The Great Cupcake Search -- Cookiedoodle

The world of cupcake reviewing is not for the faint of heart, let me assure you. It is a long road of struggle, fraught with obstacles and obstructions at every turn.

And I'm not just saying that because I like the word fraught.

Case in point:  Cookiedoodle!

They are, as the name implies, a little bakery shop that's slightly more well known for their cookies (which are fabulous!) but they also have cupcakes. They are actually one of the places that I wanted to review first because the shop is pretty close to home; unfortunately, it's also really close to this place called George's Pub.

Which probably doesn't sound like a problem until you realize that --in some weird, physics-defying way--George's Pub apparently has a gravitational pull on a par with a black hole. Any time Opie and I are anywhere near the place, we get sucked into the front doors, thrown into a chair, and are unable to move until we have consumed an appetizer sampler and at least three drinks.

Considering my favorite drink there is this little concoction called a "Soccer Mom" that has several shots of flavored vodka and maybe two drops of pineapple juice, it's easy to see why, after a few hours at George’s, I somewhat lose focus on cupcake shop reconnaissance.

The one occasion we did try to go to Cookiedoodle immediately after leaving George's was a disaster. We stuffed ourselves to oblivion, wandered down the street, and got to the shop approximately 10 minutes after the place closed.

At this point one of us began making wild suggestions about “Storming the Doodle!” like French Revolutionaries.

I blame George’s.

It took promises of more vodka and red wine to talk this nameless wannabe felon out of a life of cupcake-related crime.

So, instead of writing cupcake reviews, we spent the rest of that afternoon at home playing Rock Band on the Wii--with me belting out Alannis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know" with an intensity that I'm pretty sure scared Opie to the very silence of his soul.

Clearly the only answer was to try to go to Cookiedoodle early in the day when George's is closed. But that's kind of a pain because then I have to make a detour on my way home from class (and seriously, once I leave class, I usually fly home like I've been shot from a gun) or make a special trip.

So, it took me awhile to get to Cookiedoodle...but  they were totally worth the wait.

This is the chocolate one:

"Best cake we've tried," said Opie.

And I agreed. These tasted more "homemade" than others we've sampled. They were a denser, thicker cake but packed with flavor.  The icing was a touch too sweet for me (which I would have thought impossible, particularly after the Cupcakes by Lu debacle) especially when eaten in the ideal 90/10 icing to cake ratio but when paired with the cake in the manner of a dainty cupcake connoisseur, they went well together.

So, final verdict:

Size: Average

Price: Average (2.50)

Cake: Great!

Icing: A little too sweet on its own

The kind of cake that you might leave George's early for--though not so good that you'd skip George's altogether~though, to be fair, I can't think of anything that would make me leave George's early.


Stay tuned for future installments or let me know if there's a cupcakery you recommend by clicking here. Or read the post that started it all: The Great Cupcake Search.