As we have 4 days left in Cairo and are running out of
things to do each day, today’s big plan was to taste test all three major
cupcake shops in Zamalek. That was our lunch (along with a really good
mango). Janelle and I each picked a
cupcake from each place to try, and we were sure to pick something which we had
not gotten there before (we’ve been to Nola’s twice, and La Poire and Crumbs
once before). We decided to judge each
cupcake store based on selection as well as taste, and took into account the
cupcakes we had bought there previously.
Now, I feel like a kid who ate their entire bag of halloween candy in one sitting. Nap time!
Crumbs
The Shop: Crumbs was the first stop of the day. It’s a lovely little all white shop not far
from the river, and is very clean and fairly no frills.
Selection: They have a decent selection, with interesting
combinations like Raspberry White Chocolate, Strawberry Shortcake, and Date
& Caramel. Between the two of us we’ve
had Raspberry White Chocolate, Date & Caramel, Red Velvet, and Chocolate
Mint.
Price: All their cupcakes cost 10 pounds each (roughly $1.67).
Presentation: Their
cupcakes are not particularly well decorated, and lack the professional polish
of the other cupcake shops. They also
have minimal icing, about one centimeter thick.
Their packaging is really cute though, and very secure as it kept my
cupcake perfectly upright despite being in my purse for about 20 minutes.
Taste: I had the Red Velvet today, and it was possibly the
worst red velvet cupcake I have ever had.
The cake was not moist like a good red velvet, and had a grainy
texture. The only redeeming quality was
the icing, which was decent. The other
day I had the Raspberry White Chocolate, which was nothing to write home about-
I’m not even sure there was chocolate in it.
It tasted like a raspberry muffin with vanilla cream frosting. Janelle thought the Date & Caramel was
really good, but she said the Chocolate Mint frosting tasted like toothpaste (I
had some, and I agree).
The Verdict: The best thing about Crumbs I could say is that
they have really good packaging for their cupcakes.
La Poire
The Shop: La Poire is
located on 26 July St, one of the main roads through Zamalek. They specialize in deserts of all kinds, and
their shop projects a polished, high-class image. They have a variety of tarts, cakes, and
chocolates, as well as cupcakes. Their
cupcake selection is fairly minimal (about 6 different kinds at the two shops
we visited, in Maadi and Zamalek). They
keep all their deserts in refrigerators, which if you know baking, you should
know that a fridge is not the best place to store a cupcake (it dries them
out).
Price: Like Crumbs, all cupcakes were 10 pounds each.
Selection: Having
been to two shops with different offerings, I would say they have about 10
different types of cupcake on rotation.
We’ve tried Cookies & Cream, Fudge Sundae, Chocolate Caramel, and Chocolate.
Presentation: All of La Poire’s deserts are perfectly
finished and nicely decorated, with lots of frosting. In fact, I ended up with chocolate frosting
on my nose this afternoon, as the height of the frosting was actually higher
than the height of the cupcake! My only
problem with presentation is that the boxes they give you don’t hold your
cupcake upright, so by the time we got ours back to the hotel, both cupcakes
were upside down in their containers.
Taste: Today’s Chocolate cupcake was good, with lots of
frosting, but not as moist as I would like.
However, the Cookies and Cream cupcake I had the other day was
fantastic- they put pieces of Oreo cookie in the batter, and the cake of the
cookie was a good chocolate, and perfectly moist. That may be the difference between the baker
in Maadi and the baker in Zamalek, or perhaps the cupcake was a bit fresher in
Maadi.
The Verdict: Definitely a very good place for cupcakes (and
Janelle’s favorite), but they need to work on keeping their cupcakes moist.
Nola’s
The Shop: Nola’s is
an adorable little shop, located just off 26 July, near La Poire. The guys at the counter were really friendly,
and explained (without asking) all the flavors of cupcakes they had
available. It also tends to be pretty
busy- they seem to be doing good business.
Price: Cupcakes at Nola’s are more expensive- 11 to 14
pounds (around $1.80).
Selection: Nola’s has
the best selection- there around about 10 to 15 different kinds available each
day. Nola doesn't offer anything but cupcakes. We’ve tried Banana Caramel, Oreo
Cookies and Cream, Blueberry, Raspberry, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Presentation: Hands
down, Nola’s has the best presentation.
Each one is perfectly finished and decorated. When I went in today they even had absolutely
adorable Christmas cupcakes, including one with a snowman, one with a Christmas
tree, and one with a Santa Claus face.
Other than the Santa Claus, these were actually 3-D and built up on the
cupcake out of fondant.
Taste: Today’s
Cookies and Cream was very, very good, though I would say that La Poire might
have edged out Nola’s on that one type of cupcake. Like La Poire, they bake Oreos into the
batter, but they used a plain yellow cake while La Poire had a chocolate, which
gave them an edge. However, the
blueberry cupcake I had the other day as fantastic, as was the Chocolate Chip
Cookie Dough (I’m still trying to figure out how they got the cookie dough in the
cake batter not to be cooked when the baked the cupcake). Every cupcake I had from Nola’s was perfectly
moist, and their frosting had the perfect amount of sweetness for me. Janelle liked her cupcakes from there as
well, and said they tasted very good, though she preferred La Poire.
The Verdict: While more expensive, Nola’s has better
selection and I think overall better cupcakes.
I feel like Nola’s is the type of place where I can walk in and pick any
cupcake, knowing that whatever I’ve picked will be good.
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