Kyra's Bake Shop Cupcake Review

Kyra's Bake Shop Cupcake Review 

Can you spot the little visitor interested in my cupcakes.  

All the baked goods at Kyra's Bake Shop are gluten free.  Now normally this would turn me away. I love my gluten and any store bought or homemade gluten free items I have tried have not tasted good at all.  But every cupcake I have had from Kyra's has been delicious.  I never would have known they were gluten free if I hadn't read that on her shops website.  

Before you start reading the review of the 3 cupcakes I tried please keep in mind that everyone's taste buds are different and I happen to have super picky ones.  While I enjoyed all the cupcakes I wished all 3 of them had MORE flavor to them. I love sweets and I want to really taste the sweetness. 

Chocolate Caramel Ecstasy: Chocolate cake, filled with their housemade salted caramel Sauce, topped with chocolate buttercream, dipped in chocolate ganache and sprinkled with salt. 

With caramel in the name you know I had to try it.  For those of you who don't know, my man says he could pour caramel on anything and I'd eat it.  He's not wrong. That's how much I love caramel. The cake was so moist and I even bought the day old one. The chocolate ganache was rich but I'm not much of a chocolate girl so if you like chocolate you might not think it's rich. The chocolate buttercream was so creamy and the hint of salt on top was just right. The caramel in the middle was salted perfectly.  I would have liked more of a sweet caramel taste from the filling. 

German chocolate: Chocolate cake, coconut pecan caramel filling, caramel buttercream, dipped in chocolate and topped with a pecan.

German chocolate cake is my FAV so I was excited to try this cupcake.  This cupcake was a day old as well and you'd never know it. The cake was moist and the caramel buttercream frosting was almost like eating a soft fluffy marshmallow.  The chocolate ganache topping has a smooth chocolatey taste.  The coconut pecan caramel filling could have been more coconutty for my taste buds.  It didn't have that classic German chocolate cake taste to me. I think more coconut would have made it taste more German chocolate cake like.  You can't have too much coconut in a German chocolate cake/cupcake.  

Lemon Lavender: Lemon cake, lavender buttercream, sprinkled with lavender.

Ok, you have to like the taste of lavender to enjoy this cupcake.  You can definitely taste the lavender but it's not over powering.  The lemon cake is very light.  I would have liked more lemon flavor coming through in this cupcake.  The lavender is the predominate flavor in this cupcake. I liked the little detail of lavender sprinkled on top the beautifully piped smooth frosting. 

All of these cupcakes are perfect for any party you're hosting or a just because get together.  The lemon lavender would be perfect for a tea party. The two chocolate cupcakes would be great for a death by chocolate or chocolate lovers party. 

Blackberry Crumb donut.  I couldn't resist this donut. I love blackberries and will eat them by the handful so I had to try this donut.  Plus it's just such a pretty colour.  I was surprised by how dense this donut was and then I remembered that all the baked goods at Kyra's Bake Shop are gluten free.  I've found that gluten free baked goods tend to be denser. The blackberry flavor was subtle and there was a hint of another flavor but I couldn't place it. This donut would be wonderful to enjoy on a lazy weekend morning with tea. 

I have never been disappointed by any cupcake I have tried at Kyra's Bake Shop.  She keeps me coming back for more with her rotating flavors.   I can't wait to try her Cherry Balsamic Black Pepper, Raspberry Hibiscus Rose, Kyra's Unicorn, Mimosa and more. 

Cupcake Wars Champion Cupcake Review

Another cupcake review?! Yep. Don't worry, I haven't turned into a cupcake review only blog.  April being my birth-month I'm on a cupcake kick.  I've been meaning to try all these places out and what better time than April.

In researching cupcake shops in my area I came across one that the owner had been on Cupcake Wars.  Well of course I HAD to check out this shop.  Located in Lake Oswego, Kyra's is a 100% gluten -free bakery and was the only gluten-free three time winner on Cupcake Wars.  So exciting! You can read about Kyra's story of why she opened a gluten-free bakery here. 

When I walked into Kyra's the place was busy.  Everyone there that morning wanted the cinnamon rolls.  The smell of the cinnamon rolls filled the air and it was such a wonderful smell. I was tempted to get a cinnamon roll but I was there for cupcakes. I'll definitely be going back for a cinnamon roll. 

I picked up three cupcakes. One for my husband and two for me :) Bunny Hop for my husband and Birthday Cake and Raspberry Lemonade for me.

Jasper wanted to help with the taste testing.

I got the Bunny Hop for my husband because he likes carrot cake. The Bunny Hop is carrot spice cake with cream cheese frosting.  He liked the cupcake and said there was real chunks of carrot in it. A pleasant surprise. I didn't tell him it was gluten free.   As for the frosting, he said it was too much.  Keep in mind my husband is not much of a frosting guy.

I thought the Birthday Cake cupcake was fitting since it's my birth-month.  The cake had a mild vanilla flavor and had a little bit of a mealy texture.  I'm assuming this is because it's gluten-free.  The cake was lighter than the other bakery where I tried gluten-free cupcakes. The frosting was very smooth but a little bland in flavor.  Vanilla cupcakes have never been my favorite because I've always found them a little lacking in flavor. However, if you're a vanilla cupcake lover I think you would like these cupcakes.

I saved the Raspberry Lemonade cupcake for last.  I thought this one would be more flavorful than the Birthday Cake one and I was right.  The texture of this one was mealy too but had a nice lemon flavor.  The mealy texture didn't take away from the lightness of the cake and the flavor.  The frosting on this one was smooth and bursting with flavor.  I really liked this cupcake.

There are so many other great sounding flavors on their menu that I'd like to try. I think this Saturday  I'll stop into Kyra's for some cinnamon rolls and bring them over to the garage sale I'm participating in with my family. See if they taste as  good as they smell.

Vegan Cupcake Review

Can a sugar lover like vegan cupcakes?

When you walk into Petunia's Pies and Pastries a sweet little piggy greets you on the wall. Petunia's is located in Portland, Oregon and is a vegan and gluten free bakery.  

The cakes on display look delicious but vegan and gluten free! I'm skeptical about how they taste.  I'm a total gluten sugar egg loving dessert eater.

Not only can you get baked goods at Petunia's, you can order lunch and get a cocktail too.

On all the tables are Drink and Dessert pairing menu's.  One more reason to  meet friends at Petunia's and spend a lazy afternoon enjoying dessert and a drink.

 I treated myself to two cupcakes and really hoped they tasted good because they were my birthday cupcakes. Yes I know, I already had cake at my birthday party but that was last weekend. I celebrate all month :) Everyone should. It's fabulous!

The first cupcake I tried was the Yum-oha. I was told it was like a Samoa Girl Scout cookie. I tried the cake first and was pleasantly surprised.  The cake was very moist and had a nice rich flavor. The cake is heavier than that of non-vegan non-gluten free cupcakes. The icing tasted like a candy bar. mmm. When I tried the icing with the cake it was a little too much. I scraped part of the icing off and it was much better.

The next cupcake I tried was a coconut raspberry.  This cake was also  moist and rich just like the Yum-oha. When I tried the icing on this cupcake it crumbled off. The icing was stiff and very sweet. Now I like sweet but this was overly sweet. The coconut flavor was very mild. When I attempted to eat the cake with the icing, the icing just crumbled off and it was just too much.  I scraped off most of the icing and the cupcake was much better after that.

As you can see from the cut away view there is a lot of icing. I normally love icing but not the one on the coconut raspberry. The filling was a nice surprise in the cupcake.

Did Petunia's convert me to a vegan gluten free cupcake eater?  Not really.  I did enjoy both cupcakes, will be  trying more flavors and will recommend the bakery to others.  I also felt like I was sneaking in some veggies I don't eat enough of.  But my heart belongs to sugar, gluten and egg cupcakes :)