My favorite flavors I tried were Key Lime and Peanut Butter Candy. Next time I'm ordering her Tiramisu, Pistachio and Salted Caramel!

Her cakes are really moist, and she does a great job balancing cake/frosting/toppings/fillings with all of her flavors so nothing is overly sweet or overwhelming. Plus, delivery in Naperville is free!

happy_stomach wrote:There has been a bakery explosion in my neighborhood, with Pierre's and Bleeding Heart outposts opening within a block of each other in the same month. Pierre's had two or three kinds of cupcakes (red velvet and I don't remember what else) in their case yesterday, $1.99/piece. They looked pleasantly run-of-the-mill. I've found Bleeding Heart too vast and overwhelming to even tell if they had cupcakes, but I'm sure they have them and probably 3x bigger and 1.5x more expensive than anyone needs.

I've always found BHB cupcakes to be a reasonable, average size - have they gotten bigger since the move?

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:There has been a bakery explosion in my neighborhood, with Pierre's and Bleeding Heart outposts opening within a block of each other in the same month. Pierre's had two or three kinds of cupcakes (red velvet and I don't remember what else) in their case yesterday, $1.99/piece. They looked pleasantly run-of-the-mill. I've found Bleeding Heart too vast and overwhelming to even tell if they had cupcakes, but I'm sure they have them and probably 3x bigger and 1.5x more expensive than anyone needs.

I've always found BHB cupcakes to be a reasonable, average size - have they gotten bigger since the move?

I don't think so. I went back to give the new BH another try, and I checked on their cupcakes. They actually are regular sized and $2.50 each, which I guess is pretty near average in terms of cupcake prices around town. I was reacting to the size/price of their scones and some of the bar desserts, which I find offensively monstrous.

Hurdler4eva wrote:I've never thought much of cupcakeries I've encountered in the suburbs, but I recently tried several cupcakes from JenyLee Cupcakery and was very impressed. She's located in Naperville and does delivery/catering only. She does not have a brick-and-mortar location as of now. My favorite flavors I tried were Key Lime and Peanut Butter Candy. Next time I'm ordering her Tiramisu, Pistachio and Salted Caramel!

Her cakes are really moist, and she does a great job balancing cake/frosting/toppings/fillings with all of her flavors so nothing is overly sweet or overwhelming. Plus, delivery in Naperville is free!

There's now a Groupon for this:
http://www.groupon.com/deals/jenylee-cu ... 743e697cc5

Thanks for pointing this out Pie Lady! I'm definitely jumping on this deal and I would encourage anyone who likes cupcakes to do so as well