Hello Cupcake

Posted by Edmund in Bakeries & Sweets, Washington, DC | 1 comment

1351 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20036-1801.

If there’s one thing that DC residents love, it’s cupcakes. Ever since the cupcake craze took hold of the city, a bevy of shops have risen practically overnight, sprinkling the city with so many cupcakeries that you’d think the industry would be saturated by now. And yet DC residents are still willing to dish out $3+ for a little 2 oz. cupcake. Don’t ask me why—to me, a cupcake has always simply been an excuse for a mediocre cake.

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Some of the stores that are emerging, though, are challenging that notion, trying to take the idea of a cupcake and bring it into its own as a unique treat separate from a cake. One of those places is Hello Cupcake, a cupcake shop conveniently located right in Dupont Circle that attempts to glam up the cupcake with unique flavors and cutesy names. It sounds gimmicky, to say the least, and I was skeptical as soon as I walked in and found myself facing the likes of Vanilla Gorilla (banana cake with vanilla cream cheese frosting), You Tart! (lemon cake, lemon cream cheese frosting, yellow sugar sprinkles), and Heart of Darkness (chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, chocolate sprinkles).

As soon as I bit into these tiny treats, though, I was convinced—if not of Hello Cupcake’s brilliance, at least of its capacity to make interesting, flavorful, and consistently good cupcakes. Especially notable is the cake portion of their cupcakes, which is always moist and soft, with a very neutral flavor that helps to serve as a good backdrop for the stronger taste of the frosting. Even better, the cake tends to have a nice crisp top, just like that of the muffin, so that you get a slightly smoky/toasty crunch every time you bite in, really adding a lot to the tiny cake. Still, that crunchy top can be inconsistent, and it sometimes depends on luck whether you get it or not.

The frosting is great, too—sweet, but not overdone. It’s like whipped cream, as it’s easy to eat and not too heavy. It can, however, interfere with the taste of the cake by adding a bit too much sweetness, though it’s never to the point of becoming cloying.

It’s really those minor imperfections—extra sweet frosting, inconsistency in the cake—and a general lack of synergy between the frosting and the cake that hold Hello Cupcake back from true greatness, especially in comparison to its arch-nemesis, Georgetown Cupcake, the supposed king of DC cupcakes (review forthcoming!). DC has just way too much competition in the cupcake industry, and if I’m going to be dishing out $3+ for a little cupcake, it has to be amazing in all regards. Hello Cupcake has shimmers of that brilliance, but never realizes it in full.

What I had:

1. 24 Carrot (Carrot Cake with Tangy-Sweet Vanilla Frosting): This cupcake was, in general, very good, but something was just missing, i.e. there was a disconnect between the cake and  the frosting. I did, however, like a couple things a lot here. First, the frosting, while just a bit too sweet, had a lot of cinnamon sprinkled on the top, giving it that very natural, zesty, herby type of sweetness that I love in a good spiced cookie or cake. It was also very light and creamy, very reminiscent of cheesecake, which allowed it to blend very easily with the cake, though the flavors didn’t match so well. As for the cake, it was very moist but still bland, as though it really wasn’t spiced at all. It was really saved by the overload of huge walnut chunks and carrot strands, helping to add both a nice crunchiness and a burst of flavor. The main problem just came in the lack of synergy—the very light, slightly too sweet frosting just didn’t seem to do much for the bland cake except for add a bit of creaminess. 4.0/5.0. Still a fantastic cupcake, but it just falls short of its potential.
   
2. You Tart! (Lemon Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and Yellow Sugar Sprinkles): This is another flavor that’s just slightly off, though it’s still fantastic. The biggest thing in this cupcake is just the intensity of the lemon, which is prevalent throughout, both in the cake and the frosting. The cake itself is very moist, reminiscent of a lemon pound cake, and while its flavor isn’t too pronounced, it provides a nice, balanced base for the much stronger frosting. And boy is that frosting strong! It has the same cheesecake-like consistency as that of the carrot cake, but here its flavor is much more intense, verging on the tanginess of a real lemon and the sweetness of an old-fashioned, vanilla cupcake. On the one hand, the combination is refreshing, causing you to pucker up as you eat it. On the other, it’s overwhelmingly sweet, really detracting from the fruitier, zestier taste of the cupcake. I do, however, like that the frosting and the cake complement each other well here. 4.0/5.0
   
3. Peanut Butter Blossom (Chocolate Cupcake with PB Frosting and a Chocolate Kiss on Top): Their most popular flavor and for good reason, as this was easily the best of the three cupcakes I tried. The muffin top I mentioned before is especially prevalent here, giving the whole cupcake a very satisfying crunch on top. The cake is also moist and much more flavorful than the other cakes, though it’s still as chocolaty as I’d like to see. The frosting, moreover, serves as a great complement. This one is much lighter than the others, having an even lighter, more whipped consistency to it (like whipped cream), which I think suits the naturally heavier or denser feel of the chocolate cake. That lightness doesn’t take away from the flavor, however, as the peanut butter comes through very well but not too much, so that it doesn’t overpower the cake. It is, however, still a bit too sweet, just like the others. I’m also not fond of the Hershey’s Kiss on top, which just adds another barrage of sugar and a very candy-like feel to the whole treat. 4.2/5.0.

What I’ve had before (not formally evaluated):

1. Vanilla Gorilla (Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting): I’d get this one again, too. It’s a banana cake topped with cream cheese frosting. The cake was right on, as usual for this store, and it had a nice sweet, poppyseed-like taste to it. The frosting added the right amount of sweetness. Plus, the crust had that nice harder muffin taste to it.

Scoring:

Taste: 4.0/5.0
Value: 3.3/5.0
Verdict: 3.8/5.0