This past weekend, The Lions Roar Now ventured around the Denver metro area and Littleton to discover the best cupcakes it has to offer. Our study included four fabulous bakeries: The Cake Bar, Born2Bake, Butterscotch Grove, and Cake Crumbs Bakery & Cafe. All four of these locations had an average of 4.5 stars, so our investigation was whether they all had similar qualities. We bought a vanilla cupcake from each, and used a 1-5 stars rating scale. We based our ratings on three things: appearance, taste, and the time it took to get them.
Born2Bake
The first location we went to was Born2Bake, in Downtown Littleton. The overall appearance of the bakery was very cute and creative. There were many seats, and it didn’t feel very crowded. The staff was very kind, and we didn’t wait long to be served. The cupcake was delivered in less than 10 minutes, and it was very presentable; however, it came in a plastic container, which is not very environmentally conscious. The cupcake was very fluffy and airy, but the frosting wasn’t very sweet. Because of the time and the appearance, we rated it an overall 3 stars.
The first cupcake from Born2Bake, 3 stars.
Cake Crumbs Bakery & Cafe
We then ventured over to Denver, where the cafe was cute and fairly busy, with polite servers. There was a very nostalgic and cozy vibe about the place, with plenty of seating. The cupcakes were appealingly arranged, and featured a sign talking about the ideal temperature for their cupcakes. We got the cupcake in less than 2 minutes after ordering, and then we left the cake out to reach room temperature and soon got to taste it. The whole appearance was nice; however, there was less frosting compared to the others. The taste was very average and plain. Since it had been frozen, the cupcake was a bit crumbly and dry, and the icing had little sweetness and mainly tasted of butter. We rated it 1.5 stars, and that was solely based on atmosphere and time.
Cake Crumbs’ cupcake, 1.5 stars.
The Cake Bar
Afterwards, we headed on down to a bakery called The Cake Bar, located in Downtown Denver. It was a quaint shop with lots of unique cake options, and it took very little time to get our cupcakes; however, parking was a challenge. The actual cupcake was delicious with lots of flavor, and the overall texture was moist and light. We were extremely happy with the flavors, but the frosting was very sweet. On the positive side, it was the only cupcake that came in sustainable packaging. On that note, we rated it 4.5 stars in total.
The Cake Bar cupcake, 4.5 stars.
Butterscotch Grove
Finally, we ended our adventure at Butterscotch Grove in Aspen Grove. This cupcake was our favorite of all the cupcakes we had tried that day. When walking into Butterscotch, it had a very chill vibe, music was quietly playing in the background, and the area was very open. After ordering we got the cupcake almost immediately. The appearance was very clean; there was a good ratio of cake to frosting. The cupcake was the prime example of what a cupcake should be, with a fluffy texture and incredible sweetness. We rated this cupcake 5 stars, and that concluded our taste testing review. Overall, we found that even if bakeries have similar ratings and all make vanilla cupcakes, they are not the same cupcake!
The winning cupcake, from Butterscotch Grove.
