In the spirit of the holiday season, I'm going to take a look at something a little more warm and cheerful while snow continues to cover NYC. I recently took a trip back to my hometown of Houston, Texas (or rather, Sugar Land, to be more accurate). One of my primary goals was to re-explore the culinary landscape of Houston. So, onto my determined cupcake quest!
My good friend Tina helped chauffeur me around to two cupcake stores in Houston. First up is Crave Cupcakes:
As the logo boasts, the cupcakes are baked fresh daily, and there is a helpful calendar on their website that states the weekly baking schedule for each flavor. The logo and overall setup of the store actually reminds me a lot of Sprinkles. We split the white chocolate macadamia nut, a hefty Texas-sized cupcake with a simple and smooth white chocolate cream cheese frosting that belies the mixture of macadamia and chocolate chips in the cake portion. A relatively new addition to the Galleria area, Crave is a convenient sugar rush stop after a hectic afternoon of shopping.
Next, we headed to Sugar Baby's Cupcake Shop, the first Cupcakery in Houston.
Stepping into the store for the first, or even hundreth, time makes you feel as if you've been whisked away from the dull, drab outside world into a fantasy world where only pink giggling angels and soft pillowy cupcakes exist. There's even a private party area where I always see cute little girls indulging in the kind of cupcake fantasies I dreamed about as a kid. Adorning the display windows are cute single cupcake carriers, little cupcake measuring cups, and cupcake wrappers amongst other cupcake themed products for sale. I couldn't resist getting one of the pink cupcake carriers:
Sugar Baby's also puts an interesting twist on the normal condiments counter with their selection of different colored sprinkles shakers, all silently beckoning to be used. Who am I to refuse that offer?
The final product: The Black Tie Affair, with my own heavy-handed "dash" of pink sprinkles.
The Black Tie Affair, according to their website, is a "Rich black chocolate cake dotted with white chocolate chips, topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and black and white striped chocolate sticks". Their cupcakes are made fresh every day too, always a reassuring piece of information to know.
At this point, we were both a tad sugared out, especially after having consumed giant cups of ice cream and lunch before the cupcake hunt. But it was all for a cause. It seems that Houston is indeed becoming a cupcake-friendly city. More reason to go home for the holidays: you never know what you might discover about the most familiar places.
Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and Happy Eating!
Crave Cupcakes
1151-06 Uptown Park Blvd
Houston, TX 77056
(713) 622-7283
www.craveupcakes.com
Sugar Baby's
3310 S Shepherd Dr
Houston, TX 77098
www.ilovesugarbabys.com
Logos and Sugar Baby store photos are all right reserved
Cupcake photography by: www.tinaphanphotography.com
Know of any other Houstonian bakeries we missed? Tell us in the comments!
My good friend Tina helped chauffeur me around to two cupcake stores in Houston. First up is Crave Cupcakes:
As the logo boasts, the cupcakes are baked fresh daily, and there is a helpful calendar on their website that states the weekly baking schedule for each flavor. The logo and overall setup of the store actually reminds me a lot of Sprinkles. We split the white chocolate macadamia nut, a hefty Texas-sized cupcake with a simple and smooth white chocolate cream cheese frosting that belies the mixture of macadamia and chocolate chips in the cake portion. A relatively new addition to the Galleria area, Crave is a convenient sugar rush stop after a hectic afternoon of shopping.
Next, we headed to Sugar Baby's Cupcake Shop, the first Cupcakery in Houston.
Stepping into the store for the first, or even hundreth, time makes you feel as if you've been whisked away from the dull, drab outside world into a fantasy world where only pink giggling angels and soft pillowy cupcakes exist. There's even a private party area where I always see cute little girls indulging in the kind of cupcake fantasies I dreamed about as a kid. Adorning the display windows are cute single cupcake carriers, little cupcake measuring cups, and cupcake wrappers amongst other cupcake themed products for sale. I couldn't resist getting one of the pink cupcake carriers:
Sugar Baby's also puts an interesting twist on the normal condiments counter with their selection of different colored sprinkles shakers, all silently beckoning to be used. Who am I to refuse that offer?
The final product: The Black Tie Affair, with my own heavy-handed "dash" of pink sprinkles.
The Black Tie Affair, according to their website, is a "Rich black chocolate cake dotted with white chocolate chips, topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and black and white striped chocolate sticks". Their cupcakes are made fresh every day too, always a reassuring piece of information to know.
At this point, we were both a tad sugared out, especially after having consumed giant cups of ice cream and lunch before the cupcake hunt. But it was all for a cause. It seems that Houston is indeed becoming a cupcake-friendly city. More reason to go home for the holidays: you never know what you might discover about the most familiar places.
Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and Happy Eating!
Crave Cupcakes
1151-06 Uptown Park Blvd
Houston, TX 77056
(713) 622-7283
www.craveupcakes.com
Sugar Baby's
3310 S Shepherd Dr
Houston, TX 77098
www.ilovesugarbabys.com
Logos and Sugar Baby store photos are all right reserved
Cupcake photography by: www.tinaphanphotography.com
Know of any other Houstonian bakeries we missed? Tell us in the comments!
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