Cupcake Hunt No. 5: Tampa Bay Round-Up

June 22, 2015

After 9 months in Tampa Bay, I had my fair share of cupcakes. This makes City No. 5 for me in the four years I've been cupcaking. 
Some Thoughts:

  •  I ventured to 19 bakeries in Tampa Bay but visited 3 of them when I took short trips down to the area between 2012-2013 (before I moved there in the Fall of 2014). 
  • I also tried 2 bakeries from nearby Florida cities: Orlando & Jacksonville (making a total of 21 bakeries).
  • I sampled 11 different cupcakes in the last 2 months 
  • The average cupcake price is $3.00. 
  • I had been stalking Cake Bus for months in hopes to sample their famous Chicken 'n Waffles cupcake. The day I left, they emailed me telling me they would be out and about (since they very rarely are out in the area). Rotten timing but hopefully I can hunt them down one day! 

Chung's Best Cupcakes in Tampa Bay

Best Looking Cupcake:
Bake'n Babes's Piled High Peanut Butter Cupcake, which was adorned with edible bling and beautiful chocolate stripes. 

Weirdest Flavor:
Champagne Pear Bellini from Frostings Etc, which was oddly fragrant like a body splash from Bath & Body Works. 
And also the 24 Karat Cupcake from Frosting Etc that Jeffrey ordered was so odd for a carrot cake. It was savory, tasted only like carrots and didn't resemble the sweetness of a cupcake at all. Just say no. 

Most Unique Flavor:
Bacon Bourbon Chocolate from Oobalamode was described as having the kitchen sink in its ingredients. But in all seriousness, it had a lot going on: bourbon and chocolate and bacon and nuts and caramel. I couldn't tell if I liked it but it was an interesting experience. 

Cheapest Cupcake:
Cannoli Cupcake from Sugardarlings Cupcakes, just $1.50 each! 

Most Expensive Cupcake: 
A two-way tie at $4, each. Bake'n Babes and Oobalamode had some pricey cupcake stands at Tampa area Farmers Markets. 

Worst Cupcake:
Fudge Brownie from Nicola's Donuts; dense, dry and completely inedible. 

Best Cupcake:
Dirty Vanilla from Cupcake Cache near Busch Gardens. It was moist, not too sweet, flavorful and so delicious. 
And if I was going to extend my Best Cupcake award to neighboring Florida cities, the mini cupcakes I had from Sweet by Holly in Orlando were so delicious too! 

Runners Up:
Monkey Business from Cake Affection and the Cannoli Cupcake from Sugardarlings Cupcakes were very close to being amazing cupcakes and still very delicious. 

Special Thanks to Jeffrey, who accompanied me on many cupcake adventures as well as taking me to several of them. And also to Randy and Jeffrey, who were so gracious to pick up some mini cupcakes all the way from Orlando for me to sample. 

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