Cupcake Showdown

In 2003, when word got out that a cupcake shop had opened in Madrona, I was both thrilled and shocked.

On the one hand, I thought it was brilliant--who doesn't like cupcakes? They are intertwined with so many happy childhood memories, that I find even though I'm not a cake lover, I am a cupcake lover.

On the other hand, I was pissed. My childhood dream had been to open a cupcake store--I spent hours alongside my secondhand EasyBake oven perfecting my original recipes (until an experimental concoction exploded and rendered the oven useless). And while I wasn't exactly sure of when I let this dream go, I now knew exactly where it ended up--in the hands of others.

So, early one wintry Saturday morning, Jen and I bundled up our kids and headed to Cupcake Royale. The interior was, uh....more rustic than expected--complete with a painted concrete floor strewn with chocolate and vanilla cake crumbs. While it couldn't have been much past 11:00 a.m., all the mini cupcakes were already sold out. We ordered some coffee (which was excellent) and perused the remaining offerings. There were only two cake flavors (although now they offer 2 or 3 seasonal selections in addition to the usual suspects), but I have to say the thing that disappointed me most was the presentation. To me, thier "signature swirl" looked like some creative spackle work. For $2.50 a cupcake, I wanted pretty. We ordered several flavors, and to be honest I couldn't tell the vanilla buttercream from the lavender or pink buttercreams (if there was any difference beyond the color).


Since missing my calling as a cupcake baker, I returned to Cupcake Royale several times, mainly because I still loved the very idea that a cupcake business could make a go of it. Bully to them! Yet I remained disenchanted by the cupcakes themselves, trying my best to enjoy my overpriced confection as I thought to myself, "I could have been a contender!" and dreamt of fanciful delicacies made with local touches (like Theo chocolate) and poetic names like those found at Top Pot doughnuts.


Fast forward four years later. On my 35th birthday, a coworker drops off a cupcake on my desk. This is the cupcake of my dreams! It is, as it's name decrees, a "Trophy Cupcake." This triple-chocolate wonder was as beautiful as it was delicious. This cupcake could easily make People magazine's "Best Dressed" list.

I never would have thought Seattle could support the influx of cupcake stores that have cropped up (Cupcake Royale now boasts three locations, and there are other cupcakiers, like New York Cupcake, that are opening in shopping malls). Local supermarkets and even Starbucks have hopped on the cupcake bandwagon, making me a little sad that I didn't do the same. Still, as long as I know where to go for the best cupcake, I'm happy.