Cherry Bomb Bakery

If I didn’t have a Groupon to Cherry Bomb waiting to be used, I probably wouldn’t be back. My boyfriend and I were out and about when suddenly his chocolate addiction took over, and he needed to get his fix. Cherry Bomb was nearby and seemed like a logical solution. It doesn’t seem that way anymore.
He and I each ordered a different cupcake. He chose the oreo, and I went with red velvet. They were both very small (the cake part wasn’t even an inch tall), and neither one was very cupcake-​like. When I think of cupcakes, I want a light, fluffy, sweet cake. Not what we got. His oreo was tasty, but it was so dense that it was more like a brownie with frosting on top. My red velvet was dry and not very sweet. In a blind taste test, I would label it a bad muffin before I ever called it a cupcake. The frosting on the red velvet was fine, but it should be a tangy cream cheese frosting rather than the sugary topping I had.
I really want to like this place. It’s near to my house, and I have such a soft spot for cupcakes. Plus, they have numerous vegan options, which is becoming a must in this era and locale. Unfortunately, the one thing they supposedly specialize in is not good at all.

I hate to do this to Cherry Bomb. They’ve got a fun logo and a bright presence in a somewhat drab street. They’re also a small business trying to make a go of it in a storefront that’s had high turnover.
But the simple fact is: I ate one of their cupcakes and it was terrible. Somewhat dry in texture but also dry tasting. Like they couldn’t decide if they were doing golden cake or angel cake and just winged it.
I also tried a Chocolate Chip cookie and it was, at best, «eh.» Not bad, just not good enough to be worth the calories.
Anyway, I wish these folks luck (and/​or better recipes), but my experience was just plain bad.

Another cupcakery… here we go! I was psyched to try it out, unfortunately the majority of the reviewers are right. Here is my analysis of the flavors I tried:
Red Velvet: As others pointed out, this cupcake is not right, the cake part needs some work and the whipped frosting should be cream cheese.
Vanilla: Super greasy, the lower part was an oil slick. I threw half of it out
Apple cider: Probably the most creative option. I liked the little crack of a powdered donut hanging off the top.
Carrot: This was one of the better ones
Cookie dough: As strange as it sounds, it seemed to work.
Chocolate with bacon: This one was best. The chocolate covered bacon was an unexpected taste bud treat. Chocolate cake moist and delicious.
Please:
Fill the batter higher up the cups. Most did not rise up the wrapper. For almost $ 3 each, that is a shame
Make up boxes in advance. For every person in front of me, a box had to be made up for them before their order which lead to more waiting.
Use better frostings, the sugary shortening kind was a let down. Real buttercream would rock.

Purchased two bakers dozen cupcakes for an event. Loved the variety of cupcakes offered both in flavor and in catering to different dietary needs (vegan, gluten free, etc). They are so perfectly decorated and call for you in the dessert case.
The prices are pretty high, $ 30 for a dozen cupcakes. I tried half of two cupcakes. The cherry bomb, their signature was moist, flavorful and amazing! The chocolate stout cupcake sounded heavenly — alcohol, chocolate, topped with chocolate covered pretzels– but it was dry and forgettable.
Hit at the party — hit or miss in my mouth.

Ever the stalwart defender of all that is good and benefits me directly, I met the owners of Cherry Bomb before it opened as they were waiting for government paperwork to go through before they could officially open their doors.
We didn’t think it was open but when you’re hanging out with a group of hungry girls who just pounded all the BBQ burgers and hot dogs you made like they just finished playing in the Super Bowl — and they’re still hungry — well, it’s time to put down your spatula and throw in the towel.
We walked over to find out if they were open after one of the girls we were with kept jawing-​on about the place. I could have cared less but didn’t have much to lose so I followed along like the sheep I am.
When we got there we saw three bro-​dudes sitting inside with the same old Allston-​haggard-​bicycle-​gang look and they seemed pretty comfortable as they cracked open a 12er of fancy beer.
After one of the girls I was with pulled out her blood pressure cuff and started taking people’s vital signs, they invited us in and offered us free cupcakes. They seemed really sweet, the dudes, not the cupcakes — and I have to say that I was impressed with how much dedication the owner and head chef had with starting their own small business.
I mean, right next to Athan’s, like, what.
So before you go banging around on trash can lids, think for a second about how difficult it is to start up such a risky business on nothing but passion and your dreams and then tell me whether the cupcakes taste good. Brats.
+1 Star for just being cool folks.

I went there on Saturday to redeem my two BuyWithMe coupons. They didn’t even have a dozen cupcakes in the case to fill my order. This was three hours before closing time. I asked the girl at the counter if it’s standard operating proceedure for them to have no cupcakes with three hours left to go before closing. She gave me a ridiculous explanation about them being three weeks into the Groupon deal and not being able to handle all of the business. She failed to even mention the earlier BuyWithMe deal. You’d think that a business owner would plan accordingly to meet the demand BEFORE agreeing to offer a deal like this. Or you’d think they’d put a cap on how many offers they could sell. Or you’d think they’d step it up once they saw that the demand was so high — especially before offering a second deal. Nope.
Anyway, I went back first thing the next morning — which by the way, is NOT first thing in the morning, but late morning. They open at 10, which is why I had not used the coupons earlier. I would have stopped by on my way to work, but it seems that hipster cupcake makers prefer to sleep in.
So when I returned on Sunday I was pleased to see a fully stocked counter and I selected 12 of the 13 varieties they were offering that day. I brought them to a party, but my boyfriend and I sampled a few of them. So not worth the calories. First we tried the Red Velvet. Completely flavorless. Next was the chocolate with bacon on top. The cupcake itself was again flavorless. The frosting was not so bad. The bacon was magnificent. But bacon is always magnificent. My boyfriend tried the flourless chocolate cupcake and said it was so-​so. No one at the party raved about the cupcakes. They were not a hit.
All considered, I’d never go there again. And I would certainly have been PISSED if I had spent $ 30 on a dozen subpar cupcakes. My advice would be to head down the street to Athan’s and get yourself one of their mini cakes. The Jamaica, Bolero and Black Forest are all fabulous. They are rich, flavorful, big enough to be shared and cost not much more than a tiny flavorless Cherry Bomb cupcake!

Wow. Disgusting.
I consider myself a cupcake connoisseur. I worked in a bakery for ten years, and have been baking at home for even longer. I try every cupcakery I possibly can, everywhere i go. I usually try to go more than once to give the place a fair chance, however I will not ever be returning to this place.
I purchased 12 cupcakes in 6 different flavors: pumpkin with marscapone, chocolate peanut butter, cherry bomb, lemon snap, red velvet and cookies n cream. Some were vegan, some were not. ALL of them were gross. The cake was dry (the pumpkin one had the most moisture) and flavorless, the frosting was GREASY and also flavorless. The cupcakes were haphazardly decorated. While I was pleased to see they had vegan and (one) gluten-​free options, they aren’t even worth anyone’s time.
Other info: I found the boxing of only 6 cupcakes to a large box to be wasteful. The interior was was clean, with seating, well-​lit, but the cupcake display was lackluster. The staff was friendly, but VERY slow. The location seems to be ideal if you’re in Brighton Center, however on-​street parking can be a bit of a pain.
I’d give this place zero stars if i could. I’m so sick and tired of places jumping on the cupcake bandwagon (totally passé btw) and not even putting in an inch of effort.

As a girl with quite a bit of a sweet tooth, I really had high hopes for this place. But, after snatching up a half-​price BuyWithMe deal for a half dozen cupcakes and heading over to this new Brighton Center bakery, I was sorely disappointed.
When I first arrived at Cherry Bomb, the dark-​haired girl at the counter did not even acknowledge me; instead she continued write out signs for the cupcakes. She didn’t even look at me even though she was facing me… so weird; I am not one to need a red carpet rolled out, but at least say «hi». Even when she was finished she didn’t even greet me… kinda snobby, if you ask me.
I continued to look at the cupcakes while I waited for any modicum of friendliness out of this girl and came to my next realization: the cupcakes are TINY. Now, I was fortunate enough to have a coupon, but even at half off, $ 2.75/cupcake was a bit steep… full price would have just been ridiculous. These are barely 2-​bite cupcakes (mostly whipped icing and the cake didn’t even go past the paper cupcake liner) at about $ 3 a pop with tax!
At this point, I was thinking that these things must be amazing, but that was not the case at all. In fact, I ended up throwing two of them away because they were just not worth wasting my «allowable empty calorie intake» on. Seriously, very little flavor and I made sure not to get all vegan varieties. My friend and my boyfriend agreed that they were tasteless and a little stale.
Like I said, I wish I had better things to say about Cherry Bomb Bakery, but I found no redeeming qualities. They had better step up their customer service, enlarge the portion size and revamp their recipes or else they will be out of business fast.

Presentation is okay, but taste is MEH. People who said these are the best cupcakes must be out of their mind. I ordered the white chocolate espresso, red velvet, flourless chocolate, cookies and cream, canoli cupcake and one other i can’t recall off the top of my head.
the cupcakes themselves are pretty small. the cream topping part was average, maybe slightly above average, but the rest of the cupcake was just poor. i’ve never tasted a drier cupcake in my life. i like my cupcake moist! the red velvet is probably the most disappointing. it’s my favorite flavor! for $ 2.75 each, I’m definitely not coming back.

We picked a couple of cupcakes up since the place is next door to my go-​to Chinese delivery, Happy Garden. I got the cherry bomb, the bf got a chocolate with chocolate-​covered bacon.
The cupcakes come in Chinese take-​out boxes. Original yes, but good idea? Not sure. They could at least have some damned marketing on them. A sticker or something, guys. I got them mixed up with my wontons…
The cupcakes were small and overpriced. They were also fairly dry and bland. The frosting was grainy and bad – talk about too sweet. There was no cherry on my cherry bomb, though there was what appeared to be a small piece of a cherry… Sigh…
The same could be said for the chocolate cupcake. The chocolate-​covered bacon was the only part we really enjoyed.
I am really disappointed because we should expect way more from the culinary names behind this business. Have you tasted the product lately? I think you should go back to the kitchen and reformulate. Good ideas, bad execution.

I ordered three cupcakes and it came close to twelve dollars.
To my surprise they were not made out of gold.

I like their vegan cupcakes best. Really.
Their peanut butter cupcake is AMAZING, and it’s vegan. I actually don’t like particularly buttery or sugary frosting, and I found the frosting at Cherry Bomb to be the best I’ve had — better than Kickass, better than The Buttery, and better than Party Favors. I’m sorry, but it’s true. But only for their vegan cupcakes — the non-​vegan ones are about comparable to Party Favors and Kickass, slightly better than The Buttery, which I’ve never been a huge fan of.
I like their variety of flavors, and their creativity, which in this way makes them a lot like Kickass. They’re small and friendly and I am so happy to have a good cupcake place a mile from my home.

I like cupcakes, but they wouldn’t be my #1 dessert choice. Nonetheless, a neighbor/friend’s excitement over this new dessert place was contagious. She had tried one when someone brought her sister a box and although she claims her mom «makes the best cupcakes — they are just perfect» these seemed to impress her as well. Never one to say no to sugar/​chocolate, I was ready to give them a try.
We both got the double chocolate with a piece of chocolate covered bacon on top (yes, it was the lure of the chocolate covered bacon that sold me). The chocolate covered bacon was very tasty — you could really still taste the bacon at the same time as the sweet chocolate. It lead to conversations about chocolate covered potato chips (yes please) and if a chocolate covered french fry would be good (I’m leery).
Frosting is my favorite part of any cupcake and this frosting was great in texture (soft and creamy) and while it did taste good, it wasn’t as sweet as I would have liked. The same for the cake part — not dry and it had good flavor, but not really very sweet. I almost felt like I could go for dessert after my dessert.
On a slightly different note my vegan roommate came home excitedly one day with one of their vegan cupcakes which they had put in a cute little take-​out container for her. She was very impressed with their large selection of vegan cupcakes (I tried some of the frosting and it was pretty good).
Next time I think I’ll try the Irish Car Bomb (cupcake).

To say that I was excited to learn that cupcake bakery was going to be opening just up the street and around the corner from my place would be a slight understatement. Not that there’s any sort of baked goods shortage in Brighton Center; what with Daniel’s, Athan’sm and Cafenation providing me with everything from sweet crepes to fruit pies to chocolate eclairs. I could not wait to complete the bakery hierarchy with everyone’s favorite almost mouth-​sized treat: the cupcake.
Alas, Cherry Bomb, you are a total tease. When my roommate and my boyfriend came back from under your bright blue awning unimpressed and complaining about the frosting, I was almost indignant. I proceeded to buy myself four, count ‘em four cupcakes because I was so sure they would be awesome. I did not finish those four cupcakes. They did not please me. I purchased and sampled the Vanilla Lame-​O. the Double Chocolate with Chocolate Covered Bacon, the Boston Crème Pie, and the Cannolli Cupcakes. They were all OK, but I certainly wasn’t wowed by any of them — and I really didn’t like the frosting. Cherry Bomb hypes themselves as «Boston’s Best Cupcakes,» but, sadly, don’t believe the hype.

Ballsy move, setting up shop so close to established places like Daniel’s, Cafenation, Athan’s and Café Mirror.
Always a sucker for tea, I ambled in out of the 92 degree weather to give the iced tea a shot. First off, there are only four flavors. Ok, tea is not your focus, fine. But then only two are available as iced tea. Green it is, please.
Not a fan.
The tea tasted as if it were way over-​steeped. Instead of the normal smokiness, there was an acrid, bitter taste. At that point, there is really nothing you can do to salvage the drink. Even the ice cubes (comprising 50% of my 16oz drink) couldn’t relax the sharp flavor. Paying a moderate $ 2.50 for a tea drink should get you something drinkable.
Hopefully, they can clean up their act in the coming months or Brighton will be awaiting the next tenant of this space.

I had anticipated the opening of Cherry Bomb Bakery and have been trying to make it there for a while! The décor was really cute and welcoming. The cupcakes were pretty good. Definitely above average, but I prefer some of the other Cupcake places around Boston.
When we arrived, it was close to closing so we decided to get our cupcakes and leave. Despite the time, they still had a pretty good selection of interesting flavors. I had the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake (which was topped with this amazing chocolate covered pretzel). I also had part of Chocolate Cookie (covered with some sort of chocolate sauce). We also were offered some of the small cupcakes as a free sample, possibly because the place was closing? (I had a small Red Velvet– which was not necessarily very red velvety– but still very tasty). The cupcakes were very moist and the frosting was different. Not nearly as sugary as Sweet’s frosting, and definitely more greasy. Our takeout bags had grease marks and I’m not to sure how I feel about that. The cookie was sub-​par, it was kind of dry and crumbly. I think the price was great. For 3 cupcakes, and 1 cookie (not including our free samples), it was $ 10, which seems more than fair!

The place is adorable, right on Washington Street, and the décor is hip and fun. I love what they did with the space.
The cupcake menu is inventive and full of variety. It’s not your run-​of-​the-​mill cupcake shop. It’s a cupcake shop on steroids. What Johnny Cupcakes would be if they actually sold cupcakes lol
I had a peanut butter jelly cupcake. The grape icing was creamy, sweet, and delicious. I loved it! The cupcake itself needed work. It needs to taste more like a cake, and less like a muffin or a piece of cornbread.
I’m seeing a lot of bad reviews on here, and this saddens me because I really like this place. I plan on going back and trying some other flavors. This place has a lot of potential to be awesome, and it’s in a great location to be successful.
The staff was really nice. I loved that they had iced coffee to go with my cupcake, especially on a hot summer’s day.
And for all you cheapskates out there, $ 2.50 is not a lot for a cupcake. Look around. Cupcakes are $ 3 or $ 4 in various cupcake shops around the city. If you want a cheap cupcake, go to Shaws.

I absolutely love this place. The owner Colin is very sweet and the cupcakes are fantastic. Love the array of flavors. They are a little on a pricy side, but they are lovely. Were received well by everyone.
Also, while I was buying them, I saw that the owner gave away a couple of mini ones to the couple that bought coffee and spent some time at the window people watching. It’s gestures like this that make a neighborhood place stick around for a long time.

It’s open, it’s open!!!
I was out for a jog on Saturday when I noticed the open doors and chalkboard. I have been stalking this bakery for awhile, so I was pretty excited to run right in. Standing behind the counter was a guy covered in tattoos and sporting gauges (not to mention an apron), and mixing a huge bowl of frosting. I think I fell in love.
I came back on Sunday to actually purchase cupcakes (having been in my running gear previously I didn’t have a wallet) — both times the employees were super friendly, and ready to answer all of my questions. Definitely points for that.
The Cupcakes: I found out that the ‘regular’ cupcakes tend to have buttercream, and the vegan ones have icing. Overall the buttercream just wasn’t sweet enough for me — but I have a huge sweet tooth — so it was probably just about right for the average person. That said, I preferred the icing because it was thick, sugary, and piled high, just like I like it! I’m glad I tried the vegan cupcakes because had it not been for the icing I might have passed them over. Like another Unilocaler said — do not be afraid, these are delicious! I had a mini-​chocolate with vanilla buttercream: the cake was moist, chocolatey, delicious, the buttercream was soft and had a whipped texture, sort of tasted marshmallowey. The guy at the counter gave us a couple of these for free — just to be nice! :)
I also tried the éclair cupcake, which was good (moist, flavorful) but did not have cream filling as I would have expected? I tried the vegan double chocolate and my friend had the regular one (with chocolate covered bacon). I loved this one! I think it was my favorite because I love a well-​made plain and simple chocolate, and the icing was sweet and tasted just a bit of mocha. AND I also tried the candied-​grapefruit white-​chocolate cupcake, which was very interesting. The grapefruit was a bit tart, but balanced out by a sweet cream cheese icing. The whole thing was a nice balance, and could have been eaten for breakfast. Finally I had the vegan vanilla which was also good, but nothing to write home about. I can’t wait to try the vegan peanut butter cup and chocolate stout with salted carmel pretzel waiting for me at home!
The cupcakes were a little smaller than most, which I prefer. I actually think they’re the perfect size (otherwise my waistline would be in HUGE trouble). However, I think they could stand to be a little cheaper given that they are so small. (They cost $ 3/​ea.)
I’m awarding extra points also for the creative scones, cookies, and other baked goods that I was surprised to see. My roommate let me try a bit of her sweet basil cookie and to my surprise it was refreshing and delicious. SOme others that looked good were the peanut butter cup scone, and the savory scones — potato cheddar and pesto!
I’ll be back to see what else Cherry Bomb has in store…

I love. love. love. red velvet cupcakes.
I do not love Cherry Bomb’s red velvet cupcakes! =(!
On a Sunday at around 4:00pm, I was actually looking for a bakery in the area for a cake for my mom’s birthday and was disappointed to find that the Icing On the Cake was closed! I was then driving home when Cherry Bomb’s cute sign caught my eye. I pulled over and ran across the street in hopes to find a cake.
I get in there and automatically my thoughts of birthday cake disappeared as I was greeted by a case filled with cupcakes! I spotted the two red velvets left and knew I had to get one.
(PS: They do sell cakes but none made to purchase on the spot; they have to be preordered)
I ordered my cupcake to go: they took a brown paper bag and placed it in there. Unimpressed. Sweet takes the win on cute packaging.
Got into my car and could not wait! Took a bite into my red velvet and… DISAPPOINTING! The cream cheese frosting on a red velvet is the what makes this type of cake amazing, and what did CherryBomb’s taste like? WHIPPED BUTTER! Gross! It tasted extremely greasy and the consistancy was just… not frosting. There was a large ratio of frosting to the smaller cupcake.
The cake itself wasn’t bad, but because the frosting blew chunks, it made me extremely disappointed.
The only thing that I could see positive about CherryBomb is their assortment of Vegan cupcakes. I’m far from a vegan and am quite the carnivore, however if that’s the way you swing, this is the place for you.
My search for yummy red velvet cupcakes continues. Any suggestions?