Cupcake Camper
Hubby and I took a four day weekend to go visit my family in Illinois. It was a rainy chilly weekend in the Midwest so our original plan of going apple picking got foiled. Instead, we decided to head to the Shoppes at Grand Prairie to do a bit of shopping. It was a very successful shopping trip, especially since we saw this when we walked out of our last store.
That’s right! A cupcake camper. I know some of you have seen the cupcake trucks that go around NYC selling cupcakes, but this camper was at an outdoor mall in Peoria, Illinois.
We decided to wait outside in the misting rain to grab two cupcakes to split between the four of us. First the girl wasn’t there, so we waited a few minutes and she returned. During that time we decided on our flavors to try. We wanted to try a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting and a spice cupcake with orange frosting.
All of the cupcakes were in the camper in plastic boxes behind the counter. It appears that the cupcakes are baked somewhere else and then sold from the camper. When the girl came back, she gave us our two cupcakes. I asked the girl who baked the cupcakes (hoping that she would give me the name of a bakery or something), she said “I dunno, bakers?”.
When I looked down at the two cupcakes, I asked if the one with orange was in fact a spice cupcake, and she reassured me that it was a spice cupcake. I didn’t believe it at first since the spice cupcakes I’ve made are always a dark brown color and this one was clearly white. But since she had confirmed the order twice before going to get the cupcakes, AND verified again after she gave us the cupcakes, I dropped the line of questioning.
We paid and took our cupcakes home to enjoy. They were definitely big enough for us to cut them into four so everyone could have some of each. The chocolate cupcake was a bit dry. The cupcake to frosting ratio was about spot on. We all agreed that the frosting was ok. Nothing great, but also not overly sweet or bland.
On to the vanilla cupcake. Again, we had ordered a spice cupcake and were given a vanilla cupcake. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because this was a great vanilla cupcake. Maybe one of the best ones I’ve ever had.
Overall, the Cupcake Camper experience was ok. The employee working the day we went had no clue about what was going on. As a cupcake enthusiast, this was somewhat frustrating. My dad also commented that he was surprised they had so few flavors to choose from.
Cupcake Camper does have a website that is currently under construction, and a Facebook page that you can check out. I still have no idea where the cupcakes come from, so if anyone knows, I’d love to hear about it.
Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge going on all month.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
What a great and yummy idea! I wish I lived closer and could have joined. I need to research the bakeries in Phoenix and find some delicious cupcakes.
What an amazing idea and post, awesome.
what a great post and a fun idea!
You did SUCH a great job with this. I’m so happy it went well for you! And no rain? Double bonus!!!
How neat, all the cupcakes look yummy to me!
Very cool! Your group must have been exhausted at the end of the day. I am from Boston but now live in PA, your post made me want to head home for a visit. 🙂
Thanks everyone. We definitely lucked out with the weather. It was a bit hot, but not unbearable.
It was an exhausting day. I think we left the last bakery around 8:30. Hubby and I grabbed some dinner and got home around 11:00. We were exhausted!
I am jealous! This is right up my alley. I need to get myself out to Babycakes ASAP!
I used to live in Quincy and a stop into Babycakes was mandatory at least once a week for DH and me.
i live in the north end and have been wondering about the new lyndell’s!! great info for a fellow bostoner!!
What a great crawl! Glad to see you had fun and I hope to make a stop to check these out when I’ll be visiting in a few months! I’ve been on a slight commenting hiatus with my busy schedule lately… but it’s great to catch up and see what’s cooking in your kitchen!
Such a fantastic idea – I love Boston… and cupcakes.
What a great idea! I am in Boston and I am amazed at all of the cupcake shops that keep popping up. And another one: I just read that Todd English is opening “Curly Cupcakes” on Charles street!
kitchenbelle.com
fabulous idea for 24,24,24! i’m hungry for cupcakes now….
Great post! I can’t wait to try some of these places out the next time I’m in Boston.
Love this idea! Great post and pictures. The straw in the Pink Lemonade cupcake at Sweet is so cute!!
Thank you SO much for this! Although, I wish I had all of this info on Friday when we were wandering around town just for fun! I am SO going to have to try some of these places!
I love the fact that you did this crawl – I wanted to do the same thing after reading a Boston.com article a few months ago but never got off my lazy butt to do it. You’ve inspired me to start visiting some of these places.
From a wedding standpoint, I love all the pictures of the cupcakes – this is because I want them as a part of my wedding reception and need to find the right bakery to get them from.
As always, great post!
You forgot to try the the only cupcake store that would have scored a 5.0. Sensational cupcakes in saugus just 10 mins from boston. You really should try them they are simply sensational. http://Www.sensationalcupcake.com
Thanks for the note about Curly Cupcakes, I’ll have to check that out too.
As mentioned in the post, we were only trying cupcake bakeries that were accessable via the T. We wanted to be able to rate bakeries that anyone could get to in the city. There are quite a few other bakeries that don’t meet that criteria. I’ll definitely have to try Sensational Cupcakes next time I’m in the Saugus area though.
you should have gone to Lyndell’s – the *real* Lyndell’s – in ball square close to Davis. their cupcakes are great. there is also an adorable cupcake-related story about Lyndell’s: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/homepage/x418534015/Groom-to-be-My-love-is-like-a-Lyndell-s-cupcake
I agree with everyone that this was a great idea and I love reading the reviews. I also second the idea of going to the real Lyndell’s in Somerville, it is the same place, but the original store. However in my opinion the best thing at Lyndells is their black and white cookies. They are like flat cupcakes more than cookies and the frosting on them is at least an inch thick. Their chocolate frosting is A-MA-ZING!!!
I have to give a nod to Lyndell’s in Somerville.I ended up with a ton of goods from them at The taste of Somerville.
If you’re out on the T again you have to check out Sweet Tooth in South Boston just up Broadway from the Broadway T stop. Their cupcakes are enormous and are the absolute best I’ve ever had.
http://www.sweettoothboston.com/
They are also available at Lamberts in downtown Boston.
I love the idea of the Boston Cupcake Crawl. All the cupcakes look amazing and makes me want a cupcake!
VERY cool! I haven’t been to a bakery for cupcakes (anything, really) here in FL.
Have you come down off your sugar high yet? 🙂
~ingrid
It sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for the recommendations and ratings – it’s always good to get another perspective (other than yelp)!
that’s the cutest idea ever!!!
i really enjoyed one of kickass cupcakes vegan pumpkin spice cupcakes once, and I hear that sweet has vegan offerings on Mondays! I can’t wait to check it out!
How fun! Man I wish we were neighbors. I’d love to cupcake crawl with you! I totally have to jank this idea for my hood. Complete with your cute little scorecards and goodie bags. J’dorable!
/Clara
Please come see me as part of your next cupcake crawl, Sugar Bakery… I am the cupcake lady ask for me. Always loooking to know if people enjoy my cupcakes:)
Please come by sugar bakery ask for me, I would love to be part of your next adventure. Always looking to see what people think of my cupcakes 🙂
What a great 24,24,24 theme!!
I just got selected for this month and am very excited!
I also just got back from Boston where I did a great walking tour of the North End Market area:
http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2009/08/north-end-market-tour-boston-1.html
(and the two posts that follow it!)
What a brilliant idea! I think I’ll try and organise a cupcake crawl now! Loving the little bags you made 🙂
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