Cupcake Tasting in Chicago!

Bleeding Heart Bakery

Tony and I were in Chicago for a 20 hour layover.  I grabbed my computer and found 6 shops (Bleeding Heart, Molly's Cupcakes, another shop that is now a yogurt shop, Swirlz Cupcakes, and More Cupcakes) that were close to public transportation.  I mapped out our route and off we went! After an hour long train ride and bus ride.  We walked into Bleeding Hearts Bakery, which could possibly pass for a tatoo parlor.  This place was really cool. I was  welcomed by a friendly girl behind the counter.  After looking at all their brownies and cookies and all sorts of sinful desserts,  I asked the girl what flavors they had because none of the cupcakes were labeled.  They all looked delicous, but I couldn't tell what flavor each one was.  I then asked her what her favorite flavor was. 

Bleeding Heart's Red Velvet and Veruca Salt

She said without hesitating "Veruca Salt".  Taking her opinion, I ordered the Veruca Salt and a Red Velvet cupcake.  The Red Velvet was moist and flavorful.  The Veruca Salt on the other hand was a bit on the dry side. One of the bites I took had so much salt in it I almost spilled the glass of milk in my efforts to wash the salty taste away.  The Veruca Salt cupcake was just a different tasting cupcake that I wasn't used to.  Very nice atmosphere and lots of other goodies to choose from.  Our second stop turned out to be a yogurt shop (I should have checked the website before I put it on my cupcake list).

Molly's Cupcakes

From that shop, we headed to Molly's Cupcakes.  Molly's Cupcakes was such a cute shop.  They had real swings to sit in at their bar and a designated sprinkle station.  All their cupcakes were labeled and looked exceptionally delicious.  There were lots of people buzzing behind the counter and people were constantly coming in the shop.  It was so hard to decide what cupcakes to get.  We ended up getting a Mint Chocolate cupcake and a Tiramasu Cupcake.  We first dug into the Mint Chocolate cupcake.  One word  "WOW"! We were blown away by the texture and taste. All we kept saying is MMMmmmMM, oh yea, MMMmmm.  I hope we weren't moaning too loud! Then we tasted the Tiramasu.  Again "OH WOW"! We had never tasted a Tiramasu.  I am so glad we had our first one at Molly's Cupcakes.

Molly's Mint Chocolate Cupcake

We practically rolled out of Molly's Cupcakes.  We were so stuffed!  I still had 2 more stops on my map! Swirlz was next on my list and during our painful walk, we decided to make it our last.  When we arrived at Swirlz we were immediatly welcomed by an enthusiastic guy behind the counter with his also enthusiastic co-worker (They could easily pass for cheerleaders..("Give me an S give me a W give me an I give me an R give me an L give me a Z SWIRLZS woohhooo") The guy's name was Jamie or James (We were so tired and stuffed I'm surprised I remembered even that) and the girl's name was Laurie or Lauren.  Jamie or James was so incredibly helpful.  He totally went out of his way to help me decide which cupcake to pick.  He described each cupcake as if they all were his favorite.  Laurie or Lauren was also extremely helpful.  She helped me narrow my decision down to 4 cupcakes and assured me she would pack them so careful that they would make it home unharmed. There was no way I could have eaten another crumb at that moment.  I chose Key Lime, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Lemon Berry, and Red Velvet.  All were made with a buttercream and were buttermilk cakes.  When we got back to the hotel after our 20 minute bus ride and our hour train ride and hotel shuttle ride I opened the cupcake bag and as Lauren or Laurie promised they were all intact and still perfect looking.  We couldn't eat another cupcake until the following afternoon.  The frosting on the Key Lime tasted like butter and I didn't taste any of the tartness of the Key Lime until I bit into the cupcake.  The Chocolate Peanut Butter was moist and had the perfect peanut butter taste in the frosting that I love. My favorite of the 4 cupcakes was the Lemon Berry which was vegan.  My only complaint was the berry filling, it tasted like grape jelly.  The Red Velvet was moist and tasty.  They were all very good.  I so cannot wait to go back to Chicago.  I will definately be stopping by Molly's Cupcakes for their Peach Cobbler cupcake and venture to More Cupcakes.