let's talk about cupcakes.

I’ve got cupcakes on my mind.

Yeah, I’m thinking about cupcakes – not just because they sound delicious right now (I AM SO HUNGRY FOR CUPCAKES), but because cupcakes are GENIUS.

There were cupcakes at not one...

...but TWO of my bridal showers last year!

Fancy cupcakes have been a thing for a while now, but seriously: why weren’t they a thing all along? Think about it: they’re small, portable, and way less messy to frost/serve/eat than a full-size cake. You don’t need a fork and a plate for cupcakes, whereas cake demands it. Plus, it’s easier to experiment with weird flavors. You can bake just one weird-flavored cupcake, and if it sucks, you’re only out one cupcake versus an entire cake.

Oh, and wedding cupcakes? BRILLIANT. Instead of having wedding cake for all our guests, we (like many other couples) opted to get a whole ton of cupcakes instead. This was better in SO many ways. It eliminated the need for all those extra plates, and we didn’t have to persuade any of our relatives to serve cake. Best of all, cupcakes = more flavors! Instead of being limited to one flavor that our guests may or may not like (or marble cake! blech!), we got to serve them three flavors of cupcakes. I heard no complaints.

LOOK AT ALL THOSE CUPCAKES.

When I was a kid, I was torn between birthday cupcakes and a full-on birthday cake. A birthday cake was better for blowing out candles, but it was much easier to eat the cupcakes – I could stuff a whole cupcake in my mouth, but alas, not a piece of cake. Cupcakes were the better choice if you were planning on bringing treats to school. (Which was every year. Do you have any idea how angry elementary schoolers get if the birthday person doesn’t bring treats?)

I don’t remember exactly when cupcakes became so trendy, but I do remember a specific cupcakes-on-television experience that made me aware of just how popular cupcakes had become. I had come from Minneapolis to visit my parents, and Mom and I were enjoying a lazy day watching TV. On came DC Cupcakes. It wasn’t until that point that I realized cupcakes were a serious business. They make sculptures out of cupcakes, for crying out loud.

I didn’t seek out cupcakeries until I moved to Sioux Falls in 2011. Actually, “seek out” might be the wrong phrasing. I worked close to downtown, and I stumbled across a little bakery called Oh My Cupcakes. 

Oh my.

And they were AMAZING. Their cupcakes are dense and delicious, and they even make cupcakes that are part (if not all) cheesecake. I made sure to bring James there, and he was smitten. (And they must’ve liked us, too: we went there once near closing time, and they sent us home with half a dozen of free cupcakes because they were a day old and didn’t want to throw them out.) 

The face of utter joy.

Oh My Cupcakes has since moved from downtown, but I still make my way there when I need a cupcake.

Or two.

Ever since then, I’ve really been digging the fancy cupcakes. James and I take a lot of roadtrips, and we do our best to sample cupcakes wherever we go. We’ve had cupcakes in Brookings, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Minneapolis, and New Orleans. 

Omaha cupcakes.

New Orleans cupcake.

Minneapolis cupcake.

Sioux Falls is also home to the Queen City Bakery. Their cupcakes are a different breed than those at Oh My Cupcakes - while Oh My Cupcakes makes fancy flavors and bakes very dense cupcakes, Queen City Bakery sticks with the standards (chocolate, red velvet) and excels. Queen City Bakery cupcakes are moist and fluffy, and their frosting is perfection. 

Perfection, I tell you.

Though many have come close, we haven’t managed to find cupcakes quite as good as those right here in Sioux Falls. But that doesn’t mean we won’t keep trying.

James makes some mean cupcakes from scratch.
Best husband ever.