CakeLove

Not a fan of these cupcakes.
I understand that the technique employed is unique, but the frosting becomes oily, greasy and slippery in nature when holding and eating it.
Must be eaten soon after taken out of the fridge (in-​store or if taken home) — doesn’t leave much time to enjoy and not that pleasurable to eat even at its most ideal temperature.

I don’t know how this place can charge more for a cupcake than Georgetown Cupcake, Bake & Wired, etc. It’s terrible. They put on a crapload of frosting, which tastes like butter!

Apparently, one of the owners of CakeLove sent out a PM to all who have previously reviewed this CakeLove. Before I received her message, I had totally written off CakeLove’s vegan cupcake. The one time I had tried it, it was dense, dry and tasteless. Well… in the owner’s message, she said that the cupcake was now vegan/​gluten-​free and that they had improved the texture and flavorings. Also, the non-​vegan cupcakes had improved, too, she said.
So…I bought 2 regular cupcakes and 2 vegan/​gluten-​free ones.
I’ll start with the regular cupcakes. Yes, they had improved in that the cake was less dense plus it had good moisture and held together well. I detected no difference in the frosting as it looked and tasted the same as before. The flavor I chose for myself was the vanilla fuzzy wuzzy. I always liked the frosting on this one. It consists of vanilla frosting that is topped with white chocolate shavings. The combination is well done as the vanilla flavoring does not overpower the white chocolate.
My husband tried the chocolate with raspberry frosting. He said that the cake part was good. Like me, he thought it was moist and was less dense. He said that the chocolate flavoring was good. However, he was disappointed in the frosting. One of his complaints with CakeLove’s raspberry frosting was that the flavoring wasn’t very strong — and it still hasn’t improved.
Tonight, we had the vegan-​gluten free ones. When I bought them, I asked the clerk as to how they should be stored overnight. She said to leave them in the box and keep the box in the plastic bag. Before putting it in the fridge, get the air out of the bag, then tie it shut. I did all that and took them out about an hour before eating them so that the could come to room temperature.
Well…there was a bit of improvement over the original ones. The frosting had decent enough flavor. However, the cake part was a disappointment. My cupcake was vanilla with salted caramel frosting. Visually, vanilla vegan-​gluten free cupcakes do not look like regular vanilla cupcakes. However, a good vegan-​gluten free one should taste like — or almost like — a regular one. That’s where these cupcakes fell flat in so many ways. The cake was dense and crumbled more and more with each bite. In addition, the cake had an orange undercurrent which was odd. The frosting would have been perfect except that I tasted not even a hint of salt.
My husband had a chocolate one with vanilla frosting. He said that the cake tasted like chocolate but his, too, was dense and crumbly. Like me, he thought the frosting part was well-​done.
So, given the hype surrounding the new and improved CakeLove, we were expecting something much, much better. We don’t regret trying them but we’re in no rush to return for more. When I stop in again, I will just stick with the regular ones.
I gave it 3 stars — 2 for the vegan-​gluten free ones and 4 for the regular ones which averages out to 3 stars.

I stopped by CakeLove on a trip to Virginia and overall I thought the two flavor that my bf and I tried was quite delightful.
I had the typical Red Velvet Cupcake which I thought was nice and moist. The cream cheese frosting was a little bit overwhelming but none the less it was still good.
My bf had the Salted Carmel Cupcake… now first I would like to say that I’m not the biggest fan of Carmel in general but this cupcake was actually very good. The vanilla cake itself was a little dry but was made up by the light and fluffy cream on top. It wasn’t too sweet which I assumed being topped with Carmel that it would of been, the amount of Carmel topping was just right mixed with the light fluffy cream was a perfect combination.
If ever in the area I would definitely stop by CakeLove again to try some of the other varieties that they offer!

I really don’t understand the appeal of CakeLove. Yes, the story of how he left his corporate job to open a bakery is awesome. Unfortunately the product doesn’t warrant several locations. Not only are they cakes and cupcakes almost always frozen but they lack any real flavor. The cake is dry and the frosting is too heavy. Before ever trying one for myself, I ordered a few dozen for an event. I was told to let them sit at room temperature for two hours. Had I known this in advance, I would have changed the pick up time. Sadly I was disappointed by the quality and the flavor.

Picked up some vegan cupcakes for my son’s birthday party and they were TERRIBLE. In my opinion, nothing beats a real cupcake but due to dietary restrictions we had to go with the vegan. I’ve had good vegan cakes in the past but these were DRY, mealy and had a sawdust quality. Plus the woman who helped us has some serious attitude. I’ve never seen such a sour face on someone selling cupcakes!

Pretty terrible. Cake was dry, overly sweet, and simply not worth $ 40. How can a salted caramel cake be too sweet? I’d even say that this was on the lower end of cakes that I’ve had. Look elsewhere.

I stopped by this place after dinner at Fridays at Tysons mall. I was craving something sweet and small and Im a sucker for cupcakes. Out of the 10 or so options I finally chose the Banana Split and my friend chose The King.
The Banana Split is a banana cupcake topped with vanilla and strawberry icing drizzled with a little chocolate and topped with toasted peanuts. The King is a banana cupcake topped with peanut butter butter cream and covered in ganache. Both cupcakes were delicious and just the perfect size.
I payed around $ 7 for two cupcakes which I didnt think was too overpriced especially since it was in a mall. Food tends to go up in price at malls. I definitely will be returning to try some of the other flavors out.

Hands down the worst cupcake I’ve eaten to date. Seriously, I ordered the salted caramel and it felt like a frozen cake, with a frozen piece of frosting and a sip of caramel glaze. I even waited 20 mins before eating it.
And once I started, I could only finish up the cake part and had to throw the frosting away. Never again.

The extra star is because they have gluten-​free options.
My review in particular is the gluten free vanilla cupcake with strawberry icing. The cupcake itself was OK, but the buttercream icing was just *blech*. Too much butter, way too greasy, and only faintly tasted like strawberries despite there being real strawberries in the icing.
*edit*
So I ate the other GF cupcake I bought, and that one had sat for about 30 min so the icing warmed up to the correct temp (forgot to mention that they tell you to let the cupcakes sit for 15 – 20 min to warm up to room temp before eating) and the icing was much tastier. That being said, still not an amazing cupcake.

The *only* reason CakeLove gets a 2^nd star is because they have 3 vegan cupcake options, and I really appreciate that they try to have that available.
HOWEVER — the vegan cupcakes are *terrible*! Now before anyone says snarkily that that’s because they’re vegan, I have to say I make pretty damn awesome vegan cupcakes myself. And Red Velvet makes ok ones. Vegan Treats makes amazing vegan baked goods, and Dama makes vegan baked goods that are out of this world. So… being vegan has nothing to do with it. These are just bad cupcakes. Dense and heavy cake, with grainy sugary frosting. And then they have the nerve to charge *extra* for them because they’re vegan. And don’t even put that on the sign. Awful. Awful awful awful.
Avoid!

We were in Tyson’s Coner Shopping Center and saw this little cupcake place. We decided to try the cupcakes and they had a vegan one so I was able to eat one. Bad mistake.
Driest cake I have ever eaten. I choked twice on it, I had to drink a whole bottle of water to stop choking. It was so dry. Frosting ok tasted out of a can.
Hubby had the smores which he said was also very dry and not much flavor. Our friend had the Halloween Cupcake which was just a dry vanilla cupcake with a bland frosting with candy corns stuck in it.
I would skip this place if you see it. Their milk was also expired. Hubby orderd one and when they noticed the date they said how about a water instead all our milk has expired.

I have been to Cakelove three times now, twice at this location. There cupcakes aren’t anything special and I see them baking in the back so why are all of the cupcakes they give out frozen? When you are shopping who really wants to order a cupcake and then sit and wait 15 – 20 to eat it???
I ordered the pumpkin cupcake today and it was pretty good, but still kind of dry and bland.
The location in Shirlington is much better than this one but overall I don’t think much about Cakelove.

I would never stand in line wating on these cupcakes! I always wonder why they tell you to wait 25 minutes for the cupcake to settle? Why do I need to wait, when I go to the «other» cupcake place you can eat it right away!
Also they teach the cashier to say the incgrediants are fresh blah blah. I could have gotten a better cupcake from an easy bake oven!
It was a low sugar cupcake which is fine but why is the «cake» so dry. it flakes off. The icing was alright but nothing to right home about and at $ 4.01. blah I need a refund!

You know, I don’t know how they do it but I really dislike their cupcakes. The frosting, the cake, just blah. I’d almost go as far to say they are kind of gross and I hate to say that. I honestly think cupcakes from the grocery store are better, I’d choose Giants cupcakes over these and Giants are far cheaper. I like that they serve them cold personally, I don’t see what the big deal is about that. I think they tell you «let it come to room temperature» or something.
I don’t recall the service or the taste all that well because I couldn’t get over how much I did not enjoy these cupcakes. How can cupcakes be this bad?

No Love for Cake Love!
Despite the apparent dislike of every Cake Love location in the area (how are there so many if no one likes them?!) I wanted to keep an open mind.
They just aren’t very good. The cake is very dry. I thought the icing was alright. I agree with Paul… they do seem like they were frozen. There are much better choices in the area if you’re craving a cupcake!

My Dearest CakeLove,
I really really want to love you, but I can’t because you broke my heart. You’re a tease … beautiful and luscious on the outside, but cold and nasty on the inside. I’ve given you more than enough chances to fix yourself, but you haven’t done a darn thing to change and I just can’t take it anymore.
Please don’t contact me … I won’t come back.
Here’s to what might have been,
Julie
PS — Bottom line … the cake is not moist at all and the icing tastes like butter mixed with pure yuck. Save your $ and calories & go to the Cinnabon next door.

Is it love? I am not sure yet. I liked it… I would probably go back for more. It was a little on the pricey side. Two small cupcakes were $ 6.66. No where there did I see how much cupcakes cost. I tried the chocolate with raspberry icing and the vanilla dipped in chocolate. I liked the chocolate with raspberry best. The vanilla was a little dry.
Will I go back and fall in love? Maybe I will ask my magic eight ball… It said «ask me later.»

What’s a girl to do?!?
It was my husband’s birthday, and rather then spending the previous night burning yet another cake pan, I decided to go out for drinks and fun with some girlfriends. So lo! Yesterday morning, I awoken to a sense of guilt (no, it’s not a hangover) for not being a better wife. However, in my defense, I can’t cook. When I made X-​mas cookies last year, they somehow turned out to be X-​mas crackers. The cookies somehow… melted…into a solid, hard thin layer on the cookie sheet. I ended up calling them my X-​mas brittle… but yeah, you get the picture. After reviewing these facts, you must agree that I made the right call to go out with my friends, then to attempt to bake my husband another sad and lame cake that he will bravely choke down, because he loves me.
But that still didn’t resolve my feelings of guilt. After all, it’s his birthday, and he loves cake. I suppose that I could have gone to a grocery store, but a Safeway sheetcake may be appropriate for a bad day of work, but it’s not…*special* enough for birthdays. I knew of a few Asian bakeries I could swing by on my way home from work, but alas, my beloved husband is a hater of Asian desserts. Evidently our cakes are not sweet/​rich/​chocolately enough for his American palette. So I did what any good Unilocaler would do… I looked up bakeries on Unilocal and prayed that one would be close enough for me to get to, with my crazy packed schedule yesterday.
I find that there is a Cakelove that is right in Tyson’s Mall, which is less then 5 minutes away which means I could do this in between meetings. The downside? The ratings were abysmally low. 2.5 stars?!? I wavered, but in the end, I had to get cake, dammit, and Cakelove is so close! Plus I’m planning on taking him out for a super swankalicious dinner (that would be serving dessert), so this cake is more of a token… a symbolic gesture then anything else. Plus, it’s cupcakes… how badly can they screw it up?
Well, I rush to the counter, and there are two ladies there, who look like they were in the middle of mixing frosting. I understand that baking and mixing is a complex procedure, but I’m still a paying customer (and a very non-​fussy one at that), and you could tell that they were irritated by my presence. I order 4 different cupcakes, and she quickly boxes them up for me, quite brusque in her manner. I tried not to be offended or make a big deal out of it, because I was in a rush (meeting in 15 minutes!), but I couldn’t help but be annoyed by her attitude. Eh. I’ll live.
I look inside the box… and these cupcakes are *TINY*!!! For $ 3 a cupcake, I was expecting something more substantial (no, I didn’t look in the case really — I knew what type of cupcakes I needed to get). Now, I’ll admit, I did see a few reviews saying that the cupcakes were smallish, but I’m used to the pretty little decorated sponge cakes that Asian bakeries have, so I don’t mind small… because I was expecting it to be pretty. However, these were very small and undecorated and very un-​pretty cupcakes!!! Considering that the pretty and decorated and quite delicious mini-​cakes (about the size of these cupcakes), go for $ 1.50 at Asian bakeries (like Maria’s)…you can imagine my indignation that I’m being charged $ 3 for one of these little lumps with frosting roughly slathered on (not piped or anything!)! So disappointing!
As for the cupcakes themselves? Not bad. I read about how dry the cupcakes are, so I mentally prepared myself for sawdust, and so I think the cupcakes seemed more moist then they were, because I was expecting the worst. They were not the light and fluffy puffs that I expected them to be, instead, they were dense and thick. The flavors were OK. I felt that they were definitely way too sweet. My husband, however enjoyed them, and let’s face it, that was the point of this, right?
All in all, I would probably have given t hem 3 stars for the cupcakes themselves. However, combined with the customer service and the price, I must say that these were not $ 3 cupcakes (perhaps $ 1.75 cupcakes)…so I’m downgrading them down to 2 stars.

Went here after dinner at the new Panera in the mall (we mentioned cupcakes during dinner… and then had cravings for them by the end of the meal).
Stood around awkwardly before we could make a selection. This place can be a little awkward to stand around when mall traffic is heavy (aka: during peak hours, bending over to drool and read each label and scrutinize each cupcake is not encouraged– as you will probably be pushed, shoved, or bumped into the glass). After asking their pricing (which is, yes, pretty high) we finally decided to buy a few. Bought a pumpkin one, peanut butter on chocolate, and strawberry on vanilla. Paid, and they didn’t tell us to wait to eat the cupcakes. I guess one can assume to wait– as they are cold and they hand you a box that is taped shut… but regardless, service was lacking, although I do admit that they were patient.
Sat at a table and waited as another member of the party grabbed cinnabon. Admittedly, we did not wait to eat some of the cupcakes. Although we devoured them before we should have, they were not bad. Enjoyable, but nothing fantastic. Left with the feeling that we should have waited, and that the cupcakes were good, but overpriced. You can probably get better ones elsewhere, if you’re willing to go that far (but we weren’t). Cake was a little dry– but not so bad that I’d complain endlessly about it. The peanut butter on chocolate was «good» and the frosting on the strawberry was light and creamy– although the vanilla cake was probably the least happy part of the experience.
Overall– cupcakes are cold if you don’t wait (which you probably should)… Undoubtedly overpriced… but a decent cupcake if you’re in the mall. I will probably be back– just because I can’t say «no» to a cupcake.