Cupcakes from Flavor Cupcakery (Baltimore, MD)

If you’re anything like me, you understand that one can never have too many cupcakes.  If you’re not like me, you’re probably one of the many cupcake haters out there. Given the fact that I just discussed my own hatred of donuts, I guess I can understand that not all desserts draw the same people in. That being said, we probably will never be friends and I borderline want to ban you from my site. The reason I like them so much is because when they’re done right they’re tasty, pretty, and I can eat a whole one (or three) without feeling like I’m being judged. The latter doesn’t usually matter to me in general when I’m eating, but the looks of horror on the faces of my friends in high school when I downed a quarter of a cake haunt me to this day.

When I’m visiting Baltimore, I always beg my family to grab some of these tasty treats from Flavor Cupcakery. With locations in Bel Air and Cockeysville, as well as a truck that allows their goodies to reach a wider audience, Flavor cupcakes can be found all over Maryland. I only discovered this place in the summer, but I’ve since learned that they won Cupcake Wars during Season 4, which proves to me that they’re worthy of the praise that I give them.

I recently visited my hometown during an ill-timed Spring Break which featured a nice heap of snow, and I knew the only thing that could make me feel better about being stuck indoors were some fun, sweet cupcakes. I was especially excited to check Flavor out because we stopped by around St. Patrick’s Day, which allowed us to try out some of their special flavors for this holiday.

The holiday flavor that we ordered was the Irish Mudslide, a cupcake that was created by combining a vanilla cake, Bailey’s pastry cream filling, and Bailey’s whipped cream frosting. Generally, I think vanilla cakes are kind of boring, but this cupcake managed to win me over to the dark, or more accurately, light side. The cake was moist and buttery while the Bailey’s frosting was fluffy, creamy, and yummy enough where I wanted a carton of it to keep at home. This got a gold star in my book and I’m happy that I had the opportunity to try it out. Of course, since it was so light, I thought it would be appropriate to continue to fill myself up with other cupcakes as well.

The other cupcake that I tried, my go-to one, was the Black Bottom. Now, I’m not sure how many of you reading this are from outside of Maryland, but every PA friend that I have has no idea what a black bottom is. For those of you not in the know, a black bottom is a cupcake with chocolate cake on the bottom and a cream cheese, chocolate chip mixture on top. It’s all baked in the oven together, but if you’re still confused, go Google it. Personally, I think this lack of knowledge is a tragedy that needs to be resolved, especially since when I managed to convince a good friend of mine to make traditional black bottoms with me, she tried to put frosting on top. I almost had a heart attack, and I’m pretty sure I did gasp out loud and ask her what she thought she was doing.

Now that you know a little bit more about these great treats, I do have to say that Flavor’s Black Bottom cupcake is decidedly a cupcake and a turn away from what I normally expect from one of these desserts. It’s a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and a smattering of chocolate chips on top. While this isn’t a black bottom as I expect one, it’s still a cupcake that I wouldn’t mind having every day. Unlike tons of other chocolate cakes, this one is super moist while also satisfying anyone who loves a deep chocolate flavor. The other great element of the cupcake is the incredibly thick and creamy frosting. It is much richer and heavier than the frosting that topped the Irish Mudslide, so it is not for the frosting faint of heart. While this treat is completely different from the St. Patrick’s Day-inspired one I tasted earlier, it’s still one that I fully throw my support behind. The only unfortunate part is that I also throw my stomach behind it which means that I will never be a size 0.

Although I did like the two cupcakes that I picked out, there was one I wasn’t crazy about, the Strawberry Fields. This one featured a strawberry cake with vanilla bean butter cream frosting coated in pink sugar crystals. The bright pink strawberry cake wasn’t bad, and it was probably the most visually appealing of all the cupcakes, but with the sweet butter cream frosting and the pink sugar crystals I felt like I stuck my face in a giant sugar cube and took one big bite out of it. Although this cupcake may have pleased others, it certainly wasn’t for me since the nice strawberry flavors got lost among the rest of the treat. I would have preferred something that highlighted the fruit more and I hope to have the opportunity to check out some of their other strawberry flavors to see if I can find what I’m looking for in them.

While every cupcake may not be for me, I think Flavor Cupcakery is a strong, diverse store that can provide anyone with the right cupcake as long as the person goes in with an open mind. On the other hand, if you don’t like dessert at all, these cupcakes won’t change your mind, but I also think that if that’s the case you have no place reading this blog because you’re probably a terrible person. If you’re determined to hate these little cups of cake, than you’re not going to like them, but if you are open to bringing happiness into your life, than you’ll find at least one that you enjoy. So, if you live in the area or you’re passing through Maryland, do yourself a favor and stop at Flavor.

Advertisement