Crumbs Strawberry-Banana Cupcake

Crumbs Strawberry-Banana Cupcake, $3.75, http://www.crumbs.com/

Taste: The frosting is banana-flavored and tastes artificially flavored-- I think probably the same frosting as on the Banana Split Cupcake. The cake is AWESOME though-- it's strawberry flavored cake with real strawberries baked into it!! The cake doesn't taste artificial at all, it's full of fresh strawberry flavored deliciousness. There are also strawberry preserves in the center of the cupcake that are delicious-- not too sweet, with chunks of real strawberries in the compote. Taking a bite of the banana frosting, strawberry cake and strawberry preserve filling together, it's pretty tasty-- it really pulls together into a strawberry-banana flavor! Makes me wonder if Crumbs has thought about doing a reverse banana-strawberry cupcake with banana cake and strawberry frosting! The best tasting component is by far the strawberry cake on this one, though-- strawberry cake, so innovative, utterly delicious! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: Crumbs really knows how to get the textures perfect on their cakes-- the cake is so moist and soft and delectable. The frosting is creamy and smooth, and the strawberry preserves inside are smooth with real strawberries swirled in. The pink and red sprinkles are also a pleasant addition. However, the strawberry gummy candies adorned on top are much better served for decoration than consumption-- in general, I don't think gummy candies and baked goods really go together, and it especially kills the texture to have a chewy gummy candy in a bite of your cupcake! I'd advise leaving these gummy candies off to the side or consuming them separately. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: Crumbs cupcakes are so pretty!! I love the jumbo size of the cupcake, the rim of densely packed red and pink sprinkles, and the cute gummy strawberries on top (they didn't work with the texture, but they looked cute, and let the world know the cupcake was going to involve strawberry flavors!) But, a deduction needs to be taken because the application of the sprinkles, frosting, and other components are not perfectly even or symmetrical. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Satisfaction: I'm feeling pretty satisfied! The strawberry cake was just stellar, and left me craving more. The banana icing on its own tasted too artificial for me to enjoy it, but together with the other cupcake components, it was pretty tasty. The gummy candies on top just didn't work for me with the textures, but I do think they looked nice as decoration! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 15.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Crumbs Bake Shop: Banana Split Cupcake

So, this cupcake caught my eye-- the Crumbs Banana Split cupcake. Pretty, right? Unfortunately, it looks better than it tasted.

Taste: The cake just tasted like (and may have been) regular vanilla cake, and was delicious. Inside, there was a bonus pocket of filling that was yummy and vanilla and a bit like vanilla ice cream. Yum! But, the icing on top is where the taste went wrong. It was very artificially banana flavored, and the banana was very strong and not very pleasant. I couldn't even taste the chocolate, and the cherry was candied and ultra-ultra-sweet. Being like a banana split appears to be where the banana split cupcake went wrong! I had hoped it would be banana cake inside, with perhaps a chocolate fudge filling inside and whipped vanilla icing on top. Overall Taste Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.
Texture: Despite the taste being unsatisfying, the icing and filling inside were both creamy and melt-in-my-mouth, and the texture of the inside filling was especially pleasant and felt like ice cream in my mouth! The cake was Crumbs delicious moist vanilla cake. Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!
Aesthetic: The appearance was what lured me into purchasing this cupcake at all! Big, beautiful, over an inch of white frosting on top and latticed with chocolate and topped off with a cherry! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!
Satisfaction: As pleased as I was by the appearance and texture of the cupcake, the taste was a big disappointment, and I was left with an aftertaste of artificial banana flavoring. Yuck! But, had I wanted to enjoy the cupcake, I could have eaten the cake and inside filling and left the banana icing to the side and it would have been yummy. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Cupcake Ranking: 17 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)