Georgetown Cupcake

Posted by Edmund in Bakeries & Sweets, Washington, DC | 3 comments

3301 M St NW, Washington, DC.
$3 for a cupcake.

It’s no secret that I’m not a huge fan of cupcakes. To me, cupcakes are just a fad—an excuse for innumerable little bakeries to charge exorbitant prices for mini-cakes that are both small in size and flavor.

But every once in a while, a very special shop will come along, where the cupcake isn’t just a downsized cake, but a unique creation of its own. In the DC area, that store is Georgetown Cupcake, the original DC cupcakery, i.e. the one that infected the whole area with this chaotic, absurd urge for the cupcake.

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Unlike all its imitators, though, Georgetown Cupcake holds to a different standard of cupcake, one that can’t be simply put into words. The cake is extremely moist, the frosting is a bit oversweet at times but never cloying, and the cupcakes are made flawlessly, so that the dollop of frosting is in just the right proportion to the cake.

But it’s more than that. Georgetown Cupcake takes the cupcake to a new level of complexity. Don’t get me wrong: You’re still going to find Vanilla on Vanilla, and Chocolate on Chocolate. But here, the Vanilla is made with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and the chocolate with Valrhona couverture, easily the best couverture on the market (for those of you unfamiliar with Valrhona, just check out my gourmet chocolate reviews of its bars to see how highly I praise it!).

Even better, Georgetown Cupcake moves past the traditional vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet to get to some flavors that you just can’t find anywhere. You like lemon? They’ve got both Lemon Blossom and Lemon Berry. Lime? Key Lime Pie. Cookies? White Chocolate? Cherries? Well, they’ve also got Cookies n’ Cream, White Chocolate Raspberry, and even Cherry Blossom. Prepare to be surprised, because each day and each month brings with it a few new treats that you will almost surely never see in the traditional cupcakery.

Just as importantly—and here’s really the main draw for me—the cupcakes (for once!) actually taste like what they’re supposed to taste like. The Lemon Berry is a barrage of sour sweet lemon and raspberry flavors, the Pumpkin Spice tastes like a fantastic gingerbread/cinnamon cake, and the Salted Caramel is a near perfect take on its namesake.

With cupcakes like that, it’s hard to go wrong. In fact, I have only two quibbles. First, while the cupcakes are to-die-for, they still cost $3 each (and each is a measly 2 oz. large). That’s a pretty typical price for a cupcake in DC, but it’s still overpriced relative to most baked goods (I can get a slice of cake that’s about 4x as large for twice as much in LA). Second, the store is so crowded that even on weekdays the line can stretch out onto the street and bend around the store. I personally don’t think any cupcake merits waiting 30 minutes in line, though these do come pretty close.

That all said, Georgetown Cupcake is perhaps the best cupcake experience I’ve ever had. The cupcakes are definitely pricey, but (near) perfection has a price.

What I’ve had:

1. Vanilla Sunshine (Classic Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Cake with Sunshine Vanilla Frosting Topped with a Fondant Flower): All Sunshine really refers to is the color of the frosting, which is dyed yellow for a little extra presentational touch. But this cupcake isn’t a gimmick at all—the vanilla on vanilla flavor is right on. The cake itself has a pretty neutral flavor to it, with a very subtle hint of vanilla, but it’s pretty moist and provides a good, neutral background for the frosting to really shine through (pun intended). I’m typically not a fan of frostings that are ultra sweet, as is the case here, but I found myself enjoying this version incredibly. That’s largely because it was whipped to perfection, giving it a light creaminess that I think works well to counter the sugar feel by reducing the grittiness so that it’s almost negligible. In fact, it’s even smoother than most of the other frostings. Moreover, the vanilla came through in the frosting strongly, providing a nice fresh aftertaste. And best of all, the cake and frosting were proportion just right, so that there was enough frosting to integrate the cake perfectly with its creaminess, and enough cake to provide some substance and balance to the sugar. Finally, the little fondant flower topped it all off with some good marzipan-like chewiness and flavor. 4.3/5.0. This is for the person who loved those old-style, sweet vanilla frostings. Beware, though: it’s VERY SWEET.
2. Lemon Berry (Light Lemon and Raspberry Cupcake with a Raspberry Frosting Topped With a Candied Lemon Peel): I’ve never been a fan of citrus or berry flavor, yet I found myself loving this combination because it was just so complex, so interesting, and so balanced, even though it was still a bit overly sweet. The cake itself, though somewhat on the neutral side like the vanilla, packs an extra zesty citrus kick to it that leaves a pleasant aftertaste. And the frosting is the stuff of legends. It’s rich, creamy, and generously provided like the vanilla sunshine’s, but here the sweetness comes off as a bit less, both because it probably is less and because the raspberry really stands out as a bold flavor to balance it out. The candied lemon peel just tops it all off, and in my opinion it’s easily the best of all the toppings that Georgetown cupcake puts on top of its cupcakes, as it has a perfectly chewy, sour sweetness that just adds another dimension of flavor and texture to this already packed cupcake. Really, this cupcake combines the sour, fruity, citrusy, and sweet in an unforgettable combo, where you just have to keep guessing at what flavor is really coming through because it’s so complex. 4.7/5.0. For a hater of fruity flavors to praise this cupcake as one of the most unique, interesting, and delicious in the store really attests to its quality.
3. Lava Fudge (Valrhona Chocolate Cupcake with a Rich Fudge Core Topped with a Vanilla Frosting with a Fudge Star Drizzle): This is very similar to the chocolate on vanilla cupcake, but it does just a bit better by adding the fudge on top and in the middle, which helps to both balance out the sweet vanilla frosting, moisten the cake, and intensify the chocolate. There is really very little to complain about here. The vanilla frosting is delicious. It’s reminiscent of the vanilla sunshine’s, but this one feels even more creamy and just a little less sweet—very much like what you get in the red velvet’s cream cheese frosting. Plus, the fudge on top is a great fit for it. The cake itself is moist and flavorful, but I found it to be downplayed when compared to the much stronger vanilla and fudge flavors. Plus, the batch I got was just a tiny bit drier than what I normally get. Still, the fudge more than made up for it. All in all, then, this cupcake really has it all—a complex texture of the gooey, cakey, and whipped, and a very nice balance among chocolate, vanilla, and sugar. 4.4/5.0
4. Peanut Butter Fudge(Valrhona Chocolate Cupcake with a Rich Fudge Core Topped with a Vanilla Frosting with a Fudge Star Drizzle): Really almost identical to the Lava Fudge, so I’ll save the details. My cake this time was moister and more flavorful, plus it came through a lot more with the more neutral PB frosting. I liked just how real the PB frosting tasted—it wasn’t overly sweet, and it left me feeling like I ate actual PB. I just didn’t think it was as bold as the vanilla, which I feel adds more complexity to the cupcake. 4.2/5.0
5. Pumpkin Spice (Pumpkin Spice Cupcake with a Maple-Infused Cream Cheese Frosting Topped with a Maple Leaf Fondant): This cupcake really hits the flavor. The pumpkin cake is incredibly flavorful, much more so than even the other cupcakes in the store. It feels like a very moist banana bread, with that same semi-sticky, very rich and buttery cake-texture to it that made it just go down so nicely. And the pumpkin and spice were both very intense, leaving you with a taste reminiscent of gingerbread and cinnamon. It’s also extremely long, leaving a refreshing, zesty aftertaste that you taste even a couple minutes after. Finally, the frosting is a perfect take on maple. While it actually has a lot of sweetness to it, that sweetness doesn’t come out as too much because it doesn’t taste like pure sugar, but rather like maple syrup. It’s also deliciously light, whipped, and creamy, balancing out the heavy, buttery cake. I’m not a big fan of the flavor in general, but this is about as good a take on a pumpkin cupcake that I can imagine. 4.6
6. Chocolate Squared (Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting): Just right, in almost every way. The cake is so moist that you can feel it as you touch it. Its flavor is, moreover, very moderated, without too much bitter chocolate or sugar. It is similar to a very well-done dark milk chocolate, as the sugar is just enough to give you the sensation of milk chocolate but really allows the chocolate to shine through. That intense chocolate comes from the frosting, which is nearly flawless—incredibly thick, rich, creamy, and milky. It’s not terribly whipped, instead having a nice heaviness to it. And the overall texture combination is fantastic—moist, spongy cake with a very creamy top and a small cookie on the top to add some crunch. The sweetness is perfect, giving you a feeling of milk chocolate. It just tasted a tad dry on the outer edges. 4.5+
7. Salted Caramel—Nearly flawless. This is one of the most flavorful cupcakes I’ve ever tasted, with as much complexity as a cupcake can have. The cake is moist and airy, with a taste similar to a very buttery pound cake. On top is an even airier frosting. To its detriment, the frosting is extremely sweet on first impression. But the cupcake perfectly captures the flavor of caramel, which is enhanced by the addition of actual caramel syrup on the top. And, while it may seem overly sweet to some, that sweetness makes it seems even more interesting when the salt kicks in, especially in the aftertaste. This cupcake really runs the spectrum from sweet to salty, while never being cloying in any way, so much so that the palate struggles just to keep up. 4.8+. An absolute pleasure!
8. Red Velvet—Excellent again. It’s a bit sweet in the frosting, with that sugar grittiness to it that is a bit candy-like. But to its benefit, there is a very subtle cream cheese tang, and it’s extremely light and airy, so you don’t feel like it’s cloying at all, especially in combination with the denser, flavorful cake. That cake is really where this cupcake stands out. It’s extremely moist and flavorful, with a very heavy cocoa powder taste to it and a cornbread-like, buttery consistency to it. It’s about as soft and chewy as can be, and it just melts in the mouth. In fact, it’s one of the best red velvet cakes I’ve tasted in a cupcake. 4.3/10. Only loses points for the overly sweet frosting.

• I’ve also tried the Key Lime and the Cinnamon. The Key Lime is right on, with a very nice tangy sweetness to it that really emulates the pie, and the Cinnamon is easily one of the best flavors in the shop.

Taste: 4.6/5.0+
Value: 4.2/5.0
Verdict: 4.5/5.0