Choosing a cupcake...an LA rite of passage

For most, it is Crumbs vs. Sprinkles. I have yet to try out any other big names, simply because I don't know any.

But it's official: I'm a Sprinkles girl.

Sprinkles cupcakes are adorable, interesting, perfectly iced little gems. Simple, effective, delicious. I have only had them on 2 occasions, but both times were yummy.

Oh Crumbs, you tried...

Crumbs gains serious points for style, being far more "done up" than Sprinkles' little sugar babies. From a visual perspective I find them very appealing, and the 12 mini cupcake variety pack almost made me squeal, it was so pretty. R came away with the Madison Avenue and I ordered the classic Red Velvet. We rushed home, eager to taste.

However, the award was stripped from Crumbs...mostly for icing. I am a HUGE fan of icing, and believe it makes the cupcake. But when I bit into my red velvet Crumbs confection, all I could taste was butter. There's buttercreme, and then there's butter with a little sugar in it. This was just a bit gross. Ok, pretty gross. To make matters worse, there was a full inch of it on the cupcake. And an indentation in the middle of the cupcake, to hold-- you guessed it-- still more overly-buttery icing. Nope.

Other bakery suggestions are welcome and encouraged. I believe this is just the beginning of the LA cupcake story.