Alexandria Cupcakes

Here it is, the promised review of Alexandria Cupcakes.


My sisters and I all went one weekend, each getting a different flavor. Between us we tried the Blackberry, Lemon, and Raspberry cupcakes. We did share little nibbles of the icings so we could all get at least an idea of each.

I got the blackberry cupcake. First bite was just so-so. But it grew on me. By the end I was really enjoying the flavor in the icing. I assume the icing was a buttercream, just because that's what the general cupcake is iced with. If it was, it was a good one. I tend not to like buttercreams as they can well, get a little too buttery. There was enough Blackberry flavor to it though that I didn't notice. Again, if it was a buttercream. The cake part wasn't too flavorful, or the icing just overpowered. It was also kind of a not so fabulous color, a greyish purple-y color. Ignoring that, it was a decent cupcake, maybe slightly on the dry side.

I didn't hear any complaints from my sisters, so I assume their cucpakes were good. As far as the icing flavors go I ranked them: Lemon, Raspberry, and then Blackberry.

Overall, a decent cupcakery. I have no idea if they're connected at all, but, the cupcakes have always reminded me a little bit of Georgetown Cupcakes. To which I have been but will likely never go back to, for many reasons... I won't go into it.

In the end though, if you are in Old Town and looking for a cupcake, I would recommend Lavender Moon over Alexandria Cupcakes.

Just to note: there isn't much seating; one table. So don't expect to be able to sit down and eat in. This isn't a big deal, unless you like to stage and photograph your food... but uhm, who does that... 

Lavender Moon Cupcakery

The DC area has an over-abundance of cupcake shops, much to my delight. Someone has to go and try each and every one, and I am more than willing to take one for the team in this case.

My sister is coming into town this weekend, and to celebrate I popped out to Old Town and walked down to what is, so far, my favorite of the many cupcake shops around; Lavender Moon. I decided between the two of us, four cupcakes would be plenty... at least for the first night.

Now, I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to cupcakes. Rosewater? Lilac? No thank you, I'll take my chocolate with chocolate, and a little more chocolate if you've got it. Thank you very much. And Lavender Moon does not disappoint, with plenty of delicious flavors that they rotate through. For this trip I decided on four different flavors

• Flourless Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt
• Chocolate with Peanut Butter
• S'mores
• Blood Orange Dreamsicle

I'm kind of sucker for flourless chocolate anything. So rich, so dense, so delicious. Lavender Moon has a good variation here. Though we were both expecting a little more from the 'almonds and sea salt' part of that cupcake. While it was a perfectly good chocolate cupcake, these two flavors could have used a bit more representation.

Now, I don't do peanut butter (yes, I know, it's weird. I'm sorry). So this one was all for my sister. Her first words after taking a bite, "Wow. Peanut butter." I assume that's a good thing when one buys a chocolate peanut butter cupcake.

The s'mores cupcake is by far one of my favorites from Lavender Moon. That meringue-y marshmallow-y frosting? Oh. My. Goodness. Light and fluffy and the thin layer of brulee'd frosting is just perfect. Possibly my second favorite cupcake topping ever (The first is a certain boiled frosting, more on that at some point I'm sure). The cupcakes here have always been soft and moist, unlike certain other cupcake shops I've been too *cough cough* Georgetown Cupcakes *cough cough*.

And finally, the last cupcake. Yes, yes, I know. Blood Orange Dreamsicle? No chocolate at all. This was my 'reach' cupcake of the purchase. After all, I could be proven wrong. Fancy new cupcake flavors could in fact be just as good, in their own right, as the chocolatey goodness that I tend to prefer. The cake part of this cupcake was, actually, very good. Light and airy, a nice citrus-y flavor. While the frosting was good, both my sister and I thought it over powered the lightness of the cupcake just a tad. 

In the end I would give Lavender Moon an A for the cake part of the cupcakes. As for the frostings, the marshmallow on the s'mores was by far my favorite. If you enjoy a good buttercream, the others were good too. Personally I prefer a lighter icing, possibly due to too much buttercream as a child...