Cupcake Wars: Next stop, Crumbs in Arlington

OK - this cupcake thing is really getting out of hand. There are now TWO stores located in Clarendon  (Bakeshop and Crumbs) with a third on its way - Red Velvet. All of these are within two miles of my home. Add to that a shop we're trying tomorrow, Fluffy Thoughts Cakes, the several Cakelove franchises near me, a few in Old Town, and the mobile cupcake van that I have yet to write about and wow - that's a lot of cake.

But for you, dear children, I am willing to keep on checking them out - in search of the perfect cupcake.

For Valentine's Day, we went to the new Crumbs cupcake store located in Clarendon. My friend Vickie had actually turned me onto this place when I last visited her in New York. I would've written about the delicious sampler pack we devoured back in November (when lord knows I was looking for daily material) but I guess Vickie and I ate them (probably mostly me) before I could snap a photo.

In any case, I recognized them instantly when I saw the website, and confirmed my memory with Vickie.

These cupcakes are beautiful. They have a dollup of filling the middle, which I personally like, and the cocoa powder on the aptly named "jolt cupcake" was yummy. We hit the store on a day when they had clearly been slammed, so selection was getting slim. But still, they had plenty, and even though they had run out of the pink cupcakes (for shame) they happily suggested adding pink hearts to the chocolate cupcake which was good enough for Helen. And despite the fact that Connor was the official cupcake carrier of our group, and held onto the bag as tightly as he could in what was some pretty fierce wind, the cupcakes took a bit of a tumble before reaching our table.

I have no idea how Helen did this in the few moments I turned away from her.

She loved the cupcakes, but what a mess!

Connor gave these an eyes closed two thumbs up. You figure it out.

I rate these in the high middle of the pack. The sampler pack of mini cupcakes is definitely the way to go. The big ones are a little much - even for me - and there are so many good flavors here, it's fun to get to eat several.

Elaine