After the previous post about what red velvet REALLY is (no folks, not just choco cake with tons of red food coloring), I decided that maybe a taste test should go down.

Of course, that was months ago, and the thought slipped my mind as the holidays came, left, and I let school do the whole time-consumption thing. Then, fate intervened. The “Eat the Streets” food truck rally happened, and my coworkers left me in the Gogi Korean Tacos line while they skipped over to the Let them Eat Cupcakes tent.

Honestly? I didn’t care. Not a huge cupcake fan, and currently participating in our office’s version of “The Biggest Loser” I figure I could spare myself the calories. All this changed when they came into the office the next day raving about these darn cupcakes. Saying they were the BEST they’ve ever had, etc, etc, etc.

Darn them and their sugar coated super powers.

I was distraught when google told me that they don’t have an actual truck, or store, for that matter. They make special appearances and cater parties…had I missed my chance???

Hellooooo twitter. Have I ever told you how much I love twitter?

Anyway, they tweeted that they’re going to be at the next First Friday, happily, a few blocks from the office. Then my plan came into view. An epic tasting adventure. Finding as many different red velvet cupcake vendors. Eating them all in a single night. Gaining back whatever weight I lost for this self-less journey to finding the truth!

I found seven.

That’s right. SEVEN different places in just the three or four block around my office. *high five*

Here’s the breakdown:

From close to far:

1. Hokulani (filled)
2. Hokulani
3. Downtown at the HiSAM
4. Panya Bakery
5. Let Them Eat Cupcakes
6. Cake Couture
7. Starbucks

First. Let’s take a closer look at these tiny hip-inflators. I mean, cupcakes. Talk about distinct color differences. Some of these look borderline straight up chocolate, and some look like pink food coloring!

These are the four with the tallest mounatins of frosting on them. LTEC, Cake Couture, Panya and Starbucks. Upon closer inspection, the verdict is clear.

Cake Couture takes the prize for tallest mountain of frosting. This thing stood the test of time, too! I picked them up at lunch and ate them when I got home from work, around 7pm.

I’d like to give credit where credit is due. Hokulani offers these cute little containers, for an extra $0.25. They’re made from corn, so they’re eco-friendly!

Anyway. To the fun part. The eating. I actually had a chance to try all of them before Ry got home, so he got to do a “blind” taste test.

For the first time ever, we agreed on something. It was amazing. The stars aligned. A light shone from the heavens.

And I swear I was in love all over again…

…with the red velvet cupcake from __________. (nope, not telling yet)

So our comments:

Hokulani filled cupcake:

• Cost: $3.25
• Cake: The cake was dry, and tasted a little burnt.
• Frosting: Super sweet, but other than that, okay.
• Notes: Tons of filling, and not much cake, which made it even sweeter. The center was filled with the same frosting.

Hokulani normal:

• Cost: $2.25
• Cake: Dry and not very flavorful.
• Frosting: Same as prior cupcake. Too sweet.
• Notes: The light colored cake (practically pink) kind of detracts from the whole “Red Velvet” appeal. This one had more cake and no filling, but the cake was very dry and lacked flavor. Bland.

Downtown @ HiSAM:

• Cost: $2.50
• Cake: Moist and very light.
• Frosting: A nice mix of cream cheese and sweetness. Not overpowering.
• Notes: It stayed moist even though I picked it up at lunch and left it in the fridge.

Panya

• Cost: $3
• Cake: Dry and chewy.
• Frosting: Waxy and tasted strange. Not at all like cream cheese.
• Notes: We were pretty certain that there was some lemony element in the frosting. Not good.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

• Cost: $2.50
• Cake: Moist but dense and a little heavy
• Filling: It appeared to have a tablespoon or so of cream cheese, that I thought added a nice texture and flavor change to cupcake.
• Frosting: Buttercream. Sorry, maybe it’s personal preference or my sticking to the status quo, but when it comes to red velvet, cream cheese frosting is where my heart lives.
• Notes: The cake was a little denser than I would’ve liked.

Cake Couture:

• Cost: $2.50
• Cake: Moist, light and spongey.
• Frosting: A little to fluffy and a little too much. It wasn’t overly sweet, but tasted kind of like whipped cream was mixed into it.
• Overall: I liked the cake, but the frosting didn’t do it for me.

Starbucks:

• Cost: $2.50
• Cake: Extremely dense and seriously lacking in flavor. Dry.
• Frosting: Some kind of whipped topping that was pretty much unrecognizable.
• Notes: I’m sticking to their coffee cake and pumpkin bread. They’re doing it wrong on the cupcakes.

So our winner?

The sleeper.

Downtown @ HiSAM! (Notice he’s the only one missing. Heh)

Special thanks to @onokindgrindz for pointing me in that direction. I didn’t even know they had them!

Now… what to do with all the leftovers??? (YES. I was hungry when I bought the RV cupcakes and ended up with a few random other flavors as well! Hahaha)

For the other cupcake fanatics out there, here’s a links and info for the different places I tried:

Hokulani Bake Shop
Restaurant Row:
808-536-CAKE
Monday – Friday | 9a – 6p
Saturday | 10a – 5p

Pioneer Plaza:
Monday-Friday | 9a- 4p

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Downtown @ HiSAM
Hawaii State Art Museum
Monday – Saturday |  11a – 2p
808-536-5900

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Panya
Remington College Building – Ground Floor
808-536-8363

Ala Moana Shopping Center
808-946-6388
Monday – Saturday | 7:30a – 10:00p
Sunday | 8:00a – 8:00p

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Let Them Eat Cupcakes
They don’t have a shop yet, but do keiki parties,
catering, and are rolling out a delivery service.

Follow them on twitter for the latest updates.

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Cake Couture
Aina Haina Shopping Center Courtyard
808-373-9750
Monday – Friday | 10:30a – 6:30p
Saturday | 10:30a – 3:00p

Davies Pacific Center in Downtown
808-585-9750
Monday – Friday | 10:30a – 5:30p
(they’re known to run out by 2p!)

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Starbucks
Uhm. On every corner in Downtown.

Tags: Cake, Dessert, Quest for the Best, Work