"Enjoy" Life - Eat a Cupcake!: SB Cupcake Crawl, Final Stop!

I think in many ways, we saved the best for last.  On our way home, Emily suggested we stop at Enjoy Cupcakes - a place she had looked into 'enjoying' for my bachelorette party last year.  She said it looked really cool, and since we were in no rush to get home, we took a slight detour to Los Olivos.  As soon as we pulled onto the main street, we knew we had struck gold.

Los Olivos is such a quaint little town, sprinkled with historic buildings, kitchy shops with odds and ends, and great eateries.  We immediately started planning our trip for next year, which will certainly involve a stop there - we're sure to find a cute little B&B.  Yes please!  And then - we saw it.

There are no words to describe how amazing, cute, fun and creative this place is.  The Enjoy trailer was parked outside, as the actual cupcakes are sold inside a wine bar.  Two of my favorite things under one roof?  Sure.  I'm getting more ideas for my own bakery.  We went to take a peek at their retro trailer.  I wanted to crawl inside and move in.  How cute is THIS?

The cupcakes are served inside this equally adorable wine shop - love the building, the porch, the outdoor seating, everything.  So welcoming and comfy - yay for Emily's great looking out.  That's why she's one of my top researchers.

When we walked in, there was a teenytiny little counter, almost like a jewelry counter or something, lined with beautiful little mini cupcakes in an array of flavors.  It was fitting that they were displayed in a jewelry case because they looked like little jewels.  Wait until you see these babies.

The cool thing about Enjoy is that they have a lot of wine inspired flavors, and a lot of just really outrageously creative flavors overall.  Em and I chose 6, and they were delivered promptly to us in an egg carton!  What a great idea!  The mini cupcakes were a perfect fit, and I really liked the repurposing of the egg carton.  Brilliant!  I snapped this photo while Em was inside, adding to her copper pot collection at one of the local shops.

And this....is what was inside, ladies and gentlemen.

These were the flavors we ended up with:

OMG Out of This World Flavors

Chocolate Blackberry Syrah

There is something so inviting and decadent about fruit on a cupcake.  Drizzle booze over the fruit?  I'm sold.





Sweet Potato Marshmallow


Do I really need to write anything about this one?  It was very yummy.





Chocolate Cheesecake Swirl


Black and white - just to dress it up a bit, super yummy, nonetheless.






Toffee Vanilla Cake


Crunchy and creamy together - so sweet!






Oreo Chocolate Mousse



Moist chocolate cake with an oreo baked at the bottom!

Lemon Cake with Honey Filled Rasberry                                         This one wasn't my favorite, but I love how pretty it is!

They were all beautiful to look at, naturally decorated, and had a taste to match.  I will definitely be back!!  Much thanks to my loyal research assistant!  

Decorations: Simple, clean, elegant.  Just my style.  

Ambiance - It would have been so cool to walk inside that trailer!  But, since it wasn't really the cupcakery itself, but the wine bar, I would give it a: 

Overall - An amazing little stop.  Cute, kitchy and original.  Loved it.

Holy "Hotcakes!"

I went to visit my fabulous and newly engaged buddy, Brittney, in her LA pad.  Of course the activities for the weekend included girl time, good food, movies and CUPCAKES!  L.A is one of the hotspots of cupcakes - they are ubiquitous and that's something I love about the place!  Granted, some of them are more inviting looking than others...but isn't that always the case?

Brittney had sampled some cupcakes from Hotcakes Bakes at her work, and had great things to say.  Twist my arm...I'm on board. They were also the winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network (Similar to Sift - which I blogged about earlier).  I had higher hopes for Hotcakes, since my Sift experience was forgettable.  Hotcakes is a little tiny shop, packed with lots of flavor variety and two stools at a bar by the window.  There were two of us, so it worked perfectly.  Let it be said, though, that I am still in search of my dream cupcakery.  I will find it, or I will open it.

Birdy - ready to sample with me!

There are no words...

As you can see, there were so many flavors to choose from, and well, I just couldn't.  Choose that is.  So, we walked over to the counter with a baker's dozen.  That's right, folks.  Thirteen cupcakes.  Don't judge - it was for research.  ;)

The flavors we chose were:

1. Red Velvet
2. Lemon
3. English Toffee
4. Tres Leches (their award winning flavor)
5. Sprinkleicious 
6. Strawberry
7. Coconut
8. Cookies and Cream
9. Carrot Cake
10. Chocolate Mint
11. Snickerdoodle
12. Key Lime
13. Chocolate

Oh, and I should probably add (for my own sake) that these were MINI cupcakes, people.  (Not that I wouldn't have ordered 13 normal size cupcakes.)

I don't have the energy to write on all thirteen, and truth be told, we could only get through ten.  I had to leave Brittney the last three to sample with her fiance, Sasha.  The pictures didn't turn out too great once we left the sunny store front, and so I will choose my top two, and then one of Brittney's reviews. I will also briefly let you know which ones were relatively anti-climactic, and that you should avoid...

Lemon

Photo Credit: Brittney Smith

This is one of the ones that Britt and Sasha tried.  According to her:
"So good! I must admit that I'm partial to lemon cake, but I really enjoyed this one. There was a subtle, but completely present lemon flavor in both the cake and frosting. But the surprise that Sasha and I both loved was that inside the cake was a little dollop of lemon curd. So so yummy. The yellow frosting just looks cute to me too." - Brittney Smith of Britt by Britt

I personally liked the off center frosting.  It made it look like a little party hat - and I was so down to party with this cupcake.  Too bad I didn't get to sample it!  Next time.  Thanks, Birdy, for doing the hard work for me!










Chocolate Mint


I love mint chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins.  I mean, who doesn't? (if you don't, don't tell me).  So the idea that that yummy summertime flavor could possibly be captured in a cupcake?  Yes please!

I was a bit put off by the alien green of the frosting - I prefer things to look a little more pale than that, but I wasn't letting that stop me.  I also wasn't a fan of the whole chocolate chips on the top - a bit clunky for my taste.  Perhaps consider some chocolate shavings next time? A little more elegant.

We bit in, and were both a bit overwhelmed with the mint flavor!  It was pretty powerful - like lingering minty burn in the back of your throat and clear your sinuses while your in there, powerful.  But, if you're into that kind of thing, then by all means...

I don't think I would revisit this one, though.

Flavor:


Decoration:

Strawberry


I've said this before, but nothing really says summer like a strawberry cupcake.  This cupcake did not let me down.  It was moist, fluffy, a beautifully pale shade of pink, topped with light and airy whipped cream frosting.  A dream in a wrapper.  Seriously good.

And, similar to the lemon - don't you love the off kilter frosting topper?  This one's totally rocking it.  Love it.

Flavor:

Decoration:

Anti Climactic:

English Toffee.  The only thing toffee about this cupcake was the toffee crumbles on the top.  I would have been better off eating a Heath bar.

Sprinkleicious.  Basically Funfetti.  Tasted like the box.  Kind of a let down.

Overall, I would give Hotcakes a definitely worth a stop if you are in the area!