Two Buffalo Roaming

Meet our little mascots on A and M's Big Adventure, aka the road trip down to Florida:

Our first stop was a little out of the way but a must-see for the special friend: St. Louis. And lucky for me, it is home to two of the Top 10 cupcake bakeries on Daily Meal's Top 101 Cupcakes in America.

The first bakery we stopped at was The Cup, which is number 9 on the list. There was a good crowd at the bakery on a Saturday night, which seemed promising for the bakery. We opted for a Grasshopper cupcake: a chocolate cake topped with a vanilla mint buttercream and an Ande's mint. Each regular sized cupcake is $2.95.

located at: 28 Maryland Plaza, Central West End, St. Louis, Missouri

It was very springy and moist but the flavors seemed too muted for me. However, the mint flavored lingered long after the cake was eaten. The special friend LOVED it but I kept hoping it would get more flavorful with each bite. It never did but it wasn't too shabby either. 
The next stop in St. Louis was to the number 7 bakery on the list: Jilly's Cupcake Bar, which also happens to serve Sunday brunch. So first, we stuffed our faces with an incredibly tasty and fully stocked buffet, complete with a make-your-own cupcake bar.

located at: 8509 Delmar Blvd, University City, St. Louis, Missouri

I decided to not participate in the make-your-own cupcake bar so I could save my real tasting for a cupcake off their regular menu. But the special friend decorated a mini cupcake at the bar, which was pretty schnazzy.

The special friend's DIY cupcake. 

Jilly's cupcakes are HUGE, and the prices reflect the size. They range from $4.75-$6.50, which are the priciest cupcakes I have ever seen. I decided to order the very cute, seasonal cupcake: Apple Butter, which is an applesauce cake with an apple butter filling, topped with caramel apple buttercream. This particular cupcake was priced at $6.00. By far the most expensive cupcake I have ever purchased.

I wasn't sure what to expect before I took a bite of this cupcake. I had my doubts since it looked and sounded so intense and I was shocked by the price. But all those doubts quickly went away as soon as I took a bite.

It. was. so. amazingly. delicious. It was perfectly fluffy & moist, not too sweet, flavorful without any one component being too overwhelming and so stunningly decorated. I was in love. And I quickly scarfed down the cupcake, regardless of its ginormous size.

But the special friend wasn't as excited as I was. He still thought The Cup's mint cupcake was more tasty. We'll have to agree to disagree on these cupcakes.

More adventures to come on our journey down to Florida!