Whodidily Cupcakes

Whodidily Cupcakes is a small "rainbow" bakery in Montecito, California that looks as though Willy Wonka and Dr. Suess attacked it with paintbrushes and glittery sprinkles.

 A case of extravagant poofy cupcakes with obnoxious names like "Whipple Scrumptious" and "Dippity-Doo-Dah". 

Being a Santa Barbara native I was super excited to try Whodidily, that I got 3 regular cupcakes and 1 mini cupcake wrapped up in a little box to go. 

First, I got a mini, that..honestly I don't know what it was, but as much as I know it was a vanilla cake with some weird buttercream, absolutely smothered to death in chocolate chips. All I could pretty much taste were the old looking chocolate chips. 

Then I got "Snicker Snocker" that was a vanilla cake with a snicker center topped with a vanilla buttercream rolled in snicker pieces. If you are going to rip off the flavors of a crappy piece of candy, make the cake and buttercream taste like the main ingredients in the candy, don't just shove the actual candy bar in and all over it.

Next was the "Lolligagger" which is a Chocolate cake with a cookie dough center topped with a foul looking lime green buttercream, with glittery sprinkles all over it.  Besides that it looked like a Care Bear pooped it out and was so artificial looking, I was excited to have a cookie inside a cupcake! But no, the excitement only lasted one bite. The cookie dough tasted like old plastic, and the rest was so sugary I couldn't stand to have another bite. And may I add, Frosting overload?!?! Seriously! 

Lastly was the "Vanilla Dream" that was a simple vanilla/vanilla cupcake. It was nothing more than your typical, too-much-sugar, head ache causing, vanilla cupcake. 

Ordering at Whodidily was probably one of the most annoying times I have ever had in a bakery. All the cupcakes are given these weird tounge-twister names, and then you have to look at a big board and try to not get distracted with other wack names, to see what the flavor might be. Then by the time you actually eat it you have no clue what you are eating besides some brightly colored, over sugary product. 

And to make it even more confusing, if you notice, my Lolligagger cupcake is not what the description says on the wall...mine was green not pink. 

Cupcake wars or not...I was just not at all impressed, either would Mr. Wonka. 3 of us couldnt even finish half of what we got...ouch. I was rootin for ya Whodidily :( Just keepin' in real. 

Momofuku's Milk Bar

If you have to take a pick at one thing to be addicted to, I would recommend Crack...well, Crack Pie that is. The most grand and spectacular place in the US, New York City, is home to some of the most unique artists, hoity-toity housewives married to suit clad men who spend most of their time on Wall St., the most extravagant restaurants, and of course, some of the top bakeries in the country. Momofuku's Milk Bar is the only bakery that you can find cookies that taste like your local college kids compost bin (pretzels, potato chips, coffee, etc.), a pie that is honestly trademarked Crack Pie and even Franken Pie, which is 3 different pies pieced together to make one whole pie, and they even have soft serve that tastes like Cereal milk!

I am lucky enough to have been able to stuff my face at their Lower East Side location, and when one of my good friends Eric recently came to visit Colorado, he surely remembered how to make me squeal with excitement; DESSERT! 4 cookies poured out of his pocket; a Confetti, Corn, Blueberry & Cream, and Compost Cookie.

The Confetti cookie was devoured so fast I couldnt get a photo! 

All of the cookies have a sort of undercooked-ness to them, which make them melt in your mouth. The sprinkle filled Confetti cookie was probably one of the most fantastic cookies I have ever devoured; fluffy and chewy with a simple flavor that made it easy to make it disappear. The Blueberry and Cream cookie was sweet and refreshing with the hint of milky blueberries.

The Compost cookie is basically what would come about if a 7-11 had a baby with Mrs. Fields; the cookie has so many flavors happening that every bite tasted completely different than the previous. The corn cookie was the only one that didnt really knock me out of my seat, i mean think of corn bread made into a cookie and ta-da...you have the corn cookie. 

On my previous trip to NYC I tried the Crack Pie (a favorite of Anderson Cooper), which is basically a pie with a filling of butter and brown sugar. It was good, don't get me wrong, and extremely addicting, hense being called Crack, but once you have had a slice, you don't really need to eat the whole pie. With 4 locations in New York, you cannot make an excuse not to become a crack, or cookie, addict. 

I even got a Momofuku Milk Bar post card in the mail the other day, now thats the way to my heart...cookies in the mail, now only my tastebuds would be satisfied with taste of paper. 

The One and Only Sprinkles Cupcakes

This is where it all began, the world-wide craze of gourmet polka-dotted fist-size desserts. Sprinkles Cupcakes is the mastermind behind most every single bakery on the streets today. Sparkly crystal cases of made-from-scratch cupcakes, topped with swirled buttercream, line the walls causing every creature on the planet to stop and drool at the sugary treats. On my recent trip to Los Angeles, my bestie and I hopped into her car and took the 45 minute, 10 mile drive, to Beverly Hills to finally devour the most famous cupcakes on the planet. After they wave of paralyzation from my bellies excitement disappeared, I finally decided on 4 different cupcakes, a good 'ol traditional chocolate cake topped with vanilla buttercream, Chai, Lemon & Coconut, and a Chocolate Vanilla Hazlenut Cupcake. These cupcakes, are...well, orgasmic is the only word that pops into mind. Everything about these cupcakes are 100% right. The cake is baked to perfection, the fluffy buttercream literally melts in your mouth; I just couldn't get enough. The chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream was my favorite classic cupcake dominated over any one I have ever had. The Lemon and Coconut cupcake was so light and refreshing and have me gawking over it. The Chocolate Vanilla Hazelnut had a light hint of mouthwatering chocolate hazelnut buttercream, on top of a perfectly moist cupcake, leaving me to lick the wrapper.  Lastly, the Chai cupcake surely tasted like chai, but was probably my least favorite out of all of them; now that I think back I don't think we finished this one.  After chowing down into food coma, I was still, somehow, craving another cupcake - or 2.  Sprinkles, I don't know how you do it, but all I know is I wish I could devour your cupcakes every single day for the rest of my life. Thanks for living up to the rumors, and proving that you really are one of the best bakeries for the world to indulge in.

TIME FOR YOU TO DEVOUR!!!!

Finally...after tons of stressful, long, obnoxious hours...you can devour some of my made from scratch 100% vegan treats! www.Devourbakery.com is up and ready for you now to order some sweets to satisfy those taste buds. (The site is not 100% done yet, but at least you can order finally!) No matter if you are allergic to Gluten, Eggs, Milk or anything else, you can find something to shove into that beautiful mouth of yours. Any special requests, contact me and Im sure I can whip something up for you! Spread the love, and I'll love you back with special discounts & freebies with every order! 

One Love <3

Blue Moon Bakery

For all them mountain' folk in Silverthorne, Colorado looking to satisfy some baked good cravings, there is Blue Moon Bakery. The small cafe was packed with people getting breakfast before spending the day throwing themselves down the snowy mountains strapped to various modes of transportation, aka. snowboards and skis. Excited to start my day off with some sugar, I dove right in to a chocolate chip cannoli. 

The last cannoli I had was from Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken NJ, and just happened to be the most amazing, soft-&crunchy-at-the-same-time deliciousness pastry of all time. I of course, had to try one from Blue Moon, with the hope that a cannoli is one of those foods no one can f*%^ up, like spaghetti. But no, I was wrong, this cannoli was not worthy of a second bite. I usually try all the baked goods I review with my...now fiance, Pat Milbery :)  and keep my mouth shut to see what he has to say about it before I start blabbing away, but this one, i could not help myself but scream at him not to try it. Which obviously he had to try, but he never went to seconds either. The shell was soggy and bendable like wet cardboard. The filling was so extremely thick it made me feel like that kindergarden teacher in Billy Madison slurping the  glue during lunch time. Lastly, the massive cluster of blooming mini chocolate chips was beyond foul and just unnecessary. 

With the last disaster that had occurred in my mouth, I didn't have high hopes about the Boston Cream Cupcake I had left. Surprise, surprise, this was even worse than the Cannoli! It tasted straight from the isles of the grocery store, contained more than 80 ingredients and reek of chemicals. No way was this cupcake from scratch, if so Blue Moon, please re work your recipe before poising the rest of the rockies! The cake its self was dry as the plains of Africa, and the fudge was extremely similar to that of the fat little pillsbury dough boy. 

Blue Moon Bakery had some of the worst tasting baked goods I have had in a very long time. It must be there breakfast, and the stoner-snowboarder community that keep this place is in business. Don't bother unless you are desperate, snowed in and have no more canned beans left. Remember you have been warned! 

Ps. I did go to this bakery in April, I just have avoided writing this review because remembering this experience is just too painful

Teacake Bake Shop

I stumbled across this small, tucked away bakery in downtown Lafayette California. The vibe of the bakery is a cutesy tincey-wincy bakery, with the typical white and pink decor. 

There wasn't much of a selection of fun flavored cupcakes to chose from. All of their cupcakes were Vanilla or Chocolate topped with a couple of different buttercream favors...Whoop-Dee-Do. The cookies looked alright, but if you cant make a damn good cookie, then don't bother opening a bakery--just my thought. 

So i settled for 2 different cupcakes; the first one was a chocolate cupcake with a Dulce De Leche Buttercream. The Buttercream looked cute with its little flower decor on top of the swirled frosting, but when you bit into the cupcake, there was a bit of a crunchy layer you had to get through first before you could enjoy the soft and smooth center. The flavor of the buttercream was alright, but its not too hard to mess up a Dulce De Leche flavor. The cake itself tasted like any other chocolate cupcake, a bit on the trusty ol Pillsbury dough boy. 

The 2nd cupcake I devoured was a Madagascar Vanilla cake with a Honey Tangerine Buttercream. The tangerine flavored buttercream was very refreshing, it felt as thought I was biting into a juicy ripe tangerine. Although, the honey flavor was missing. I completely forgot that there was suppose to be honey in the buttercream, all I could taste was the citrus. The vanilla cake itself was extremely gummy and dry. It felt like I was eating a starfish, a gooey center with a dry crunchy outside...well thats what I think a starfish would taste like...anywaysss...The snazzy name of "Madagascar" vanilla, i think fools people into thinking its some exotic and forbidden like vanilla flavor, which in some peoples head makes it taste fantastic. But not me, I saw right through the fancy name and just ate off the buttercream. 

Teacake Bake shop was an alright bakery if you are in desperate need of a sugar-fix, and the Bay Bridge is closed to get to San Francisco, or your too fat and lazy to get to Walnut Creek to hit up Kara's. One this I do like is that Teacake does offer classes to learn to make cupcakes and cookies, but at $45-75 a person, this bakery is crazier than the Britney Spears circa 2007. 

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.