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| - If Hello Kitty opened up a cupcakery in Charlotte, it'd probably look a lot like this one. Very bright, clean and inviting - enough that I was willing to get out of the car during the pouring rain in search of cakey goodness.
There's a wide range of self-serve yogurt flavors lining the back wall, though I didn't see any sampler cup-lets sitting out as other similar places offer. Maybe you have to ask for them?
Other posters have mentioned the need to get here early so that you don't miss out on the good flavors, but I showed up around 6pm after work and saw everything still seemed to be available. Granted, it was only a Tuesday...
So, down to the nuts and bolts. There were about 10 cupcakes on display. Each is $2.99 (plus tax), which fairly pretty in-line with expected pricing. I asked the girl at the counter several questions about the various flavors and ingredients, and was happy to learn that they only use butter - no shortening. Hooray!
Several options piqued my interest, but I took away a Key Lime for Husband, and a Chocolate Cream for myself. The two fist-sized cupcakes were packed into an adorable little box with cut-out holders inside so they don't tip over during transport. With such cute packaging, these would make a great little gift to brighten someone's day or bring to a dinner party! I can only imagine they have similar materials for one/four/more-packs.
When I got home, I was able to sample the wares. Although Husband hasn't eaten his yet, I "accidentally" swiped a bit of the frosting off the side, and it was really nice - light, fluffy, creamy, with a hint of key lime flavor (though I can't fully be sure that the flavor was deliberately infused in the frosting, or if it just crept up from the cake). (ETA: Husband said it was vanilla cake with key lime frosting. Also, that it was yummy. Husband does not dedicate quite as much verbiage to food reviews as I do.)
Be forewarned that these are HEFTY as far as cupcakes go. As I mentioned above, each was about the size of a fist, and was weighty for its size - not something you'd just pop into a lunchbox. This is a dessert you have to commit to! The portion of cake is large, and the frosting a sizable mound on top of it. My chocolate cake was good - both light and moist with a good chocolate flavor. It's not a deep, dark, dense chocolate (my personal preference), but instead is a solid base that would appeal to many. There was a tiny dollop of white buttercream in the center, and a bit more capping the mountain of fudge frosting that sat on top. Think: Hostess on steroids. The fudge frosting was enjoyable, creamy and thicker than the buttercream, but I didn't care for it quite as much as I liked the buttercream, and it was a little too sweet and there was a little too much of it all around. By the end, I ended up scraping about half off to feed the Garbage Monster.
Overall, I had a really nice first impression and would be eager to try other cake flavors, plus sample some of the yogurt. The Stuffed French Toast (vanilla cupcake with cream cheese icing in the center and topped with maple cinnamon buttercream, I think) looked tempting, as did the Birthday Cake yogurt. As a chain, they haven't displaced my love for local cupcake businesses, and the size is a bit overwhelming for it to be more than a very occasional treat, but I'm glad the option is there. It actually might be kind of dangerous that they're so close to where I live, and that they keep such long hours...
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