Kara’s Cupcakes Converts a Nonbeliever

I never really got caught up in the whole “cupcake craze.” Magnolia? Sprinkles? Meh. I’ve always been more of a cookie gal myself. Or cheesecake. Yeah, cut me a fatty slice of cheesecake any day.

But that’s just me. I knew my guests visiting from out of town would go ga-ga over Kara’s Cupcakes, and it would be the perfect pick-me-up as our sightseeing brought us to Ghirardelli Square.

Because who can choose just one?

Jennifer proceeded to purchase a dozen cupcakes…because who could choose just one? I was pretty blasé about it all…until the Strawberry Cream filled cupcake rocked my world.

The Strawberry Cream is one of Kara’s seasonal flavors, and is only available until August (So go get one now! Seriously, go. Now.). It is a vanilla cupcake filled with organic local strawberries and cream, and topped with a cream cheese frosting. Yom!

So what about this particular cupcake converted this disbeliever?

1. The cake was surprisingly moist, and incredibly light. Like sweet, delicious fluffy clouds. Maybe that’s the key. This cupcake is baked by angels.
2. The filling. Real strawberries and cream. It was like biting into a bit of unexpected sunshine.
3. Cream cheese frosting. Always a win in my book, and in this case, even more so. Not too dense, but still appropriately decadent, and a great play on the classic strawberry jam/cream cheese combo.
4. Apparently, if you slice it in half, the revealed filling and fondant decoration looks like a strawberry! How precious is that?

This cupcake was unreal. Like grandma’s strawberry shortcake, but better, and in adorable cupcake form.

Cupcake Catastrophe!

Other cupcakes of note: Sweet S’mores, a chocolate cupcake with graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallow frosting; Fleur De Sel, a chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, dark ganache frosting and fleur de sel; and Chocolate Velvet, a chocolate cupcake with a mound of velvety bittersweet chocolate buttercream.

Kara’s proudly states that they continue baking throughout the day so they can offer cupcakes that have been baked within hours, if not minutes, for your enjoyment. I believe it. They are amazingly fresh and absurdly delicious. I see why they have such a following in all five of their Bay Area locations.

So, am I about to go on a cupcake bender? Probably not. (Besides, from what my pilates instructor tells me, Kara’s reigns supreme. She holds a horizontal cupcake tasting of all the cupcake shops in the area, and she says Kara’s wins hands down every year. It’s not even a contest anymore.) I do, however, have a whole new respect for the Cupcake, and Kara’s will be seeing me again, at least once, before the Strawberry Cream goes out of season.

ADDRESSESKara’s Cupcakes

Ghirardelli Square – San Francisco, CA
Plaza Level
900 North Point
San Francisco, California 94109
415-351-CAKE (2253)

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Marina – San Francisco, CA
3249 Scott Street (at Chestnut)
San Francisco, California 94123
415-563-CAKE (2253)

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Town & Country Village – Palo Alto, CA
855 El Camino Real, Suite 50
Palo Alto, California 94301
650-326-CAKE (2253)

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Santana Row – San Jose, CA
3055 Olin Avenue, Suite 1010
San Jose, California 95128
408-260-2222

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Oxbow Market – Napa, CA
610 First Street, Suite 19
Napa, California 94559
707-258-CAKE (2253)

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