Last week I had the privilege of attending Wonderland Custom Cakes' Grand Opening in Old Town Pasadena. If you're a regular reader of
Cupcakes Take The Cake you'll know I posted an interview with the owner, Anthony Valerio. Even under the stress of running his brand new shop Anthony and Vandy were kind enough to show me their kitchen! When I arrived at 11:00am they had already completely sold out of cupcakes! One of the employees let me know that they were baking more cupcakes at the moment and to come back in a few hours. I came back around 2:00 and they were still out! Fortunately, Anthony was kind enough to offer to send me cupcakes so I could still post this lovely review for you all!
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| Outside the Store Front |
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| Anthony Valerio and his Aunt Vandy |
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| Special Home Delivery! |
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| Perfectly Packed! |
Per Anthony's promise I came home late this week to a box of five perfectly packed cupcakes waiting for me! After carefully unwrapping and snapping shots of all of them I sat down with my family to begin the tasting!
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| Chocolate Bacon Caramel |
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| Chocolate Bacon Caramel (Inside) |
The first one we tried was the Chocolate Bacon Caramel cupcake. This cupcake is a "rich chocolate cake dipped in bacon-caramel and topped with a chocolate buttercream". I've had Maple Bacon cupcakes before but the combination of chocolate and bacon was completely new, and might I say, completely welcome! The cake itself was extremely moist and decadent. When they say rich they mean it. The frosting was fluffy and not overly sweet. The bacon and caramel flowed nicely together while the bacon also provided enough saltiness to balance out all the sweet factors of this cake.
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| Chai Latte |
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| Chai Latte (Inside) |
I'm obsessed with Chai Tea Lattes. Love them, can't get enough of them. This cupcake brings those flavors to life in a more satisfying way. Rather than only being able to drink chai I now have the option to eat it and savor an actual texture. The frosting was a spiced vanilla-orange buttercream topped with a star anise pod. This might have been my favorite of the bunch. I was hesitant about the orange mixing with the chai flavors I'm familiar with but they blended quite nicely together.
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| Royal Red Velvet |
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| Royal Red Velvet (Inside) |
With a name and look that's fit for a queen, this Royal Red Velvet is one of the best I've ever had. Red Velvets have become quite monotonous, in my opinion, in the cupcake world seeing as how there are little ways to redefine it from the standard Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting but this one actually does set itself apart from the rest. The cocoa was more prevalent here than in others I've tasted. The cream cheese frosting was extremely fluffy while the cream cheese wasn't overpowering. I love the texture that the red nonpareils added to the overall bite.
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| CinnaSwirl |
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| CinnaSwirl (Inside) |
Cinnamon buns. This is exactly what this cupcake emulates. A delicious, gooey, cinnalicious cinnamon bun. I barely got a bite of this treat because my little brothers devoured it in the blink of an eye. I wish there had been more of the cinnamon sugar swirl in the cake or at least maybe adding cinnamon to the cream cheese frosting. The ratio of cinnamon taste to frosting was delicious but I'm just someone who really enjoys cinnamon.
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| Biscotti |
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| Biscotti (Inside) |
This was the last cupcake I tasted. At first bite I couldn't place my finger on the flavor combo I was getting. I defnitely could taste some coffee in the frosting but the cake was confusing me because for some reason I kept tasting black licorice. At first I thought, "wow Ashley, you've had too many cupcakes and now you're on a sugar high losing your mind" but after some insightful googling I came to discover that anise tastes like black licorice. The Biscotti cupcake is described as being an "anise cake topped with coffee buttercream" so yay me for not going sugar crazy! I'm not a huge coffee fan so that's my main reasoning for this being my least favorite of the bunch but like all the other cupcakes in the box the cake was incredibly moist, creamy frosting, bursting flavors, which in turn results in yet another satisfying cupcake.
All in all, Wonderland Custom Cakes is a cupcakery that everyone needs to visit or order cupcakes from. These Cupcake War champions definitely earned their win. Anthony and his team aren't afraid to push the boundaries of conventional flavors and works hard to ensure that his cupcakes emulate what he bases them on.
If you're in the LA area head over to the new storefront to grab one of these sweet treats for yourself! If not, order online! Wonderland Custom Cakes ships!
Wonderland Custom Cakes
107 South Fair Oaks Avenue
Pasadena, CA
www.wonderlandcustomcakes.com
4 comments:
I wanted to stop by their grand opening, especially after being such a big fan of their appearance on Cupcake Wars. Hopefully I'll get out there soon since their cupcakes look delicious!
You really should! They have some of the best cupcakes I've had in a while! Their flavors are bold and Anthony definitely thinks outside the box with his creations!
Wonderland has been created for the fun and enjoyment of the children. The arrangement of the wonderland has been inquired for the hosting of the items and products for the people who are young.
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