Current Obsession: Kara's Cupcakes

A box of 4 cupcakes: Java, IMHRO's organic blackberry cheesecake, blackberry, and peanut butter chocolate ganache

Up Close: Java and blackberry cupcakes!

With a Meal: Gyoza, red pepper crab bisque, and a box of Kara's Cupcakes (red velvet on the left and smores on the right). <3


Lately I've been obsessing over Kara's Cupcakes! It's a cupcake shop in the Bay Area, known for their pink stores and packaging as well as their conspicuous brown pink striped vehicle (AKA Kara's Cupcakes Karavan). They have 2 locations in San Francisco and one in Burlingame and Palo Alto. In my opinion, Kara's offers one of the best cupcakes in California! Every time I go there, I'm rarely disappointed. The key to the freshest and richest cupcakes at Kara's, and at any cupcake shop, is to go to the store directly and eat it right then and there. That's when it tastes the best. If you deliver them or have them sit out on the table or in the fridge, the flavors will diminish and it will become stale. Cupcakes are delicate, and the longer you let them stay out, the more disappointed you will be.

Kara's make their cupcakes by hand every day using local and organic ingredients. Their promise is that they maintain freshness every day, delivering fresh cupcakes every minute or hour. Each regular sized cupcake is $3.25 and the mini's are $2.00 each. Flavors switch up regularly, so a flavor you see today may not be there tomorrow. Some of them have fillings in them and some of them come gluten-free! They also occasionally work in partnership with non-profit organizations to help fund-raise for a good cause. The organic blackberry cheesecake cupcake pictured in the first photo benefits the IMHRO, the International Mental Health Research Organization. Prices are higher for these though (from $3.25 to $3.75).

My favorite part of the cupcake is the cream. It's very thick (.5-1 inch thick!) and rich. I believe the cream is one of the most important aspects of a cupcake, and can break or make it. The cake itself should be moist too however. 

Here's a quick review of some of the flavors from my Yelp review:

"Carrot: Small carrot shreds in the cake.
Banana: Minor banana taste. Nothing strong.
Red Velvet: Very sweet, but I liked the cream frosting!
Smores: Unique! The cream part is made of toasted marshmallows. The cake tastes like a brownie and the bottom is made of graham crackers! Definitely a must try. 
Blackberry cheesecake (w/filling): Cheesecake cream is so yummy!
Java: The cream has a very heavy coffee taste.
Peanut butter chocolate ganache: The cream is so rich that I couldn't eat the rest of it.
Blackberry: Love this one! Super moist all around.

How to Store - If you're eating it the day of, you don't need to refrigerate them. But for the days after, you should refrigerate them because of the cream. After you remove them from the fridge, let it sit for at least 30 minutes so it can soften up. I recommend eating these the day of since refrigerated cupcakes are tougher to eat."

If you get the chance, definitely go out and try Kara's Cupcakes! :)