Buckle your seat belts, this is a long one but it does have lots of pictures!
Throughout different phases of my life I have indulged in certain guilty pleasures. For instance, there was the period of time when I was watching way too much of Dallas on the Soap Network (we got it for free for awhile, what can I say?) and checking it out on DVD from the library. This phase fizzled when they continually promised that a Silver Screen version of the Epic TV Series was coming – complete with John Travolta as J.R. – but it never came to fruition. Plus, once you get to the Bobby didn’t really die/it was all a dream episode, it’s all downhill after that.
When I was pregnant with the youngest princess and having contractions too early, I developed an addiction to One Tree Hill (still LOVE it) because I had to lay down an hour everyday and I chose the hour (or two) when it was on to lay down. 🙂 I’ve been addicted to working out (not a bad habit to have), to reading, to pears with peanutbutter (and no, it wasn’t a pregnancy thing), and of course AM addicted to my e-mail account(s), Facebook, and Twitter. But my latest addiction (over the last 12 months or so) is finding the perfect cupcake.
I first became aware of bakeries that specialize in cupcakes from the SNL Sketch “Lazy Sunday” (little language there if you have little people around). Last summer I wanted to take my daughter to a similar bakery when we are on a trip to Chicago for her birthday. We settled on Molly’s Cupcakes (more details to follow). Since the King and I returned to Chicago, I knew we would need to go back to Molly’s and to check out a few other places that I had read about online to compare. So I came up with the idea of a cupcake crawl. We would weave our way around the city, hitting a few bakeries and walking the calories off in between our stops. Here are the results of that crawl.
Cupcake Stop #1: Molly’s Cupcakes. We actually began our day at Wrigley Field (and had lunch at Cubby Bear’s). It was about a mile and three quarters walk to Molly’s from there. I love Molly’s because it has a super cute retro feel. There are vintage lunch boxes lining the shelves, retro toys, the seating has a 70s feel, and best of all the ice cream counter has swings instead of stools. SO fun! And it fits perfect with this neighborhood of vintage clothing and record stores. This is what we ate there:
On the left is my cupcake, a Strawberry Shortcake – white cake with a strawberry filling which included real strawberries, not just goo. A light creamy frosting and of course strawberry. The King had a Boston Cream Pie Cupcake – Yellow cake, cream filling, chocolate frosting, topped with white chocolate shavings. Note the cute little plates. Both were wonderful and we savored every bite. The cake is super moist and delish. The frostings were sweet but not sickly sweet or heavy.
It took every bit of restraint in my body not to jump over the counter and attack this cart of cupcakes, rolling in the sweet frosting and stuffing my mouth full (whoops, was that out loud?). There were other speciality cupcakes to choose from including but not limited to Chocolate Raspberry, Tiramisu (what I had last year and it was heaven), Cookie Monster, Berry Mix (the purple one you can see), a Double Chocolate, Carmel Baked Apple, and more. You can also build your own cupcake, choosing from four basic flavors – Vanilla, Chocolate, Red Velvet, or Carrot and five frostings – chocolate, vanilla, cream cheese, brown butter(divine!), and french buttercream. And then you can choose your toppings, too(think of a sundae bar). Last year, the Eldest Princess elected to go this creative route.
There’s plenty of space at Molly’s to sit and chat and it was relatively quiet even though there were a constant stream of people. I felt most at home there, like I could stay for a longer period of time or make it a weekly haunt.
Here’s a pic of me on the swings at the counter. 🙂
Cupcake Stop #2: Sweet Mandy B’s. Next we took off for Sweet Mandy B’s. I had heard a lot of good buzz about it (a couple of you even chimed in on here) and we had about a two mile walk to get there. So we worked off our sugar buzz and I got to pop in and out of a few more vintage stores. Plus, we walked right by DePaul’s campus and enjoyed the beautiful neighborhoods along the way. Once I spied the cute awning, I knew we were in the right place.
Sweet Mandy B’s is very whimsical. I absolutely LOVED the cupcake stained glass over the doorway and the wonderful pastels decorating the entire place. The counter was something out of a child’s dream, filled with cutesy desserts and sugared treats. There were fewer specialty cupcakes to choose from and I’m kind of kicking myself now for not trying the Creamsicle one but I’m not much on Orange desserts. Instead we settled for an old fashioned white cake with orange frosting cupcake. It was good and kind of tasted like childhood. The King was less impressed. His main comment was that he thought he could make something similar in our kitchen. I’m not as sure but it definitely paled in comparison to Molly’s. I loved soaking up the atmosphere, though. Busy people popped in and out, occasionally sitting to enjoy their treat. You could see a full kitchen of bakers, happily crafting the sweets. It was a bit more noisy but full of life.
It really is named more. Here’s the sign to prove it. The owner, Patty, happened to be there and she had curly red hair (yay!), so she came out to chat with us for awhile. She mentioned that more has had some media coverage lately and she was excited about new opportunities for her cupcakery. I can definitely see why it’s gaining attention. The cupcakes here are individual masterpieces. They’re so beautiful that you almost don’t want to eat them . . . almost. And the flavors are incredibly exotic. For instance, we sampled a Peach Bacon BBQ cupcake. I know. Sounds weird, tastes amazing. There’s a BLT cupcake and even a Foie Gras cupcake.
more definitely fits the near to MI mile feel of Chicago. It’s very sleek and fashion conscious. It didn’t have seating but we used a small counter to chow down on our treats. We had wonderful service and an above and beyond experience from the owner (who didn’t know I was a blogger until the end of our conversation so I don’t think she was putting on airs).
Flavors at more are unique and very gourmet. No Duncan Hines here, folks. I really wished there was more space to sit and relax though. That’s really my only complaint. We definitely got more at more on our cupcake crawl. Thanks to Patty and her crew for the special attention and delicious samples. If you’re planning a trip to Chi-town soon, you need to put this on your must hit list!
I’m hoping to do a cupcake crawl through Indy in August or September. I LOVE Our Bake Shoppe in Greenwood. They have great specialty flavor options (can we say Banana Nutter?). And Sir Dan recently told me that drinks are only $0.50 & milk is $1.00. Their cupcakes are affordably priced, too (especially compared to Chicago).
Thanks for indulging a guilty pleasure and going on a flavor adventure with me!
www.queenoffree.net
I should have enlisted you to help me out when I was searching all of the bakeries in the city for cupcakes or a cake for our wedding! We actually haven’t narrowed it down yet!