Dotty for Cupcakes

Dot's Cupcakes
400 S. Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
626.568.DOTS

You don't have to go far before bumping into a cupcake nowadays. The It dessert has been popping up in bakeries all over Los Angeles for the past few years. There's the giant red velvet and coconut beauties from Auntie Em's. When they're on one of the pedestals at Clementine, order a coconut or double chocolate with cream filling. We were disappointed by the dryness of the popular Sprinkles cupcakes. Joan's on Third offers their elegant version on most days. The mini cupcakes at Beechwood are adorable. Le Cupcake has a location in Washington D.C. and one in Santa Monica Place and definitely looks like a chain, albeit a cute one, but the cupcakes in several flavors are tres bien. And there's many more that we haven't visited. . . yet.

Dot's Cupcakes opened in Pasadena last November. Delicacheena spied Dot's on Arroyo Seco while waiting for the light to change. We made a mental note to visit the tiny shop just south of Houston's. During the Saturday afternoon before Easter, there were only vanilla vanilla cupcakes left in the display case. People with pre-orders were picking up large white boxes with the Dot's sticker and we had a tinge of jealousy. The young women in the shop were able to round up some chocolate chocolate and red velvet for us. Did we seem that desperate?

The frosting was applied in a thick swirl similar to Le Cupcake, but with a sugar candy placed in the middle of the vanilla and chocolate varieties. All three types of the $2.75 cupcakes passed the critical moistness test. Each had a pleasant "crust" on the top--they were not overcooked, but had something for the teeth to bit into--adding to the feeling that they were homemade, not assembly line clones. The vanilla cake had a nice butter and vanilla flavor. The on-line menu (no paper ones are available) said that they had Madagascar bourbon and Tahitian vanilla, although we couldn't taste the bourbon. The chocolate cake, by far UE's favorite, was exceedingly moist and soft-textured, but INK was unsure she liked the taste of the cake by itself. JM said it was like "from a box," The frosting was rich and chocolatey. The tender red velvet cake was complemented by the cream cheese frosting. The chocolate and red velvet even kept their moistness the following day. The frosting could have been APPLIED with a lighter hand and been less sweet, but these are cupcakes after all and would go well with milk or coffee.