Atlanta Visit - Sprinkles Ice Cream and Cookies

During my visit to Atlanta last month to see my friends A and D, I had to schedule some time to check out the Sprinkles Ice Cream and cookie shop!  The shop is located in a mall, but there is a separate outside entrance as well - which also houses the cupcake ATM.

The interior was SUPER cute, and there was so much to look at.  Cupcakes, ice cream toppings and cones, cookies, and an extensive menu along the wall.  

Since I can get Sprinkles cupcakes in DC, I knew that my purchases would definitely be ice cream and a cookie.  The ice cream above is a kid's cup of their red velvet ice cream.  The kid's cup was the perfect size for a little snack, and as you can see there is plenty of red velvet cake inside.  I also love how the ice cream coordinated with the cup and spoon, haha.

I also bought a peanut butter pretzel chip cookie to take home - this cookie is huge!  I loved the flavor combination of this cookie, and I think this would be a big hit with any sweets fan.  Since there aren't too many outposts of Sprinkles' ice cream/cookie shops, I definitely recommend checking it ouf if you are in Atlanta! 

Sprinkles - Atlanta

3393 Peachtree Road

Atlanta, GA 30326

Georgetown Chocolate Tour

In the very end of November, my friend O and I took advantage of a great Groupon for a Georgetown Chocolate Tour by Great Food Tours. It was a chilly but fun afternoon walking around Georgetown and eating lots of chocolate!  We got to try lots of different forms of chocolate and even got to check out a new (to me) shop, Fleurir Chocolates.  If you're a fan of chocolate, this is a great way to check out lots of shops in Georgetown in one day!

 

Mini dark chocolate cupcake - Sprinkles

Sea salt caramel and Dark chocolate fudge - Thomas Sweet 

Chocolate and double chocolate Babka - Marvelous Market 

We didn't get these chocolates at Fleurir, but we did get a great chocolate covered salted caramel. 

Brown butter chocolate - Dean & Deluca. A mint chocolate was also offered but I didn't take it :o) 

Sprinkles - Maple Bacon Cupcake

Bacon. Need we say more? Harnessing bacon’s unique umami taste, Sprinkles serves up our first savory cupcake. Thick, smoky bacon is baked to a crisp and woven into our Madagascar Bourbon vanilla cake. Topped with rich, buttery maple cream cheese frosting, you will be convinced that everything tastes better with Maple Bacon!

September 6 to 22

I am SO THERE.

Sprinkles - Cuban Coffee Cupcake

As soon as I heard about the new coffee cupcake at Sprinkles, I made it a point to go and pick one up, haha.  I love coffee desserts/sweets in general and I knew that this one would be no exception!

Here's the official description from the Sprinkles website: After late nights dancing in Havana, morning always comes too soon. Wake up with Sprinkles Cuban Coffee cupcakes! This Belgian light chocolate cake is topped with powerful dark roast coffee frosting and subtle notes of cinnamon and cocoa. Just add a glass of milk to turn your café cubano into a cafecito!

The highlight of this cupcake is definitely the dark roast coffee frosting - a really rich and strong coffee flavor that is not overly sweet.  I could probably eat this coffee frosting on just about anything and try to justify it was a reasonable breakfast, haha.  

This cupcake flavor is available until April 28th, so be sure to get one before then if you love coffee and chocolate like I do!  

Sprinkles - Flourless Chocolate Cupcake

It's always a fun day when I happen to be in Georgetown when Sprinkles is offering their daily free cupcake!  They are a bit trickier than Georgetown Cupcake in that it's not posted at the beginning of the day - both Sprinkles and Sprinkles DC accounts on Facebook and Twitter post at various times in the day.

This one is the flourless chocolate cupcake - and no, I did not specifically ask for the holiday one, in case you were curious, haha.  It was a moist, dense chocolate cake with what I believe is a vanilla glaze on top, although that can't be confirmed via their website.  I'm a big fan of flourless chocolate cake, so this was delicious and I really enjoyed it - a glass of milk was necessary with this level of richness!

Lunchtime Links for March 14th, 2012

• Blondie and Brownie: Pierre Herme macarons.
• Emily Bites: Buffalo wing hummus. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Flourless peanut butter mug cake.
• Serious Eats: New cupcake shops in NYC.
• Cupcakes and Cashmere: Peanut butter ice cream sandwiches.

Lunchtime Links for March 5th, 2012

• The Budget Babe: Merona for Target Spring 2012 lookbook. 
• The Kitchn: Brown rice bowl with lemongrass, tofu, and cashews. 
• Picky Palate: White and chocolate chunk cookies with marshmallow bits and toffee. 
• Sprinkles: 24-hour cupcake ATM in LA.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Microwave matcha mochi cups.

Sprinkles - S'more Cupcake

 

On my last visit to Georgetown, I picked up a January S'more cupcake from Sprinkles thanks to a free cupcake coupon via Facebook, woo!

The S'more cupcake is "officially" the S'more by Blake Lively, aka Busty McMiniskirt on Gossip Girl.  The S'more is a graham cracker-lined Belgian dark chocolate cake filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache and topped with toasted marshmallow frosting, and is available through February 2nd.

This cupcake is a really delicious rendition of a s'more and I'm really glad I tried it.  The marshmallow frosting was a little messy but totally worth it.  And the graham cracker lining with the really rich dark chocolate cake was a fantastic combination.  Any fans of s'mores will love this cupcake!!

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Salty Caramel Cupcake

This yummy cupcake is a Sprinkles Salty Caramel cupcake, which was available at the end of last year.  I snagged one by being in the Georgetown area at the time that the day's free flavor was announced, woo!

The cupcake is a caramel cake with a buttery caramel cream cheese frosting topped with fleur de sel.  The fleur de sel flakes added so much flavor and really enhanced the sweetness and the caramel flavors of the frosting.  I did find the frosting to be a little overwhelming after the first bite, but I'm personally more of a fan of lighter/whipped frostings in general.  If you're a fan of salty sweets and/or caramel, I'd definitely recommend trying this cupcake!

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcake

 

Check out that chocolate sheen!  I couldn't pass up trying the Sprinkles Chocolate Marshmallow cupcake, what a great combo.  It's a "Belgian dark chocolate cake and marshmallow cream with bittersweet chocolate ganache".

Overall the cupcake was delicious, with rich chocolate flavor and moist texture.  Unfortunately the marshmallow component was pretty disappointing - it was literally a dab of marshmallow about the size of the tip of my pinky, directly under the candy Sprinkles dot.  I'm not sure if it was just a fluke cupcake, but I was surprised that it was that little marshmallow cream inside, especially considering the name of the cupcake.  If anyone wants to get me another one to prove me wrong, feel free ;o)

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Vanilla Cupcake

Photo courtesy of M

A while back, M and I walked from Bethesda, MD all the way to Georgetown via the Capital Crescent Trail.  One light at the end of the tunnel was our plan to stop in Sprinkles for a post-walk cupcake, woo!

I switched things up a bit and got their Vanilla cupcake: "Madagascar bourbon vanilla cake with creamy vanilla frosting".  As you can see it's a little messy to eat with the coating of vanilla sprinkles on top, haha.  This was a pretty tasty cupcake- I'd definitely recommend it for any vanilla flavor fans out there.  One thing I noticed is that the frosting reminded me of vanilla pudding in the taste - which I like, just thought it was sort of a random association to have, haha.   

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Pumpkin Cupcake

 

Pumpkin foods might seem a little off-season for some of you, but I personally can (and do) enjoy pumpkin pretty much year-round, haha.  So I was excited to try out the Sprinkles' version of a pumpkin cupcake recently from their Georgetown store. 

Their pumpkin cupcake is a "spiced pumpkin cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting".  Unfortunately I didn't think to take a cross-section photo of the cupcake so you can't see the cake, but it was tan with lots of specks in it from the spices that are used.  The cake was delicious, as was the frosting.  The frosting probably could've been a smidge less sweet and it would've been better for me - both the cake and the frosting were equally sweet.  However I'm sure anyone that loves sweets and pumpkin will have no complaints about eating this cupcake, haha.  It's a great option with a cup of tea, any time of the year!

Lunchtime Links for June 3rd, 2011

• Kirbie's Cravings: Momofuku compost cookies.
• DC Cupcakes: Georgetown Cupcake's low-fat chocolate ganache cupcakes.
• Mob Wives: Recap from TVGasm.
• Serious Eats: Sprinkles' banana cupcake.
• The Budget Babe: Dr. Scholl's cushions.

First Sprinkles DC Visit

T and her hubby G visited me a while back, and on the agenda was a trip to the new Sprinkles in Georgetown!   

The store isn't exactly the same layout as the one in LA (only one I've been to for comparison), but the general look is the same, with the window of cupcake offerings and the wooden cupcake shelving.  V. cute!
One thing I thought was annoying is how there isn't a natural progression when you walk into the store.  Most people naturally go to the right of the store, to see the cupcakes (photo above).  But the register where you order is to the left.  So, once you walk in and see the cupcakes, you then have to go through the other people in the center of the store in order to order, then stand in the middle with everyone else, since there isn't much space to begin with.  I guess you could just go straight in and to the left to order, but then you'd still have to deal with everyone else that is either waiting for their cupcakes or initially going to the right to look at the cupcakes and then ordering. 

Besides the "line" confusion, we were able to order without any issues and bring back cupcakes :o)

Cupcake Twins!!  We wound up getting two of the same flavor because it just looked really good, haha.  It's the Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcake: Chocolate chip studded peanut butter cake with fudgy milk chocolate cream cheese frosting...and TONS of chocolate sprinkles, which is weirdly omitted from Sprinkles' menu description, haha. 

This cupcake was soooooooooooo good.  Loooooooooooooooved the chocolate chips in the peanut butter cake, plus the texture of the copious sprinkles on top.  Really really really really rich and decadent.  I would absolutely get this again, and for my own good I should get it with other people to share with, it's really rich, haha.

Unfortunately I won't be going here all the time (compared to Georgetown Cupcake in Bethesda), but I look forward to trying more flavors when I find myself in Georgetown! 

Sprinkles Cupcakes DC

3015 M Street NW

Washington, DC 20007

202.450.1610

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Free Cinnamon Sugar Cupcake

For two weeks before the Sprinkles in Georgetown opened, the Sprinklesmobile was roaming around the city each day, giving away a limited number of cupcakes.  I was expecting to not be able to get any given that the locations were on weekdays in DC, but as it turned out, one of their scheduled stops was in Friendship Heights on a Saturday, woo!

I spent some time shopping in the area, stopping for a drink at Tynan Coffee & Tea, and possibly checking the Twitter feed, oh, every, 4 minutes or so, haha. 

Finally, FINALLY, the Sprinklesmobile location was posted.  I ran out of Bloomingdale's (after I paid, thankyouverymuch) and hauled my butt down Wisconsin Avenue to the truck.  The poor girl hadn't even really set up anything yet and there I was, staring up at her like an overeager puppy.  To keep myself occupied while she set up, I started talking to some of the people that had started to gather around to check out the truck, inviting them to get in line (BEHIND me, ha) for a free cupcake.

As you can see, the truck display is laid out pretty nicely.  The only issue that I'm assuming the girl had was having to repeat the flavors to virtually every customer, since there was only the one open box in the front to show what cupcakes were available, and no signage about the flavors. 

After a little bit of internal debating on what flavor to get, I ordered a free Cinnamon Sugar cupcake (plus a fork and a cute mini button they were giving out as well) and headed home to try it out.

I picked the Cinnamon Sugar one mainly because I had seen it mentioned on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" by Candace Nelson, the owner of Sprinkles.  She was talking about a doughnut muffin that she loved, saying it was the inspiration for her Cinnamon Sugar cupcake. Also, I have tried their Red Velvet cupcake in the past on a trip to LA a while back, so I wanted to try something different.  The cupcake is a "lightly spiced buttermilk cake dusted with cinnamon sugar", which is interesting because it's a frosting-less cupcake.  I really enjoyed this cupcake a lot- it's a bit messy due to the cinnamon sugar, but definitely worth the mess!  I didn't even miss the frosting because the cake was very moist and went well with the crunch of the cinnamon sugar topping.  I would definitely get this cupcake again!  Thank you Sprinkles for having a great giveaway promotion before your store opened!