Cupcake Summer Finale

At long last, I have reached the last stop of the Summer 2012 Northern Virginia Cupcake Tour!  The final stop of the summer during my final few days at home took us to Persnickety Cakes in Manassas.  Like Cupcake Heaven (did I mention we went back there?  I am still in love.) this shop consisted of cupcakes and coffee.  No coffee for this over-caffeinated girl -- I'm working on cutting back, I swear.  However, to make up for the lack of coffee, I got a coffee cupcake.  I was torn between that and the mocha, and the chocolate covered espresso bean sold me.

The cupcakes were cold.  I guess the displays are refrigerated.  While the temperature did not affect the taste, it did make them seem less fresh -- Persnickety was the only place we wondered if all the cupcakes were baked that day.  The temperature also affected the frosting.  Buttercream is a thick, heavy frosting on its own, and cold it is thicker and heavier.  I would have been content with half the frosting -- which is saying something, because normally I am all about that deadly combination of sugar and butter.

So the texture was off, and the frosting slightly overwhelming.  The chocolate cake, however, was amazingly chocolatey and perfectly complemented by the coffee flavor of the frosting.  I felt like I was eating a deliciously cakey mocha.  The shop itself was bright and cheerful and adorned by a display of Civil War artwork, as the town was gearing up the celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Second Battle of Manassas.

Verdict: 3.5 of 5 stars.  I'm not 100% sold I would get a cupcake there again, even if I were passing through and craving dessert.  If I did, it would be because they are priced extraordinarily well -- only $1.89 for the cupcake.

Larry's mom agrees with this rating, though her review sounds more upbeat than mine:

Shop - simple, nice view of street for people watching.
Cupcakes - D1 - Pina Colada - very good, moist & lots of flavor. I would recommend it.
D2 - PB - OK, basic. on all 3 cupcakes, by the time I got them home, the frosting was smeared & they were falling under the cardboard "holder" part. They were too small for the holder.
Size - smaller than usual & the price reflects this at $1.89 each.
When shopping in Old Town Manassas & wanting a snack I would consider going into the shop. They had a nice variety of flavors & they were fresh.