FreeP vs. Food: Cupcakes

By Antonia DeBianchi, Sara Frazier, Sabrina Huang and Jongyoul Lee

If you’re looking to satisfy your sweet tooth, look no further.

For this edition of FreeP vs. Food, we decided to curb our sugar cravings with cupcakes. We visited some of Boston’s most popular bakeries from the North End to Newbury Street, and ranked each of the desserts on the location, the quality of the cupcake as well as the presentation and price.

Read on to check out what we thought of Georgetown Cupcake, Sweet Bakery, Modern Pastry and Lulu’s Sweet Shoppe.

Georgetown Cupcake

Georgetown Cupcake, conveniently located on Boston’s Newbury Street is just a short T ride or walk away from campus. The cupcakery gained fame through the television show, DC Cupcakes, which follows two sisters who opened the shop in its first location in Washington in 2008.

Pieces of abstract art hang on the walls and pink cupcake boxes are stacked up on shelves, creating a pleasant overall aesthetic environment. Though located in a small brownstone, patrons may have luck finding a table to sit in the back where they can try the cupcakes.

From the moment cupcake-hunters walk in, they face the dilemma of choosing between the multiple varieties of salted caramel, peanut butter, red velvet and other seasonal flavored cupcakes. The FreeP vs. Food team decided to try the vanilla birthday and double milk chocolate birthday cupcakes.

Both cupcakes were covered with buttercream frosting and rainbow sprinkles. We agreed that the buttercream frosting made Georgetown’s cupcake icing unique from all the other places — we could taste the sugar crystals. The cake itself was moist, and perfectly balanced the sweetness from the icing.

With the two cupcakes totaling $6.96, it was on the higher end of the four places we visited. For a safer option in terms of taste and price, Georgetown is a great option.

Grades:

Sabrina: A-

Jongyoul: A-

Antonia: A-

Sara: A

Sweet Bakery

Located a few blocks away from Newbury Street, Sweet Bakery’s Massachusetts Avenue location is easy to miss from the street. The dim lights of the store make it hard to spot, and might make the location appear closed.

The decor of the store is intricate and put-together. The counter welcomes customers with a miniature gumball machine, accompanied by a ferris wheel with cupcakes as passengers. Free from the hustle and bustle of Boston, customers can take a break on the posh pink couches.

The FreeP vs. Food team opted for the chocolate and vanilla Halloween cupcakes. The icing was much lighter than that of Georgetown cupcakes, and ironically, less sweet despite the name of the store. The cake of the vanilla cupcake was quite dry, which some people may prefer.

Unlike the other chocolate cupcakes the team tried, the chocolate cupcake was much more flavorful, with a stronger cocoa scent. The candy heart ears on the cupcake however, tasted artificial and waxy.

The cupcakes here were the most expensive, totaling $8.96 for 2 cupcakes. Part of the price is the swanky atmosphere, so enjoying the petite treats in the store, rather than to-go, is strongly recommended. Sweet deserves a one time visit, but the steep price for these mediocre cupcakes makes multiple visits questionable.

Grades:

Sabrina: B
Jongyoul: A-
Antonia: B+
Sara: B

Modern Pastry

Nestled in the Italian cuisine heaven that is Boston’s North End, Modern Pastry on Hanover Street offers a wide selection of desserts. From cupcakes to cannolis to cookies, there are endless possibilities to choose from.

The bakery has a to-go line, as well as sit down service for those who want to people-watch and enjoy the warmly decorated interior. Although the wait to order was about ten minutes long, the line was not nearly as long as that of Mike’s Pastry, another popular bakery on the same street.

After a lot of deliberation and weighing our options of Boston cream, red velvet and other kinds of cupcakes, the team decided to order one vanilla and one chocolate, both decorated with orange sprinkles for Halloween.

The cupcakes were a generous size and had a solid cake-to-frosting ratio. The frosting wasn’t too sugary or sweet, and the texture was just right. The cake itself was not as dry as Sweet’s cupcakes, but not as moist as the Georgetown’s or Lulu’s Sweet Shoppe.

With the two cupcakes totaling $3.75, Modern Pastry is a great option if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck and don’t feel like waiting in the absurd line for Mike’s Pastry — why wait in that line when you can get a cupcake as good as this?

Grades:

Sabrina: B+
Jongyoul: B
Antonia: A-
Sara: A

Lulu’s Sweet Shoppe

When you step inside of Lulu’s Sweet Shoppe, the neon “Lulu’s” sign, the vintage candy jars that grace the front window and the varying hues of pink decor make it hard to believe that the Italian restaurant-populated Hanover Street is merely one street away.

Lulu’s mod ambiance and funky-cute atmosphere are the storybook definition of what the interior of a cupcake shop should look like. And while the shop itself is rather small, the bright pink sign outside will clearly steer passerby in the right direction.

All of Lulu’s cupcakes are homemade and baked from scratch each day — and the delicious results show for it. The FreeP vs. Food team ordered the chocolate explosion cupcake, which is a chocolate cupcake topped with decadent chocolate ganache.

“The chocolate explosion, specifically the chocolate ganache, tastes like Ina Garten’s chocolate dessert recipes,” Antonia commented. “The Barefoot Contessa’s recipes never fail to please, so Lulu’s similar-tasting cupcakes rank high on my list.”

The colorful vanilla cupcake was pretty in presentation, but fell short to match the out-of-this world taste of the chocolate explosion cupcake.

Together, the two cupcakes totaled $5.50 — not as expensive as Sweet, but not as good of a deal as Modern Pastry. However, this is definitely a price worthy of both the wallet and calorie splurge.

Grades:

Sabrina: A
Jongyoul: A

Antonia: A+
Sara: A-