The Divine Cupcake

OMG.  I just had my first Divine Cupcake.

I got two cupcakes & a latte at the little cart on Kincaid right next to campus.  The employee serving me was such a sweetheart - struck up a conversation with me about my classes, and we got into a discussion about Anthropology.  My latte was great, I got a 12 oz soy latte but was informed that I could get rice milk, almond milk...so many options for one little cupcake cart.

I brought home a chai spice cupcake & a chocolate chocolate cupcake.  The chai was AMAZING.  It seriously was so moist, I felt like I was eating a homemade cupcake just the way you want them to be.  The cake and frosting were very flavorful and there was a perfect amount of frosting!

Can't wait to try the chocolate one!

A yummy cupcake from the Divine Cupcake cart near campus was just what I needed this afternoon!

I've been on a gluten-free diet due to Celiac disease for about ten years now, and, although I'm used to forgoing food options around friends while out and about because I'm pretty sensitive, it can sometimes get me down. So today, when my friend wanted to grab an afternoon pick-me-up, and I spied the Divine Cupcake cart from across the way and impulsively walked over. Fortunately, they had a couple of gluten-free options--a regular chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting, a savory scone (rosemary and perhaps another herb?), and a Chocolate Coma cupcake (chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and raspberry filling). I am indeed a fan of chocolate, so I grabbed a Chocolate Coma cupcake for $3. The gentleman manning the cart was very patient as he explained my options (and as I absentmindedly referred to the cupcakes as "muffins"--oops!) It was a great portion, about the size of a small fist, and looked inviting. There was a sizable dollop of frosting on top, with an adorable bit of raspberry jam in the middle.

As I noted, I've been GF for almost a decade, so it's hard for me to compare GF baked goods with traditional baked goods. That being said, when I first took a bite my heart skipped a beat--this tasted TOO good. Perhaps those with food allergies/sensitivities know what I'm talking about: logically, you know the food is safe, but it tastes so yummy you wonder if it's not! However, I think the cake part was just a bit crumblier than wheaty cake would have been, but it was extremely moist for a GF option with just the right amount of sweetness. The frosting wasn't dry or hardened at all--it was also very moist and was sweeter than the cake, but not so sweet that it felt like my mouth was filled with sugar paste, if that makes sense. I could have used a bit more raspberry filling--there was about enough to fill a marble in the cupcake--but that's a preference thing. The cupcake didn't sit heavily in my tummy like other GF baked goods I've tried. It was a glorious end to a cold day.

I'll certainly go back to this cart to check out their other GF options! You know, for science.

I really, REALLY wanted to like this place. I have a ridiculous sweet tooth so even if something is sub-par but it's sweet, I'll probably eat it with no complaints.

Anyway, I've now had three completely separate experiences with Divine Cupcake, which I will detail below:

Experience #1: The first thing I had from them I actually really enjoyed, but it was at a catered fundraiser and I wasn't eating their cupcakes, they actually made a cake. A peanut butter and jelly cake! It sounds weird, sure, but the cake and frosting together tasted like a really good peanut butter cookie and there was jelly between the two layers of cake to kind of break up the richness. It was whimsical and very tasty. If that was my only experience of Divine Cupcakes, I'd actually give them four stars.

Experience #2: I had it in my head that I HAD to try a cupcake from them before I could really pass judgement. Their main shop is rather out of the way for me, but I end up around 5th St. Market pretty frequently, so I tried one from their cart. I think it was their pumpkin chocolate chip muffin but with vanilla frosting. The muffin itself was kinda dry, not terrible but not good. The frosting was really too sweet, but like I said I have a crazy sweet tooth, so I gobbled it up even after noting said issue. Based on this alone, I would've given them a 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3, sure, but ya know, to be clear it wasn't quite up to a-ok status).

Experience #3: Finally made it to their actual shop on 11th! Woot! So excited to try something that was made right here! Ironically, this one is the WORST cupcake I've ever had ANYWHERE and I COULDN'T FINISH IT! This is someone with a RIDICULOUS sweet tooth talking! Anyway, I'm sure it was just that flavor that was super bad (It was December at the time): Chocolate peppermint stick or candy cane or something. The chocolate cupcake itself was okay; just a plain old chocolate cupcake, again kinda dry but not terrible... it's vegan so I guess that's to be expected, but my expectations for "Divine" Cupcake were higher because so many people seem to love them and say that you can't tell the difference. I have good butter radar, perhaps? I dunno, but this is all beside the point....

The inedible part of this cupcake was not the cake itself but rather the frosting. I think they crushed a bunch of peppermint ALTOIDS and mixed them with not nearly enough frosting because that stuff was absolutely AWFUL! I took one bite and would have literally spat it out on the ground had I not been in my friend's car! It was that bad! And don't think for a second I don't like chocolate and mint combined. I LOVE mint chocolate chip icecream, Andes mints, every other chocolate and mint concoction I'd ever eaten previously.... no no, this was giving me a glimpse of how people who don't like mint&chocolate things feel - "it's like you're eating toothpaste with your chocolate," I've heard said. I never thought I would feel that way about a mint&chocolate dessert, but this proved me wrong, except it was like Altoids rather than toothpaste. Which, in fact, is probably worse than if they had put toothpaste in the frosting! Seriously. But now I'm just rambling. This cupcake: Negative starS!

So, overall, I've come to the conclusion that Divine Cupcake is just SUPER inconsistent. I will NEVER order something minty from them again, but I may give them one more shot. I'll try to order something with caramel... because if they f**k that up, I'll know they're no good.