Review No. 193: Caked Up
559 Elsinger Blvd.
(501) 358-6246
The Situation
She Said: We had a little break in our daily chores and workload, so I suggested we have cupcakes for lunch!
He Said: I was not going to argue with that. Apparently this place (right next to Target) has a sister store in Little Rock on Kavanaugh.
Ambience:
She Said: It’s a cute, bright and clean place, but it has no tables inside. There are tables outside, but the weather wasn’t nice, so we took ours home. It’s fun and pretty enough to enjoy sitting down with your goodies inside…if only you could.
He Said: The outside cafe-style tables are actually nice, and had umbrellas for the sun, so on a nice spring day it would be pleasant to sit there. I think there were only two tables, though, so if it got crowded, you might have to take it out anyway. They also, apparently, have a delivery service if that’s your kind of thing.
Drinks:
She Said: Hmmm… I didn’t notice any drinks on the menu. Did you, Ruud?
He Said: Pretty sure they had soft drinks, Cokes and the like, but we had some of those at home so we didn’t get any to go.
Food
She Said: I was ready for cupcakes when we rolled in, and I was not disappointed. My only issue was that I had to choose from some really scrumptious-looking options. I intended just to get one cupcake, but in the end we decided to share three different kinds, s’mores, Reese’s peanut butter and red velvet. The cupcakes are all lavishly decorated with thick swirls of rich frosting and some have added delicious adornments, like the s’mores, with small graham crackers and Hershey’s chocolate squares. Every cupcake I tried was rich, the cake itself undry (She Said hates that “m-word,” dear readers) and flavorful, from the chocolates to the specific red velvet chocolate. The frosting wasn’t too sweet, while still tasting very decadent and rich. I’d like to try more Caked Up cupcakes, but it would be heard to turn down these three when I return.
He Said: I loved the s’mores cupcake—it had the marshmallow and Hershey and graham cracker but was essentially chocolate cake with a thick, marshmallow-flavored frosting. I also stole a bit of She Said’s Reese’s peanut butter cupcake and will probably get that one next time. Although I had half of the red velvet as well and that, tasting just like a red velvet cake should, was no slouch either. There are I think fourteen different specialty cupcakes, and I probably will need to go back and try them all at some point.
Because we were doing a review, I decided we really ought to try the ice cream as well, so I got two scoops of their specialty ice cream flavors—because you get the second scoop for half price. One of these was the chocolate cheesecake flavor and the other the “birthday cake” flavor. That one was good—it tasted like a vanilla birthday cake—but I really liked the chocolate cheesecake ice cream because, you know, chocolate.
Service
She Said: Our server was very patient with us and explained everything and gave us lots of ice cream samples. She was the kind of friendly you hope for in a happy place like a cupcake shop.
He Said: She deserved a tip. Which you might not normally think of in a place like this.
What We Got and What We Paid: Three cupcakes, two scoops of ice cream and a tip for $24.41.
Elapsed Time from Our Arrival to Food Arrival: We arrived at 12:20 p.m. and were walking out the door with our box of cupcakes by 12:30 p.m.
Rating:
She Said: So many beautiful cupcakes, so little time! But these are worth the money and calories!
He Said: If you are at Target of Best Buy or Staples or somewhere else in Conway Commons, and you feel like a treat, pop in here and get yourself a cupcake, or some ice cream, because it’s good stuff.
Is Cakes Up good at what it’s good for? Oh, yes! Lots of lovely treats arrayed for your eyes to enjoy before you apply them to your face!