Where can one find the best cupcakes in Melbourne?
This is a question which seems to occupy a lot of space on places like the Vogue forums, and the opinions are wide-ranging and strongly held.
I don’t really have anything to contribute to the debate as frankly, I think the best cupcakes in Melbourne come from my kitchen, courtesy of the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. But failing that, I think the cupcakes made at The Cupcake Bakery rank pretty well.
Red velvet cupcakes are my favourite flavour and The Cupcake Bakery‘s version consists of a moist chocolate sponge, just the right amount of not-too-sweet cream cheese icing and a pretty sugared red heart ornament ($3.80 each).
I first popped into the The Cupcake Bakery to check out their wares after I decided to give each guest at my launch party for CycleStyle a little cupcake thank you. They sure know how to feature their goods well, luring passersby with a window of neat cake shelves and tiers of sugary treats styled artfully on pastel stands. It’s dangerously close to my work, but except for that one occasion I’ve manage to resist its charms by averting my eyes away from the marching rows of cupcakes.
The ladies at The Cupcake Bakery on Flinders Lane were great to deal with for my bulk order of 3.5 dozen boxed cupcakes ($42 per dozen, $0.50 per box). For the Saturday party I placed my order on the Wednesday before, paid the money, they measured out the size of the ribbon that I needed to secure the boxes and the cakes were boxed and ready for pickup Saturday morning, no fuss.
Best of all, the little gift surprised and delighted my guests. Oh and I had leftovers from the party, so I can attest that the cakes hold up well even after being in the fridge for a few days and later defrosted from the freezer.
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The Cupcake Bakery, Cnr Flinders Lane and Elizabeth St, Melbourne (and other locations)
Interestingly, in this search for The best Cupcake, you seem to have omitted Melbourne’s founding Cup Cake bakery in Degraves street around the corner from The Cupcake bakery called “Little Cup Cake”
Like a cup cake, Little Cup Cake is small and well packed, has a sweet little eating gallery area and the flavours are exactly as you would expect them to be from both the outside appearance as well as the names that each product has ( I found that the flavours at The Cupcake bakery are a little different to what you expect from the appearance and not strong enough)
Because I am a major cup cake fan – I really urge anyone who has read Joyce’s review to sample a product from each store and then decide which has the best product.
I cant help but feel that The Cupcake Bakery has a lot more money behind it, but not as much style and culinary expertise.
Thanks for your comment Robyn. Sorry I should clarify – I don’t necessary think that the Cupcake Bakery makes the best cupcakes in Melbourne (I haven’t done the rounds to be definitive about it), but I did think their cupcakes were pretty good.
Controversially, I have had Little Cupcakes before and didn’t rate them – I thought the red velvet sponge was too dry. But I have had many heated debates about whether I’m right about that so yes, I do urge everyone to taste-test one from each place. In fact, I might even do it today (as it’s my birthday!).
I’ve been to The Cupcake Bakery in Melbourne Central and was horribly disappointed, so glad to hear that the ones here were good.
I got a lemon meringue one and it looked absolutely gorgeous with its meringue top. Underneath that was a reservoir filled with lemon…well, not sure what you’d call it as its texture was awfully hard.
But the actual cupcake part! Ugh! It was as hard as a rock and I ended up throwing most of it away.
I love Little Cupcakes, but recently heard that their cupcakes are not as wonderful as they used to be. Their minis are adorable.
Twitter: eatdrinkstagger
| July 13, 2010, 1:58 pm
I am not the hugest fan of the Cupcake Bakery cupcakes. I went in there one day with my family and we bought about 6 different cupcakes to take home and try and they weren’t, well, nice! The sticky date one wasn’t overly sticky date tasting and had a big, rock hard date on it that nearly broke my boyfriend’s teeth! The icing was also really hard and they all tasted a bit stale.
Might have just been a bad day for them though, but I havent been tempted to go back.
My favourite cupcake place in Melbourne definately would be Little Cupcakes – I agree, their red velvet isnt great but their tiny teddy one is delicious and I love that they have mini’s so you can try a bunch of different flavours.
But the best cupcakes are always home made anyway!
Happy birthday Miss Joyce – very fitting for you to do a cup cake post on the day!
Twitter: carawaters
| July 14, 2010, 4:28 am
You should check out Cupcake Central on Glenferrie Road next to the station. Bumped into it the other week and the cupcakes are beautiful! So soft and moist!
I think they recently opened up as well!
Hi pumpkn
Thanks for the tip – I’m not in that neighbourhood often but will make a note to visit Cupcake Central on my next visit!
Jetsetting Joyce
Very nice post ..i find it !!! Love your pics! I love the graffitti in Melbourne it’s so cool and pretty (and controlled I guess). Yay for cupcakes and macaroons. Sounds like my kind of holiday!
i was looking forward to eating cupcakes bought from the Cupcake bakery (flinders lane) and was thoroughly disappointed!!
the lemon meringue did not even have a hint of lemon..and the custard tumble tasted quite stale..also they didn’t even look right. not a nice treat and won’t be going there again!!