Cupcakery Review - Isabelle's Curly Cakes

Last week I finally had the chance to visit Isabelle's Curly Cakes on Charles Street in Boston.  I have been eager to try Curly Cakes since I saw the signs going up about a year ago.  Isabelle is the daughter of famed chef Todd English, and Curly Cakes is supposedly named after her curly hair.  Weird association, in my opinion, but besides that, everything about Curly Cakes was great!

The shop was clean and tidy, and there was room for a few bistro tables so customers could enjoy their cupcakes on-site.  My friends and I only stayed a minute as I brought my cuppies home with me, so apologies for the lack of shop images.  The take-along box was super cute, though!

Arriving at Curly Cakes around 8:00PM on a Tuesday night resulted in a light selection, but the menu board suggested that early-day cupcake shopping would provide a greater array of flavors.  I chose one basic (Vanilla Bean) and one fun (Red Velvet) to take home and try. 

J & I couldn't choose a favorite.  On the vanilla, the frosting was the best part.  It is smooth, creamy, buttery buttercream that tasted great with the vanilla cake.

The red velvet was impressive because the cocoa flavor was SO prominent; it balanced perfectly with the cream cheese frosting and was one of the better red velvet cakes I've had.

I have to say that Curly Cakes didn't beat out Lulu's as my favorite cupcake in Boston, but it was pretty good and I would definitely stop in again.  If you've tried Curly Cakes, let me know what you think in the comments below!

J & I always share our cupcakes, half to each!

Dulce de Leche Cake

Not so long ago, hubs and I tried a little place called Coffee, Tea and Me in Melrose.  It's a great little shop that sells coffee, pastries, tea, smoothies, sandwiches, etc.  Very cute, and the service was great.  Most importantly, they had this cake out...

Even though it's simply decorated, the caramel called my name and I had to get a slice.  I'm a sucker for caramel and cake, soooo, that was an easy one.

The cake was dense...very heavy (but good), the frosting was a balanced light and sweet caramel buttercream, and each layer of cake was separated with thick, gooey caramel.  The combination of all three elements made each bite absolutely de-lish.

This cake would be SO good around the holidays.  Something about the heavy cake and caramel reminded me of cold weather.  I'm going to file this idea away to try until the fall/early winter, but if you can't wait to try something similar, scoot on up to Coffee, Tea & Me in Melrose, or check out some recipes I found that look like they may be good!  I haven't tried these yet, so if you do, let me how how they are!

Spork or Foon
What a Dish!
Technicolor Kitchen

Bakery Review: Vicki Lee's

Do you like cake?

Me too.... see?

I was so excited to eat this cake that I forgot to take a picture of the slice first.  And being out of blogging practice, I didn't even get any good pics of the bakery or other pastries in the shop.  Bad blogger!

So while I can't show you picture of the other delicious treats at Vicki Lee's, I CAN tell you that it is a bakery that you must make a point to visit if you're around the Belmont/Waltham area.

There's lots of seating and the bakery is bright, airy, white, clean and modern.  The case isn't overwhelming- there are a few (GORGEOUS) cakes, cookies, little individual pastries, pies, gallettes, etc.  Everything looks perfect and appetizing, and the service was great.  We had no complaints at all and will definitely be going back.

The cake that I chose is a simple white cake with vanilla buttery buttercream, and filled with fresh strawberries and a thin, thin layer of something tangy, I believe it's a light lemon curd.  I thought this cake was one of the best I've eaten- the cake was so light, spongy, and had a very delicate crumb.  The buttercream was silky smooth, not too sweet, and super complimentary to the fruit and the cake.  Hubs tried it and said it was awesome, not the best he's ever had (obviously, because I didn't make it, haha!) but a "really, really good wedding cake."  I guess it did seem kind of wedding-y, which makes it even more awesome.

Whoever does the cake decorating at Vicki Lee's is ah-maze-ing.  I'm talking meticulous, error-free piping.  It was unreal, super impressive, tv-style cake decorating.

In addition to the sweets, Vicki Lee's also sells breakfast, sandwiches, soups, salads, coffees, etc.  Our trip was quick, so we didn't try any of those items but they looked fresh and yummy.

Vicki Lee's is a must-go, and gets an A+ in our book!

I'm baaaack!

Hello!  I know it's been a while, but this summer there has been an awful lot of new-job-working, couch-cuddling with the hubs, and most importantly....

ice cream eating!!!  I think J and I are keeping the local ice cream place in business with our almost nightly trips.  As you can probably guess, I haven't had much time for baking.  Luckily I sense that little dry spell coming to an end, but in the meantime I have some Boston-area bakery reviews to share.  

For upcoming BostonSweetie baking fun, I've challenged myself to try the four cake recipes in the most recent issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food.  She has four recipes that use four different cake pans - a round cake, cupcakes, tea cake and sheet cake.  Over the next few weeks I'll try each one and let you know how they come out, and finally get some use of the magazines I receive each month.

Check back soon for a review of Vickie Lee's bakery in Belmont.  Ta ta til next time, sweets!

(PS- how cute are these pictures!?  We did a little love-shoot on our vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine, in July with Danielle Brady.  She. Is. Awesome.  If you're in Maine, she's your girl!!!)