Abigail Pesta at The Wall Street Journal did a taste test of four bakeries that offer mail order cupcakes (only three wound up being sent by mail as Crumbs was local). As readers of this site know from the mail order cupcakes section on the lower right-hand side, there are many more places offering mail order cupcakes now and I think this service will only increase alongside the demand. For me, the biggest sticking point has been price. I've ordered and paid from Teacake Bake Shop and have gotten sent free mail order cupcakes from places like Southport Grocer, and even thoug hboth were very good, they would not be worth it to me personally since I live in a city with plenty of cupcakes, though I'd go visit both bakeries in a heartbeat if I were in their towns (Bay Area and Chicago, respectively).
Here's what the Wall Street Journal writeup said, in part:
The Dean & DeLuca cakes, which came topped with a modest layer of frosting and a decorative snowflake, arrived in fairly simple packaging: a little white box tied with a red ribbon. Testers generally agreed that the cupcakes looked good, but that they were drier than the others. The ornate snowflake decoration on top turned out to be more akin to marzipan than to conventional icing. And the reviewers generally preferred conventional icing. Tough crowd. (Dean & DeLuca said it replaces orders if customers are unhappy.)
Godiva, the chocolatier, launched a "baked desserts" line in November, including brownies and chocolate-coconut macaroons. Godiva offers any kind of cupcake you want, as long as it's chocolate.
We clicked on the site's "live chat," got connected with Anne Marie three minutes later, chatted about the options, and ordered six chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache. We picked the arrival date and closed the deal.
Godiva had the most elaborate packaging. The cakes (three iced with vanilla frosting and three iced with chocolate, each garnished with a chocolate candy disc) arrived frozen, from Virginia, in an attractive gift box. Testers deemed the Godiva cakes rich and hefty, "more like a brownie than a cupcake," one said.
Here's what the Wall Street Journal writeup said, in part:
The Dean & DeLuca cakes, which came topped with a modest layer of frosting and a decorative snowflake, arrived in fairly simple packaging: a little white box tied with a red ribbon. Testers generally agreed that the cupcakes looked good, but that they were drier than the others. The ornate snowflake decoration on top turned out to be more akin to marzipan than to conventional icing. And the reviewers generally preferred conventional icing. Tough crowd. (Dean & DeLuca said it replaces orders if customers are unhappy.)
Godiva, the chocolatier, launched a "baked desserts" line in November, including brownies and chocolate-coconut macaroons. Godiva offers any kind of cupcake you want, as long as it's chocolate.
We clicked on the site's "live chat," got connected with Anne Marie three minutes later, chatted about the options, and ordered six chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache. We picked the arrival date and closed the deal.
Godiva had the most elaborate packaging. The cakes (three iced with vanilla frosting and three iced with chocolate, each garnished with a chocolate candy disc) arrived frozen, from Virginia, in an attractive gift box. Testers deemed the Godiva cakes rich and hefty, "more like a brownie than a cupcake," one said.
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