Crumbs Bakeshop - Beverly Hills, California

Address: 9465 S Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

• Strawberry, red velvet, mint chocolate chip, vanilla coconut cupcakes

Located about 1-2 blocks away from Sprinkles in Beverly Hills, Crumbs Bakeshop wasn't even on my radar, but the cupcakes looked too enticing, and I had to buy a few to go (after visiting Sprinkles already!) It might've been b/c I waited until the next day to eat one, but the red velvet cupcake I had was kind of dry, and much too dense. I've learned my lesson: huge cupcakes does not equal great taste. Overall, if I could rank the well-known cupcake locales in L.A., it would be Cupcakes Couture > Sprinkles > Crumbs Bakeshop.

--y

Cupcakes Couture of Manhattan Beach - Manhattan Beach, California

Address: 916 Manhattan Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Items Ordered:

• Fleur de Caramel and Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes
• Petite cupcakes (1 each)

What girl doesn't love cupcakes? What about designer cupcakes that also look and taste delectable? Even better! I only heard about Cupcakes Couture through a friend with a Groupon, but once inside I went a little picture crazy because the store and the cupcakes were so adorable. The Fleur de Caramel was my favorite because of the hint of saltiness along with caramel in the icing. The strawberry shortcake icing tasted like strawberry cheesecake and the filling inside was like vanilla pudding, but got a little too overwhelmingly sweet after the first bite. The devil's food cake in the Fleur de Caramel was moist and easy to finish. I didn't get to try any of the petite cupcakes that we bought, but my first impression is that CCoMB makes better cupcakes than Sprinkles.

--y