House of Cupcakes takes the cake
By Kaitlin MacRae
On a quaint street in Princeton, nestled among various eateries and boutiques, lies House of Cupcakes, another bakery in an ongoing string of hip cupcake locales popping up across the country.
Though the cupcake trend can, at times, seem a bit too cutesy, there’s no denying that these little confections are both delicious and convenient.
House of Cupcakes offers a variety of specialty flavors, though they’re comparatively more tame than those created by other gourmet “cupcakeries,” such as Crumbs Bake Shop, which is based in New York but has nation-wide locations. The small cakes are all topped with a generous dollop of icing much larger than the cupcake itself, and they taste fresh even days after purchase.
One of House of Cupcakes’ more unique flavors includes German Chocolate, which is chocolate cake adorned with chocolate icing and topped with clusters of coconut and nuts. The Boston Cream cupcake is vanilla cake with bavarian cream filling, dressed in frosting that resembles chocolate ganache. The Chocolate Chip Mint cupcake features green mint icing, while the Lime and Orange cupcakes have lime and orange flavored frosting, respectively.
Coffee lovers will enjoy the Kahlua and Coffee cupcake, and the Candy Cup cupcake is decked out with a heap of vanilla icing and sprinkled with multicolored Snocaps. Yes, they taste just as good as they sound.
Simpler flavors include the trendy Red Velvet and the classic Carrot Cake, which is slightly underwhelming and a touch too sweet, thanks to the vanilla cream cheese frosting. Peanut Butter Cup is fantastic; the chocolate icing is light and airy, pairing well with the dark chocolate cake and peanut butter cup crumbles. In all, there are more than 25 cupcake flavors.
House of Cupcakes isn’t limited to cupcakes. It’s a great place to grab a quick cup of coffee or tea, and it has an array of other treats in its repertoire, including muffins, cookies and smoothies. Dogs can get in on the action, too. Pet owners can purchase “pupcakes,” which are made with pet-safe ingredients such as oatmeal, peanut butter, cornmeal and honey.
The store, which celebrated its second birthday in August, also has reasonable prices. A single treat costs just $2.25 and purchasing five cupcakes guarantees the sixth free at $11.25. The shop creates miniature cupcakes by special order, and also makes custom creations for special occasions such as weddings and baby showers. Even if the prices were steeper, the quality of the cupcakes would be well worth the expense.
If it’s sweets you crave, then House of Cupcakes is the place to be.
House of Cupcakes is located on Witherspoon Street in Princeton. To view the menu, visit www.thehouseofcupcakes.com.
