the hungry runner

Sprinkles! The hot spot in Southern California when it comes to cupcakes…and most recently ice cream! && even after 7 years there is still always a huge pack of people waiting to get their hands on this delectable dessert. Candace Nelson’s take on the classic dessert is truly the right way of baking these ever-so-popular mini cakes. As I always say, simple is much much better. The thing I like most about Sprinkles, is that there isn’t any frilly nonsense, just a nice moist cake, not-too-sweet frosting, and simple but eye-catching design. I can honestly say that all the hype is true and that Sprinkles bakes THE best cupcake! Not to mention their staff is very friendly and they just added a cupcake “ATM” machine, so you can enjoy a Sprinkles cupcake at anytime of the day!

So I’ve tried Sprinkles cupcakes many times before but this weekend was my first time visiting the actual Beverly Hills location. Not surprisingly I visited the bakery on Saturday and then just so happened to stop by again the next day as well! I took advantage of my second trip to try out their new ice cream and both days proved quite amazing! 

Seeing all the options it was so hard to choose a flavor! I knew their red velvet is to die for but this time I wanted to try something new. The banana cupcake intrigued me so I ordered away! It was a banana cake topped with vanilla frosting and I scarfed it down within seconds. To me, what makes or breaks a cupcake is the frosting. The frosting can’t be overwhelming, meaning if there is more frosting than cake, we have a problem. The frosting also can’t be too sweet and Sprinkles does it just right! The frosting is thick and perfectly sweetened. Now for the cake, I could definitely taste the banana and their cupcakes are never dry! Best cupcake right there! As my friend said as she too scarfed her cupcake away, “this cupcake just makes me smile.” :D

So those cupcakes were awesome, but Sunday as I visited Sprinkles for a second time, I decided to take advantage and try their ice cream! They carried over their simple techniques into making their ice cream, making sure they use the best ingredients. Once again, they had amazing flavors to choose from! Sadly they didn’t have the pistachio flavor I wanted to try that day, but no worries! It seemed all the other flavors were up to par and the butter pecan especially caught my eye, and of course I just HAD to try their famous red velvet waffle cone! Their butter pecan was AMAZING!!! I normally don’t like crunchy-ness in my ice cream but the pecans were perfect! They were sweet and the ice cream was a great creamy texture! && then the waffle cone was awesome! It wasn’t too overwhelming and it was very crispy! 

When it comes to cupcakes (& now ice cream), Sprinkles does it right!

After the majority of our practices, my friend Melissa and I would take frequent foodie trips to our favorite snacking areas. One of our favorites would be a little cupcake bakery called “Bake You Happy” (so cute). We would each buy a cupcake for ourselves then cut them in half so we can try both flavors. We were hoping to try all the flavors but there are just way too many! 

The decor of the story is so lovely, makes me feel like I’m in a little girl’s playhouse or something. (sorry for the blurriness, I was too excited to eat my cupcake to bother over photo quality)

On the side of the store there is this huge set up of small felt cupcakes. There really isn’t any point to having a cupcake made out of felt but for some bizarre reason I think I may have a slight obsession with them. 

&&& what also makes this place so unique is that the owners won Cupcake Wars on the Food Network!! SWEEEET (literally)

I believe this one was the carrot cupcake. I really like all the cupcakes that they have specifically because of their frosting. I’m usually not a big frosting fan, but their frosting has really rich flavors and are really thick and creamy. I think I could just eat the frosting out of a bowl. Yum!

This is the lemon cupcake which I really enjoyed. Another reason why these cupcakes are so exceptional is because the actual cake is really moist and delicious!

I love simple flavors, so that’s why I always enjoy a simple vanilla cupcake. So perfect.

There were many more flavors we shared but, yet again, my taste buds got ahead of my camera and before I had a chance to take a pic the cupcake was already in my belly. After a long day of jumping over hurdles, munching on a cupcake was a great way to end the day. But sadly, as the end of the school year is approaching my lovely little seniors will be graduating && my frequent cupcake visits with Melissa wont be as frequent:( Oh the perks of being a lonely junior…

But on a side note:

If you are ever up for a good cupcake fix visit Bake You Happy on 23626 Valencia Blvd. And while you’re there go get me a felt cupcake!