Nom nom nom . . . C’est Cupcake

In a town where culinary masters come from around the world, desserts are sometimes an unfortunate afterthought. Yet C’est Cupcake shines while bringing delectable cupcakes to Shanghai.

Owner Jennifer Lee has made it her goal to bake the best cupcakes with only the finest ingredients. In fact, they import everything, including the milk, butter, flour, and sugar to maintain quality and consistency. It is almost unheard of, for someone to import milk, even. But once you taste their Tuxedo cupcake, you’ll see why.

Taste and food snobs from the US, will argue that the cupcake fad has come and go – which was started in the mid 2000′s in LA with Sprinkles. But I could see Shanghai embracing this sweet sensation. With the naturally sweet Shanghai palette coupled with the comfort desserts desires of foreigners, cupcakes are here to stay.

Additionally, C’est Cupcakes, with the skilled piping and frosting techniques, is able to custom designs for private events, corporate parties, and store openings. Though not traditionally trained, Lee self-taught herself how to bake and frost. Through trial and error, she has come to perfect her cupcake art.

On this day, I got to try the Tuxedo and the Morning Bliss cupcakes. The Morning Bliss – a decadent chocolate cake with topped with scrumptious coffee butter cream frosting, and the Tuxedo – a vanilla bean cake, topped with French dark chocolate ganache. The Tuxedo was a bit better than the Morning Bliss, mostly because of my personal bias with vanilla flavored things. When I was munching on the cupcake, it brought me back to my childhood memories of birthday events and outdoor pool parties back in North Carolina and California. As little kids, we thought these little treats were the best thing since sliced bread.

The shop features a display case of cupcakes, which sells out before the end of the day. There’s also a small retail shelf with cupcake related stuff – even cupcake soap! They even provide delivery service to all corners of Shanghai. Another nice touch Lee does, is that every morning she bakes a few cookies, just so you smell the nice aroma as you walk by her little cupcake shop. It those little details that make all the difference.

What to Order: Tuxedo and Morning Bliss … next time I plan to get the Irish Creme What not to Order:

Rating 3 Pigs Price Range 1 $/¥/NT

Links City Weekend, Shanghai Foodist, Smart Shanghai, Shanghai Expat, Shanghai Dolls, Privy.net

口袋蛋糕 C’est Cupcake 虹梅路3911号11号楼102室 Rm. 102 Bldg 11, 3911 Hongmei Lu, Shanghai +86-021-6228-1205 http://www.cestcupcake.com weibo.com/cestcupcake jennifer@cestcupcake.com

Cupcake creations. They can make all types of cupcakes with different designs.

Morning Bliss - Decadent chocolate cake, topped with scrumptious coffee butter cream frosting (foreground). And the Tuxedo - Vanilla bean cake, topped with French dark chocolate ganache.