Cupcake Crawl: Columbus, OH

Several weeks ago I dropped Honey off at a kennel, threw my suitcase into my car, and set off towards Indianapolis for two of my college friends' wedding.  I'd been reading a lot of press about the cupcakeries in Columbus, Ohio, and since Columbus was directly on my path to Indianapolis I thought I'd take a short break and check them out.

Pink Moon Cupcake Bakery
Powell, OH
My first stop was the Pink Moon Cupcake Bakery located in Powell, a cute and quaint suburb of Columbus.  The narrow streets and charming "vintage" buildings give the community a cozy small-town feel.  I found parking directly in front of the store (woohoo suburbs!), right next to the cute wooden sign perched on the front lawn.

The front walkway led up to a pair of doors, which confused me for a moment, but luckily I picked the right one.   I found myself in a gorgeous room accented with dark, detailed wooden trim and a large brick fireplace.  A large, wooden banquet table stood near the back of the room, its surface completely covered with covered glass cake trays.  Each tray held a different flavor of cupcake; there must've been around twenty total.

While I agonized over my decision the friendly woman behind the table explained that they share their large space with a boutique and an art gallery.  The room to the left of the main bakery contained ample seating and beautiful vintage furniture.  A back room was filled with handbags and purses, and the walls of the main bakery  were decorated with cupcake-themed art.

I eventually settled on three flavors: Key Lime Margarita, Chocolate Peppermint, and Vanilla Chocolate.  The woman packed my cupcakes into this funky, custom cardboard box, and I returned to my car where I carefully packed the box next to the air conditioner.  My friends and I broke out the cupcakes the next morning for breakfast.

The cake in the Key Lime Margarita was phenomenal -- light and fluffy with this incredible texture that just dissolved on your tongue.  The cake had a tart, lime flavor -- delicious!  The frosting had a slightly salty lime flavor that wasn't quite as tart as the cake, and though it was good, it masked the sheer perfection of the cake.  The cake in the Chocolate Peppermint was soft and moist with a strange alcoholic flavor.  The frosting was great; light, fluffy, and buttery with a sharp peppermint flavor that stemmed from chopped York Peppermint Patties swirled into the frosting.     The vanilla cake in the Vanilla Chocolate also had a sharp, alcoholic bite, but it slowly faded to reveal a sweet, mild vanilla flavor.  The fluffy chocolate frosting was simply heavenly with a rich, buttery taste that reminded me of Cadbury bars.  Yum!You can find more detailed reviews of these cupcakes on Pink Moon Cupcake Bakery's profile page.


Our Cupcakery
Dublin, OH
Our Cupcakery is located in a cute little colonial house in yet another charming and quaint Columbus suburb.  The parking gods must have been smiling upon me because I was able to snag another prime spot right in front of the crisply manicured lawn.  The front windows were decorated with cute paper cupcakes, and a covered porch on the side provided ample outdoor seating.

Our Cupcakery does not sell pre-made cupcakes; rather they offer a cupcake bar where patrons can assemble and decorate their own cupcake confections.  The front room of Our Cupcakery was largely occupied with the cupcake bar.  A wire shelf across from the entrance held large colorful bowls and a covered display case containing several flavors of naked cupcakes.  A table against the front windows was covered in glass jars of various toppings.  The table also held a couple of lazy susans, one supporting pastry bags of various flavors of frosting and the other stuffed with an assortment of bottles of sprinkles.

After I complimented one of the employees on the super cute color scheme, she showed me the new custom printed to-go boxes they'd just received that match the bright green, orange, and hot pink decor.  She also told me about their patent-pending baking pan for pull-apart cakes.  Imagine a regular rectangular baking pan but with a removable tic-tac-toe grid you can place inside.  You pour cake batter into each of the squares and bake.  When the cake is done you pull out the grid and frost the cake -- voila!  A pre-cut pull-apart cake.

After the nice woman showed me around the store I grabbed a purple bowl and set out to create my own crazy cupcake.  I started with a naked vanilla cupcake which I covered with a swirl of chocolate frosting.  I sprinkled the cupcake with a generous amount of Oreo cookie crumbs and topped off the creation with a single malted milk ball.  The cupcakes are sold by weight so I took my cupcake over the register where the woman placed it on a scale and rung me up.  After I paid I headed back to my car where I carefully nestled the bag next to the air conditioner.

I ate the cupcake next morning for breakfast.  I'm not sure if I waited too long before eating the cupcake, or if the individual components weren't of the highest quality to begin with, but the cupcake wasn't that great.  The vanilla cake was dense and dry with a tinny vanilla flavor.  The chocolate frosting was a bit too bitter for my taste and had an odd slightly gritty texture.  Overall, it tasted like something I could've bought from a grocery store.  Check out Our Cupcakery's profile page for a more detailed description of "The Violet".


Well, that was Columbus!  Stay tuned for a writeup of the trip I took to Chicago the following weekend.