Buzz Bakery

In the cupcake wars of the greater Washington, DC area Buzz Bakery takes the cake! Ok, that was lame..  seriously though, In my weekend of eating debauchery, I picked up a Mocha and 2 cupcakes to share with my wife, from the aptly named Buzz Bakery recently erected in the Ballston area. From what I hear, they have become known for their quality coffee and sweet treats.

Now I'm a Starbucks guy.. I'll admit it. So when it comes to Mocha, I'm used to a thick, rich, overly chocolatey syrupy kind of drink... and That's not what you should expect, nor what I got from Buzz. It seemed like a overly milky latte, light in texture and really light in chocolate flavor.

However, as I drank it, it kept becoming better and better.. I could taste the espresso and the chocolate was becoming more evident. You see, this is because all the yummy real chocolatey goodness was sitting in the bottom of the cup. For shame. I could tell they used fresh shaved chocolate and it was delicious, it's just hard to melt that fast enough to be evenly distributed. I did like the ability to taste the true underlying coffee, an attribute you don't really get with a Starbucks Mocha. So, if I get around to Buzz again, I'll give it another go and be sure to stir it up myself.

Now on to the good stuff, The Cupcakes!

What we have here is an Espresso Buttercream with Oreo shavings Chocolate Cupcake and a Double Chocolate Cupcake. If I'm going to indulge, it might as well be with chocolate. It doesn't seem crazy that cupcakes are such a huge fad, and have been for awhile. In a country where excess is a problem, grabbing a small little cake seems less devious.. but I'm not fooled. $3 bucks is pretty much standard for decadent cupcakes in this area, as crazy as that seems. I mean, really.. just how much ingrediants go into these little guys? How many cupcakes could I make on my own for the same amount of money? I guess on the plus side, I'm paying to have my one little treat and to be able to not eat another dozen if I did make them myself. That's one way to stay healthy.

These cupcakes were delicious! The cake was super moist and chocolatey. You can tell they use quality ingredients. The butter cream frosting is where they really outshine other cupcakes I've had. The frosting is extremely airy and light, bursting with flavor and rich. The espresso really surpassed the double chocolate in comparison, with a true rich espresso flavor offering a good contrast to the Oreo shavings above and the chocolate cake below.

If you love cupcakes and you're crossing the area to find the best, I do suggest you stop in and give Buzz a shot.