Cupcake Tour
I had to smile when a friend suggests a cupcake tour. What could be better than walking downtown Chicago, visiting different bakeries, sampling cupcakes and hanging out with friends? The tour officially allows 20 people but the door kept opening with more tourists waving their confirmation receipts It got to the point we all just chuckled when the door chimed. In the end, the tour managed 33 people and one calm tour guide. A great lesson in accepting overbooking reservations.
The first stop was Leonidas Chocolate Cafe, a Belgium chocolatier, that features a mini banana cupcake with a buttercream Nutella frosting. Not my favorite. I trashed half of it in favor of the coming attractions.
Next stop, Crumbs Bake Shop in Water Tower. Their claim to fame is having over 50 different varieties each day. The tour samples include an assortment of Girl Scout Thin Mint, Hostess Cupcake/Swiggle Style and Cookies N Cream mini-cupcakes. I do not know the name of my cupcake but the taste was of a Twinkie.
Fellow cupcake tourists dressed for the event at Crumbs. Wendy, lady in center, has a cupcake tee-shirt and cupcake hair clip.
After two rich cupcakes, our pallets need a good cleaning. Gelato from L'Appetito was perfect. This independent Italian shop has a nice selection of bakery items, sandwiches and coffee. A definite future stop when I vist Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.
Back on the cupcake path is Sprinkles, the world's first cupcake bakery and the originator of the gourmet cupcake craze. We were outside while the tour guide went inside because the shop had a line outside the door and past the shop. Sprinkles is known for their Red Velvet Cupcake, but there were very few samples so I tried a double chocolate with peanut butter frosting. If you visit Sprinkles and the line is out the door, try their Cupcake ATM.
The Cupcake ATM has over 30 different cupcakes. Nice option when the line is crazy or the store is closed. Nothing like a midnight cupcake run.
After the novelty of the Cupcake ATM, we continue the tour down to Goodness & Grocer. This store has an upscale deli, gourmet breads and oversize cupcakes. Unfortunately their mini cupcake is a standard size . At this point on the tour, an averages size cupcake was a bit much and most people left their sample. The cupcake was not memorable and I was officially done.
We still had one more stop but I wanted to go home with a cup of coffee to dilute the mounds of sugar. To be a team player, I stuck it out with Amy and Janette.
More Cupcakes was the last stop and the perfect ending. The stop was unique because it was a savory bacon cupcake with a buttermilk frosting and real tomato. The salty sweet combination with the tomato was AMAZING. To most people it sounds nasty but trust me on this one. If you visit Moore, be forewarned the entire store can fit into two standard bathroom stalls.
I took my lemon cupcake from Sprinkles, coffee from Starbucks and ran to the car. The meter only had 5 minutes and the Meter Maid was hot on my heels.
To summarize, the Sprinkles cupcake was my favorite and the bacon cupcake was a pleasant twist on the traditional cupcake.
Have you ever taken a Cupcake Tour? How about any type of food tour?
Sharon, The Mayor
The first stop was Leonidas Chocolate Cafe, a Belgium chocolatier, that features a mini banana cupcake with a buttercream Nutella frosting. Not my favorite. I trashed half of it in favor of the coming attractions.
Next stop, Crumbs Bake Shop in Water Tower. Their claim to fame is having over 50 different varieties each day. The tour samples include an assortment of Girl Scout Thin Mint, Hostess Cupcake/Swiggle Style and Cookies N Cream mini-cupcakes. I do not know the name of my cupcake but the taste was of a Twinkie.
Fellow cupcake tourists dressed for the event at Crumbs. Wendy, lady in center, has a cupcake tee-shirt and cupcake hair clip.
After two rich cupcakes, our pallets need a good cleaning. Gelato from L'Appetito was perfect. This independent Italian shop has a nice selection of bakery items, sandwiches and coffee. A definite future stop when I vist Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.
Back on the cupcake path is Sprinkles, the world's first cupcake bakery and the originator of the gourmet cupcake craze. We were outside while the tour guide went inside because the shop had a line outside the door and past the shop. Sprinkles is known for their Red Velvet Cupcake, but there were very few samples so I tried a double chocolate with peanut butter frosting. If you visit Sprinkles and the line is out the door, try their Cupcake ATM.
The Cupcake ATM has over 30 different cupcakes. Nice option when the line is crazy or the store is closed. Nothing like a midnight cupcake run.
After the novelty of the Cupcake ATM, we continue the tour down to Goodness & Grocer. This store has an upscale deli, gourmet breads and oversize cupcakes. Unfortunately their mini cupcake is a standard size . At this point on the tour, an averages size cupcake was a bit much and most people left their sample. The cupcake was not memorable and I was officially done.
We still had one more stop but I wanted to go home with a cup of coffee to dilute the mounds of sugar. To be a team player, I stuck it out with Amy and Janette.
More Cupcakes was the last stop and the perfect ending. The stop was unique because it was a savory bacon cupcake with a buttermilk frosting and real tomato. The salty sweet combination with the tomato was AMAZING. To most people it sounds nasty but trust me on this one. If you visit Moore, be forewarned the entire store can fit into two standard bathroom stalls.
I took my lemon cupcake from Sprinkles, coffee from Starbucks and ran to the car. The meter only had 5 minutes and the Meter Maid was hot on my heels.
To summarize, the Sprinkles cupcake was my favorite and the bacon cupcake was a pleasant twist on the traditional cupcake.
Have you ever taken a Cupcake Tour? How about any type of food tour?
Sharon, The Mayor
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