Costco

Damen, Clybourn & Diversey, Chicago, IL


Chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting

Price: $16.99 for 20 (before tax)
Weight: 5 7/8 oz (165g) each
Value: $0.145/oz

Frosting Slight hint of graininess, buttery, with a fudge chocolate flavor. It has a thick consistency, but it's not particularly heavy -- more like a really thick mousse, maybe. I don't really like the richness of the fudge flavor, but it was good enough to enjoy. The plain frosting on the yellow cupcakes was better. Rating 6.5/10 (chocolate) 7.5/10 (vanilla)

Cake Moist, soft, but slightly bland, but still a respectable cake. Rating 7.0/10 (chocolate) 7.5/10 (yellow)

Overall What can you say about a cupcake that costs less than 85 cents, weighs more than 1/4 pound, and tastes pretty darn good? I declare it officially America's favorite cupcake of the 2008-2009 Recession. Overall Rating 6.75/10.0 (chocolate) 7.25/10.0 (yellow)

Sweet Cakes Bakery

935 N Damen, Chicago

Chocolate cupcake with white chocolate buttercream frosting

Price: $2.21
Weight: 4 5/8 oz (131g)
Value: $0.478/oz

Frosting The frosting is smooth and greasy, with no hint of graininess. Regarding the taste, I have to say that after having tasted a few white-chocolate flavored buttercreams, I have decided that there is no place in a buttercream frosting for white chocolate. The flavor combination just doesn't seem to work in my opinion, and here is why I think so: Buttercream is made with butter, right? And despite the name, white chocolate isn't actually chocolate at all. It's actually a substance that is extracted from the "chocolate liquor," a thick liquid of fermented cacao seeds that have been ground up. By pressing this liquid, it separates into cocoa solids and cocoa butter, which is also known as white chocolate. The cocoa butter is essentially the vegetable fat of the cacao bean. So you're really just mixing two fats together with a white chocolate buttercream; it's kind of like making the buttercream frosting with part butter and part Crisco. The white chocolate flavor doesn't even really seem come through the buttercream or give it any distinctiveness, other than perhaps to make it a little greasier. The taste and texture of this frosting was kind of like biting into a cool stick of butter. There was some sweetness, but it was mostly bland. So let's just agree on this one thing: bakeries should just cease and desist on the white-chocolate flavored buttercream. Rating 5.0/10

Cake Oh, the cake. After the experience with the frosting, I wasn't expecting this. Possibly the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. The chocolate flavor was rich, deep, sublime. The texture was moist, chewy and substantive. It is just so unfortunate that they paired it with a mediocre frosting. It merits a perfect rating. Rating 10.0/10

Overall I might have to re-evaluate my rather simplistic rating system. Basically, my Overall Rating is just the unweighted average of the individual ratings of the frosting and cake. I guess I can't decide if I like that method in this particular case. I liked the chocolate cake on this cupcake more than any other so far -- in my view it was almost off the charts. But the frosting was disappointing. In the end, my Overall rating is 7.5, but I'm left wondering would I really prefer this cupcake -- this particular cupcake -- over, say, a Dinkel's cupcake (7.0) which I like very much and which doesn't have any drawback like this one did?

So, I didn't like the frosting on the Sweet Cakes cupcake, but while it was a distraction to the overall experience, it wasn't totally awful. This is where the numerical rating just doesn't do a very good job, because if I had a choice between this particular cupcake and the average Dinkel's cupcake, I would take Dinkel's. Sure, I could always lower the frosting score so that the Overall Rating would be lower than 7.0, but I didn't feel that the frosting deserved a 4.0 rating, for example.

Oh well, I'm too lazy to come up with anything more sophisticated, so I guess I'll settle for imperfect. Besides, it's only a cupcake. And I can't believe I've even written this much. Is anyone still reading? Overall Rating 7.5/10.0

Angel Food Bakery

1636 W Montrose, ChicagoChocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting
Price: $2.82
Weight: 5 oz (142g)
Value: $0.564/oz

Frosting Slightly grainy and somewhat dense (which is partly evidenced by the overall weight of the cupcake). However, the flavor was a little off; perhaps the frosting had been frozen at one point, or perhaps the food coloring is lending a hint of unusual flavor, I don't know. I would characterize the frosting as decent, even with the slightly off-taste. Would have rated a 7.5 otherwise. Rating 6.5/10

Cake A slightly chewy cake with plenty of substance. A noticeable chocolate flavor without being either too weak or overbearing. Rating 7.5/10

Overall This was still a better than average cupcake, though the off flavor of the buttercream was a bit of a hindrance. For the price, however, I think it's a pretty good value. Overall Rating 7.0/10

Southport Grocery & Cafe

3552 N Southport, ChicagoChocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting
Price: $2.04
Weight: 3 5/8 oz (103g)
Value: $0.563/oz

Frosting Heavy and slightly dry, with a delicate outer crust. Powdered sugary aftertaste. A buttery frosting with a hint of graininess. Good frosting, but a little too sweet. Rating 7.0/10

Cake The light chocolate cake had a crumbly yet sufficiently moist texture. Rating 7.0/10

Overall Southport Grocery does make a decent cupcake. I put it on par with Dinkel’s, though each has distinctly different qualities. I used to give my co-workers a hard time when they raved about Southport’s cupcakes, insisting to them that Dinkel’s was far better. But in all honesty, both are good cupcakes; I don’t see the differences as making either one necessarily better than or inferior to the other. Overall rating 7.0/10

Cupcakes

613 W Briar Pl, Chicago
Chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting
Price: $2.50
Weight: 3 1/4 oz (92g)
Value: $0.769/oz

Frosting The frosting is smooth, light and airy. The texture is similar to a chocolate mousse. Very silky, and not too sweet. Rating 7.5/10

Cake The cake is moderately dense but moist, and it has solid chocolate flavor – not too weak and not overbearing. Rating 7.5/10

Overall This is a quite pleasing cupcake. It’s a bit on the pricier side, but to be fair this is the plainest version that Cupcakes makes; if their other cupcakes that incorporate mango or chai (or any of the other intriguing flavors I saw in the display case) have the same quality as this one, then I’d say the premium is well- justified. Overall rating 7.5/10

Dinkel's Bakery

3329 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
Chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting
Price: $1.72
Weight: 5 1/8 oz (145g)
Value: $0.336/oz

Frosting Smooth and light. Taste is somewhat plain, though not bad. Has a slightly greasy texture; I'm guessing it's made with shortening and butter. Rating 7.0/10

Cake Moist inside with a chewy, slightly over-baked cake top. The contrast of the moist crumb with the chewy top shell is an interesting combination, giving the cake some substance. Not a strong chocolaty taste, but still flavorful. Rating 7.0/10

Overall Dinkel’s has been around since 1922 and has some of the best cakes and pastries in the city. My love of cupcakes began with Dinkel’s, in 1998 -- when I had no money and could afford to treat myself only to small indulgences. At $0.93, it was one of my favorites and I would look forward to having a Dinkel's cupcake once or twice a week. They used to come with a plastic toy ring on top, and I was enough of a regular that the staff began to ask my preference for which type of ring I wanted each time, as though I was collecting them (I was).

Dinkel's makes a very good cupcake. They're consistent, flavorful, large and a great value. I think this makes it a good standard by which to compare other cupcakes. It might not be the very best cupcake you’ll ever have, but it has a good balance of flavor and texture that will satisfy your palate (and craving) every time. And for the price, it is one of the best cupcake values in the city. Overall rating 7.0/10