Cupcake Review

Cupcake A La Mode-
If you’re looking for a cupcake that could have come straight out of “Cupcake Wars”, Cupcake Al La Mode is the place to go.
When walking down Wornall Road on the Plaza, my eyes shot straight to the case full of cupcakes the size of a basketball player’s palm. Each shelf filled with cupcakes topped with perfectly swirled frosting and detailed with add-ons like graham crackers, cherries and pink gumballs. Cupcake Al La Mode always offers seasonal flavors.
After being captivated by the variety of cupcakes, I weighed my options, but finally decided to order due to the line of impatient customers growing behind me. I went with the Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcake and The S’mores cupcake.
I licked off the frosting first, just as any experienced cupcake eater would do. The heap of peanut butter frosting drizzled in cherry jelly, was by far my favorite part of the cupcake.The frosting tasted just like the inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, but was as fluffy as whipped cream and practically melted in my mouth. The cake itself was vanilla and was dense, but not too spongy. Large pieces of cake came crumbling off with every bite, but that only further proves my point that the cake portion was very soft.
The S’mores Cupcake had vanilla frosting with a smooth consistency mimicking a classic, buttery consistency, and was not too sweet. The frosting was covered with ground graham crackers and topped with a piece of chocolate and melted marshmallow. The only thing missing from this experience was the bonfire itself. Overall if you’re looking for a sweet buttercream frosting and an extra large cupcake, Cupcake A La Mode is worth the visit.

Small Cakes-
Small Cakes, located in Crown Center, offers 18 exotic cupcake flavors that are all neatly displayed on tiered cupcake platters.
The pink and turquoise checkered floor paired with the turquoise columns that line the front of the store put me in the mood to eat desserts covered in colorful sprinkles.
I was forced to decide between the “Instagrammable” Hot Fudge Sundae cupcake, complete with snow white frosting and a chocolate drizzle and the Cookies-N-Cream cupcake. My Oreo obsession won; Cookies-N-Cream it was.
The vanilla frosting was almost a perfect imitation of the actual cream filling of an Oreo and I was pleasantly surprised by the hints of the Oreo cookie mixed within the frosting. The chocolate cake was rich. I value a perfect frosting to cake ratio, and Small Cakes was a perfect ten out of ten on my scale.
The Vanilla cupcake was topped with pink and orange sprinkles that covered up the frosting, which personally I could have done without, since they didn’t add any flavor. The vanilla frosting, however was over the top in the sugar department. My first thought was that they might have dumped 20 splenda sugar packets into the mixing bowl.
Overall, I was a fan of the cupcake size and the moist consistency of the cake, but the frosting left me feeling like I could enter a sugar coma at any minute.

Kansas City Cupcake Co-
Kansas City Cupcake Co. is a small, family-owned business located on 80th and Lamar Avenue. Although the array of pink flowers, chandeliers and glitter beads hanging from the ceiling reminded me a bit of my third grade bedroom, which I will admit was cheesy, the cupcakes made up for the decorations circa-2006.
Each cupcake was enclosed within its own plastic case, so it was perfect for picking up and taking on the go. When choosing my cupcake, I was pleased by the small size and the perfected tiers of swirled frosting. I will admit to a Cookies-N-Cream addiction, so when I saw the crushed Oreos covering the creamy frosting, my obsession won out again. The best part of this cupcake was that the vanilla frosting with bits of Oreo had been injected inside the cake. It was an unexpected surprise.
Just to balance my obsession with anything cookies and cream flavored, I also tried a lemon cupcake. The lemon cake had the perfect mix of vanilla and lemon in the cake and frosting, but if lemon flavoring isn’t your thing then this cupcake is not special enough in flavor to go out on a limb for.
Overall, Kansas City Cupcake Co. is great for cupcakes on the go, but due to the atmosphere, this probably wouldn’t make top five list.

Baby Cakes-
Baby Cakes is located in the River Market and was one of the first cupcake shops to open up in Kansas City.
The bright yellow front door and turquoise awning are very inviting and not to mention, hard to miss when walking through the River Market. The inside of the shop has a very clean, simple layout along with silver circles painted on the floor that added to the shops aesthetic.
I went with a strawberry cupcake because I couldn’t pass up the look of the light pink cake topped with small pink frosting flowers. Although strawberry is an unusual flavor choice for me, it didn’t disappoint. The pink spongy cake tasted identical to my favorite fruit and was topped with a sweet buttercream frosting.
I also tried a red velvet cupcake. The bright red cake wasn’t too sweet and had a dense texture. The cream frosting swirled on top had a very thick consistency and wasn’t too sugary.
Overall Babycakes had a very vintage vibe followed up with cupcakes that looked like art thanks to the frosting decorations.