Strawberry Fields Forever: Drowning in Cupcakes - Part 3

I love red velvet cupcakes / cakes. I think that on this blog, red velvet would have the most number of entries because of the great love that I have for this dessert. I am constantly on the lookout for new reds that I can try out and love, so when I had the chance to go to SM North (I don't go here very often because of its proximity from where I live), I researched on the net if there are any cupcake places that I can check out while there.

Because of my research prior to going, I knew that there's a Sophie's Mom stall, as well as a Blushing Cupcakes shop. The Big Tummy stall was an added bonus. I felt like I hit the jackpot because it's not very often that I can simultaneously try out three kinds of reds from one mall.

So how do they compare with each other? Read on.

Clockwise starting from the reddest cupcake: Blushing Cupcakes, Big Tummy (the one with the candy heart), Sophie's Mom

Cupcake Color:

Blushing Cupcakes: 5/5 - very clear winner as this is the reddest of them all. It's not just a simple red cupcake, it's a blazing scarlet cupcake. Very striking and very fine to look at.

Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - simply because it's not as red as Blushing Cupcakes'.

Big Tummy: 4/5 - similar color with Sophie's Mom so I guess it's only fair to give them the same grade.

Frosting Presentation:

Blushing Cupcakes: 4/5 - plus points for the artsy design, but I've seen better at Gigi's cupcakes.

Sophie's Mom: 3/5 - just one big dollop, no design whatsoever.

Big Tummy: 3.5/5 - same comment as Sophie's Mom but at least the candy heart is a nice whimsical touch.

Frosting Color and Appearance:

Blushing Cupcakes: 3/5 - Appearance just screams of sugar, rather than of cream cheese.

Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - Just one look and I know that this will be very cream cheesy based on its color, just the way I like it!

Big Tummy: 3.5/5 - Very similar to that of Sophie's mom, and the only reason it loses out to Sophie's mom is because of the size of the serving.

Frosting Taste:

Blushing Cupcakes: 3/5 - Tastes sugary rather than cream cheesy. I was looking for hints of cream cheese while eating but had a hard time doing so. It doesn't taste bad: far from it. But I guess it's a matter of preference.

Sophie's Mom: 3.5/5 - This tastes really good. The cream cheese taste is very evident with every bite. Like what I said in my previous entry, my nitpick would be that the frosting is too darn dense. But other than that, I loved this frosting.

Big Tummy: 4/5 - Wow, this cupcake has the best frosting of this lot. The taste is very similar to that of Sophie's Mom but somehow, this frosting tastes a bit better. Maybe it's because this has just the right consistency. I like the cream cheese taste of this frosting even better than that of Sophie's Mom.

Cupcake:
Blushing Cupcakes: 2.5/5 - The cupcake is dry. Actually, this is evident based on its appearance, but I was hoping to be proven wrong when I took a bite. I wasn't. The cupcake is so-so.

Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - I have said this before and I will say this again. This cupcake is sooooo good! Just the right sweetness and it's also moist, even after being refrigerated. The chocolate chips are also a nice touch.

Big Tummy: 3/5 - Like with Blushing Cupcakes, the cupcake looked dry. And true enough, when I took a bite, I think that it lacks a bit of moisture. It's not too sweet though and taste-wise, it was just ok. It was a shame though, since they already got the frosting right. Had they improved on the cupcake itself, this could have easily beat the other 2.

Packaging:

Blushing Cupcakes: 2.5/5 - Not as pretty as the others. For some reason, it reminds me of buco pie boxes.

Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - One of the prettiest boxes / packaging I've ever seen. I like the color combination of pink and blue. Very shabby chic!

Big Tummy: 3/5 - Pretty enough, with enough pinkness to please me. But not as pretty as the boxes I've seen from Sophie's Mom, J Cuppacakes, Gigi's, etc.

Overall Verdict:

Blushing Cupcakes - I liked this cupcake's color: it's not even a simple red anymore but bordering on scarlet. I liked how they presented the frosting. But like what I always say, appearance is not everything: this bakeshop would need to improve on the actual frosting and cupcake taste. The cupcake doesn't taste bad: it's just that there are a lot of red velvet cupcakes out there that taste better. Overall, this has great potential, just need to work on the actual taste versus aesthetics.

Sophie's Mom - The best of the three brands: I have said before that this is so far my favorite commercial cupcake brand so far and that has not changed. It got the frosting and the cupcake thing right. Not to mention that each cupcake is big so you get your money's worth. I highly recommend this.

Big Tummy - This has great potential as they already got half of what makes a great cupcake right, which is the frosting. I recommend working more on the actual cupcake. Given the chance to have this part improved, then I can seriously say that Sophie's Mom will have a rival for my affections.