City Fest

I'm not one for being around crowds of people. But for a friend, sure! My friend Karla came to Houston this week and she told me to come downtown on Sunday to go hear her tango band play. Little did I know that her tango band was part of the entertainment for the Houston International Festival. 

tango band!

The festival, or iFest, celebrates international music, art and food in Houston. Heaps of people were there on a sunny Sunday afternoon to enjoy the food stands, music and crafts. There was an admission fee but I had an in with Karla and got to enter free. 

My friend Derek and I, while waiting for the tango band to start, ventured around part of the festival to check out the food booths. We gave in and bought 9 tickets for $10 to sample some food and have an afternoon-pick-me-up. Like most carnivals/festivals, the food was overpriced so we could only afford empanadas and a drink each with our 9 tickets. Lucky for us, both were super tasty. 

While walking around, I spotted a stand that said very boldly, CUPCAKES & MORE. I felt an obligation to eat one but didn't really want to go and buy more food tickets. Call me cheap, but I didn't think a cupcake was worth 4 tickets (which equals to about $4.40). 

located at: 14705 Woodforest Blvd, East Houston, Texas

Lucky for me, Karla totally had the hook up and gave me a ton of free food tickets once her performance was over. I went right to the cupcake booth and purchased two cupcakes. 

I was a lil skeptical because my last encounter with a cupcake at a food stand was at the Sarasota Farmer's Market. Granted a farmer's market and a city festival aren't the same, I couldn't help but feel like this cupcake wouldn't be tasty, at all. I anticipated a pretty bad cupcake. 

Thank God I was wrong! I got two different flavors: Peanut Butter & Jelly and Italian Cream. They were both delicious! Both were moist, flavorful and topped with two different but very tasty frosting. The Peanut Butter & Jelly was better than I expected: I was gearing myself up for a muffin-like, not so sweet cupcake. This, however, was perfectly sweet and the grape jelly filling was a nice surprise too. 

I wasn't sure what exactly Italian Cream would end up being. It was similar to a carrot cake cupcake, topped with cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut. The cupcake was filled with nuts and was yummy even though I'm still not quite sure what the flavor was exactly. 

The bakery that created these two excellent cupcakes is Cupcakes & More. Their cupcakes are actually a bit cheaper than the price of 4 iFest tickets. They are $2.95 each and they offer about six flavors each day. You can even order a Texas Sized Cupcake, which is, you guessed it, a ginormous cupcake that could feed an entire party.