Cupcake Review: Casey's Cupcakes

Casey's Cupcakes - Pop Up Shop February 12, 2015

Another pop-up shop vendor in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. I’m always thrilled (yes, that’s the right word, I’m ruled by my sweet tooth) whenever we have a vendor for sweets and desserts. Especially thrilling when they’re a Cupcake Wars winner since I watch the show religiously.  Unfortunately I can’t remember the episode when Casey’s Cupcakes were on so either it was before I’d started watching the show (possible) or I just don’t remember the episode (probable). 

I tend to remember the cupcakeries on the show who are local to me so I could seek them out to try. Casey’s is from Southern CA so there’s no reason they would stick in my mind since it was unlikely I’d ever sample their cupcakes as they don’t ship. So it was great that they came to me. Well, not just me but you know what I’m sayin’.

What’s immediately obvious when you see a Casey’s Cupcakes display is that they’re all about the pink. Like, really pink. I thought it was cute but I’m a girl who likes pink. Not sure how guys or girls who don't like pink would feel about it. Then again, if you mostly care about the taste of the cupcakes, all that pink shouldn’t put you off. Because if it did, you’d be missing out.

Casey’s only had a limited number of flavors they offered in our pop up shop. Because they’re located in Southern California, they were doing a special run of cupcakes that they were making up here for our shop and by necessity, that precluded offering their full range of flavors. Which was okay by me since it wasn’t like I could eat more than one two cupcakes. This way, I got to sample 2 flavors: the red velvet and the chocolate. Each cupcake is normally $3.50 each so that’s on par with most cupcakeries.

I preordered my 2 cupcakes and picked it up when the pop up shop opened. I have to give super-duper props to Casey's for their classy packaging. Each cupcake is boxed in a specially made box that, when upright and closed, has custom-made "flaps" that come in to hold the cupcake in place. So it's not like they simply put a cupcake in a box and let it slide around in the empty space. The box itself is designed to hold the cupcake in place in the center of the box. Rather clever, I must say. 

I tried the red velvet cupcake first the same day I picked up my order. It was a good size, closer to Sprinkles than Kara's. My ultimate favorite red velvet cupcake is still Sprinkles but Casey's was also delicious. Good chocolate flavor, good texture. It wasn't dry but it wasn't as buttery-moist as Sprinkles. My friend Karen thinks Sprinkles is "greasy" (gasp on the blasphemy) so I think she'd probably prefer Casey's as it didn't have that you-say-greasy-I-say-buttery texture. The cream cheese frosting wasn't too tangy so that was a point in their favor as well. I'm not particularly a fan of coating red velvet cupcakes with red velvet crumbs as that seems more for looks than taste or texture so that was probably the only drawback to the cupcake. Otherwise, it was tasty.

In the interests of portion control, I did wait until the next day and had another workout under my belt before I sampled the chocolate cupcake. By definition, it wasn't as fresh as the red velvet since it was literally a day old but it still held up pretty well. Not quite as good as the red velvet to my mind but still a decent chocolate cupcake that probably would've been better had I eaten it the same day I bought it. It was a little more over the top with the chocolate since the chocolate frosting atop the chocolate cake was also liberally covered with chocolate curls. If you need a chocolate fix, this will meet your needs.

Overall, I'd give Casey's Cupcakes a favorable rating. I don't know that I'd go out of my way to seek them out if I was in Southern California (I have a high bar for cupcakes and there are so many cupcakeries out there) but if you get a chance to try one, I'd recommend it.