Sugarbelle

63 Hebron Avenue

Glastonbury, CT

This is not the bakery of your childhood, when you enter Sugarbelle your nose is not tantalized by the scents of sweet treats baking, and the elegant design gives the feeling of walking into a high end salon rather than a bakery but then your eyes catch a glimpse of the decadent cupcakes that fill the glass case at the front of store. Believe me, there is no shortage of flavor variety at Sugarbelle. We have noticed a trend at many of the cupcake bakeries we visit; if you want a variety of flavors, weekends are the time to visit, however this was not the case at Sugarbelle in Glastonbury. We visited on a Tuesday, mid-day and had 18 flavors to choose from! Having to narrow it down to which we wanted to taste test was no small task but after much deliberation we decided on the Boston Cream Cupcake, the Lemon Cupcake, and the Cookie Dough Cupcake.

We started with the Lemon Cupcake all agreeing that the cake was moist and had just the right amount of lemon flavor; however we also all agreed that the lemon frosting seemed to be lacking in flavor and texture.

Todd felt that the Boston Cream Cupcake was the best executed cupcake not only at Sugarbelle but of the cupcakes we have tested so far.  “If you like Boston cream pie or Boston cream donuts you will love this cupcake from the ganache topping, to the custard filling.”

The third we tested was the Cookie Dough, a very creative moist cupcake with a delicious creamy frosting topped with a chocolate chip cookie. At the bottom of the cake, is a hidden little treat of a cookie dough base. Although flavor wise this was Anne Marie, Aidan, Molly, and Bridget’s favorite, we all agree that this was the hardest of the three cupcakes to eat.  The cookie dough bottom doesn’t stick to the cake but crumbles right off the bottom. This is a cupcake that should probably be eaten with a fork but Sugarbelle does not supply forks to their customers, but when all is said and done it is all about the flavor and Sugarbelle is full of flavor!

Sugarbelle has just opened a second store in West Hartford, CT.

Hours:

Tuesday - Saturday 10am to 5pm.

Overall Group Rating out of 100:
Lemon Cupcake - 74
Boston Cream Cupcake - 94
Cookie Dough Cupcake - 95

Linny’s

Gourmet Deli and Sweet Shop

18 Providence Road

Brooklyn, CT

February 2012

Linny’s is housed inside a bright yellow colonial building formerly a home in the historic center of Brooklyn, CT.  Inside you will find an eclectic bakery and gourmet deli with 2 cozy side sitting rooms. Sun pouring in the windows makes this a welcoming location to sit, read the paper and enjoy a cup of soup, a panini, or a cupcake!

Linny’s specializes in more than 40 flavors of cupcakes or you can create your own flavor. In addition to their 40 plus highlighted cupcakes they also have an alcohol infused cupcake menu and gluten free options.

During our two visits to the shop, we have sampled 7 flavors of Linny’s cupcakes; Red Velvet, Almond Raspberry, Citrus, Snickers, Mexican Hot Cocoa, Peanut Butter Truffles, and Raspberry Cream.

The cupcakes are simply decorated making them very pleasing to the eye.  The texture tends to be dense across the board and a little dry. Our family favorite was definitely the Citrus, a lemon cake topped with a citrus butter cream. Another favorite was the Raspberry Cream a vanilla cake with a raspberry preserves filling and a raspberry infused frosting. The raspberry infused frosting was a hit with Bridget.

 Overall Group Rating out of 100:

Citrus: 90

Almond Raspberry: 89

Raspberry Cream: 87

Mexican Hot Cocoa: 75

Snickers: 83

Peanut Butter Truffle: 82

Red Velvet: 84



Lis Bakery

15 Holmes Street, Mystic, CT

February 2012

The warm baked goods from Lis Bakery in Mystic, CT  beckoned us in from the cold on a gray February afternoon.   

Lis Bakery is hidden down a side street just a short walk from the draw bridge. Just outside Lis’ front door is the Mystic River with great views of the seaport, a wonderful location to sit and indulge in your cupcakes especially during the warmer months.

The interior of this little bake shop can be described as quaint and the glass cases are filled with baked goods that are sure to remind you of your childhood. 

 We decided to taste the Black Bottom Cupcake; a chocolate cake with chocolate chips, a cream cheese filling and chocolate frosting, and the Almond Joy Cupcake; a cupcake crowned with toasted coconuts.

The cupcakes were rich, moist and flavorful. Todd favored the Black Bottom Cupcake; giving it just 1 point shy of a perfect score with the Almond Joy not far behind. Aidan was not a fan of the Almond Joy but said the Black Bottom was one of the best cupcakes he ever ate. Anne and Bridget agreed that although the cupcakes were very flavorful and moist; they were a little lacking in presentation.  No matter what, the next time you are in Mystic, Lis Bakery is well worth a visit!

I know we will DEFINETLY be back! 

Overall Group Rating out of 100

Black Bottom – 91

Almond Joy - 89  

The Bleu Squid

27 Coogan Blvd
Mystic CT

February 2012 

We decided to indulge our sweet tooth cravings and headed out to the Bleu Squid in Mystic, Connecticut. The Bleu Squid is located in the heart of Olde Mistick Village. This homey bakery and cheese shop has over 30 varieties of cheese and over 40 flavor combinations of cupcakes.  

If you are looking for a little something savory before your sweet treat they make tasty “grown-up” grilled cheeses such as lobster grilled cheese (their most popular) or the Bacon & Bleu. 

Now onto our reason for being here…. the cupcakes! Our group decided to sample the Black Forest Cupcake; a rich chocolate cake with cherry frosting decorated with chocolate sprinkles and the Butterfingers Cupcake, not only was there a bite-sized Butterfinger perched on top of this cupcake but there is one baked right into the center of the cake.

We started our taste test with the Black Forest and found the cupcake to frosting ratio to be a perfect balance of the two. This is a very important element especially for Anne when trying to find the perfect cupcake. However the frosting was a little hard to cut through with a fork causing the cake to crumble apart.   

Next we moved on to the Butterfinger Cupcake, again perfect cupcake to frosting ratio. Bridget especially enjoyed “nutty, vanilla frosting flavor.” The kids also really enjoyed the surprise of the bite-sized Butterfinger hidden in the center of cake.  

The Bleu Squid has a fantastic homey seaside cottage décor. However, the close quarters make it a little too close for comfort when ordering and paying or when trying to find a place to sit and enjoy your sweet treat. We chose to take the cupcakes outside to enjoy on a nearby bench.

Oh, wondering how the Bleu Squid got its name? “Bleu” pays homage to the 30 varieties of cheese you will find here and the “Squid” pays homage to the seaside town of Mystic.  

Next time you are in Old Mistick Village stop in. 

Hours:

7 days a week – 10am - 6pm.

Over All Ratings (Out of 100)

Black Forest – 76

Butterfinger - 79

Welcome!

The cupcake craze is alive and well in our home.   We love to create them – we love eating them, and we love watching Food Network TV shows about them! Our interest developed with our daughter’s love of the show Cupcake Wars (3 seasons ago). Soon we were in the kitchen mixing our own concoctions and baking the delightful mixtures until they turned into delightful cupcakes.

Molly and Bridget approached the rest of the family and asked if we would be willing to take on the challenge of trying to find the best cupcake / cupcake bakery and write a blog about our hunt. So here we are the beginning of 2012 and as a family we are on a mission, a mission to discover the best cupcake in the state of Connecticut and ultimately in time we hope to find the best cupcake in America.  Which cupcake bakery will have the last cupcake standing?

From time to time we as a family will be visiting cupcake bakeries and reporting back to you just what we think of each location.

 We have devised a points rating system that will be used in each location.

The highest possible rating is 100 points.

Points Rewarded

Overall Flavor – 20 points

Presentation – 20 points

Frosting Flavor – 10 points

Frosting to Cake Ratio – 10 points

Creativity – 10 points

Texture – 10 points

Moistness – 10 points

How easy was it to eat – 5 points

Customer service in the bakery – 5 points

We will each individually rate the tasted cupcakes, then total our scores and average all the scores together for our overall rating. There will be times that only certain family members will be available to attend a tasting so the average will reflect only what that day’s tasters rated each cupcake.

Meet the judges:

Todd – Adult

Anne Marie– Adult

Molly – Teenager

Bridget - Pre-teen

Aidan – Elementary School Student

From time to time we will have guest judges.

We will also share other tidbits about our adventures and fun facts about cupcakes as well.

We hope you will enjoy and share our blog.

Please feel free to comment and let us know what you think.