I left my heart in San Francisco's Miette Patisserie

Smack down, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Ferry Building in the city of hippies and scenesters, is a bakery resembling what i would think a french Little Bo Peep's kitchen would look like. 

Miette Patisserie has pastel walls covered with candy, glowing cases filled with cupcakes, and jars filled with luscious macarons. With two San Francisco locations and one Oakland store, Miette is pretty much available to the feed the mouths of the entire Bay Area. And amen for that! This amazing little bakery has made it to my "Top 5 Bakeries to Devour" list! HOLLLAAAA!

I got a Rose Geranium Macaron that felt as though you bit into a rose with crunchy and airy petles with a  soft silky filling. This macaron had such a realistic flavor that it had you wondering if it was picked from a garden. 

Finally, I fell in love as fast as you can say cupcake. Miette's Old Fashion Cupcake is super moist chocolate cake topped with a ooey gooey marshmallow icing, that is, literally, to die for. I also got a vanilla cupcake that had a fresh refreshing strawberry buttercream, that tasted more amazing than a glass of water the morning after a hard night of drinking. I went back a second time, as said before, this place is simply amazing, and got a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake was  perfectly soft and had a perfect addition of crunchy currants and walnuts, and the Cream Cheese frosting, well, who can go wrong with a kick ass cream cheese frosting. 

The only reason I am happy I don't live in the Bay anymore is I would be a hefty 300lbs living near a Miette Patisserie. I don't care if you live 30 minutes or 5 hours from the Bay, get in your car and drive to San Francisco immediately. Thanks Miette, for making my tastebuds smile like a kiddos first day ever at Disneyland.

Republic of Cake

Just over the hill from Oakland, California lives Republic of Cake, a small cupcake bakery, in downtown Orinda. Republic of Cake offers a ever changing menu that offers your traditional cupcakes, a gluten free option, as well as savory cupcakes, such as a French Onion Soup Cupcake!! 

Greeted by a man of a few words, I let his grumpy attitude slide and ordered 3 cupcakes.   

The first cupcake I stuffed into my mouth was a Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake that was a chocolate cake with a kick of spicy hotness, topped with a cream cheese frosting drizzled in caramel. At first bite a wave of moist chocolate cake filled my mouth, when suddenly I was slammed in the taste buds with a warm spicy hint of flavor. The cream cheese frosting complimented the warming taste of spice perfectly and the drizzle of caramel added a nice little extra flavor. 

The next cupcake was a Snickerdoodle cupcake, a vanilla buttercream topped cinnamon flavored vanilla cake sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. "Blah" is the only word to describe this cupcake. There was nothing intense or exciting about the cake or the buttercream, at all! With such an easy flavor to make into a killer cupcake, I have no clue how they f*(#ed this one up. 

The last cupcake was a Lavender Meyer Lemon cupcake. The lavender cake was filled with a lemon curd topped with a honey cream cheese frosting. The cake had a light and refreshing lavender flavor, but the lemon filling ruined this whole cupcake for me. The lemon curd tasted like wet dog; my gag reflex was making me react like a cat coughing up a huge snarled hair ball.  The cream cheese frosting lacked the honey flavor, to the point I forgot it was suppose to even contain honey.

The cupcakes just did not do anything to make me want to go back for more. The only decent one was the Mexican Hot Chocolate, while the other 2 had me trying to get rid of them as fast as fast as I possibly could; but no one would take them. One thing I extremely admired about this bakery, is when you order "Sam's Very Messy Chocolate Cupcake", the R.O.C donates a percentage to a different charity that changes ever month. So not only did you get to indulge in a chocolate cupcake, but the month I was there, you also donated to help education in Africa (a big plus for my family, as my mother does work with a orphanage in Tanzania. ) So, high five to you Republic Of Cake!

2 Theatre Square, Suite 151 . Orinda, CA 94563

American Cupcake

Where can you find a place that is pure white, while still looking like a rainbow? Or a place that is filled with Bubble Gum, Cotton Candy and Booze? Why, American Cupcake in the one and only San Francisco of course!! 

This funky little restaurant/bakery might possibly have the raddest decoration, and nicest girls working there of any bakery I have been too. The rainbow balls hanging from the ceiling make you feel like you are surrounded by bubbles filled with Glinda the good witch. The menu had my mouth drooling like Augustus Gloop in Willy Wanka's factory; cupcakes, candy cocktails, beer, and even regular entrees like salads and corn-dogs. 

The first cupcake I devoured was a bright pink Bubble Gum Cupcake topped with two gumballs (which were BOTH stolen from my older sister). Remember being a kid at Baskin Robbins and getting a crunchy cone topped with slowly melting bubble gum ice-cream? Well, American Cupcake, has taken that delightful treat and turned it into a cupcake! The flavor sparked my tastebuds and sent me head-spinning into my childhood in one bite; i swear, the frosting was EXACTLY like the ice-cream. This glorious ice cream was on top of a vanilla cupcake that was pretty good, a bit to thick and had a well...gummy texture, for my liking. But who cares, the frosting flavor made up for it in a New York minute. 

Next up was the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake topped with a small peanut butter cup (which also was stolen by my sister!!) Im not going to compare it to a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup because that would be rude. This was on par with REAL peanut butter cups, not some hershey's crap. The smooth fluffy frosting tasted like real peanuts on top of a rich chocolate cake that both, flavor and texture, worked perfectly. 

American Cupcake's frosting flavors are so unique and fun that you could put it on a sea urchin and it would still taste fantastic. Although, the frosting flavors are what makes me love this place, I doubt I would care for a traditional vanilla/chocolate combo cupcake. We even took home 4 to share with the fam, which now that I think of it, I have never done before. If you live in the bay, a girls night/birthday/bachelorette party would be amazing at this fun and happy bakery! 

American Cupcake

1919 Union Street

San Francisco CA 94123