The Perfect Perk, Review Time!!!

Welcome back Carnivores!! This Monday I checked out The Perfect Perk Cafe in Bradley Beach, NJ.

It's a quiet little coffee shop that doesn't specialize in cupcakes, but has a pretty good selection of baked goods. They offer stuffed cupcakes which are definitely my favorite kind! My partner in crime boyfriend Joe joined me again and we split this friggin mammoth cupcake!!! It was vanilla with chocolate icing, stuffed with caramel/espresso filling.

It may not look huge in the picture, but trust me it was definitely plenty for two!! Now, onto reviews! Oh, I'm trying out a rating system to go along with each review section! Each part will be worth 5 points and the cupcake shop will wind up with an overall score out of 5. There's a chance for "extra credit" points if they offer anything that gets them into the "To infinity, and beyond!" category.  Also, I'm giving cake and icing separate scores.  Let me know what you think of this!


Has it got the look?-The Perfect Perk was offering 5 cupcakes on Monday, and they all looked exactly the same, a cupcake topped with swirly icing with powdered sugar sprinkled on. They were quite plain so I'm giving them a 2 on this section.
The yum factor:CAKE- This cupcake had a vanilla base that was just delicious! It was super moist and consistent throughout, no dry spots anywhere. It was also a very good texture, and held the 'stuffing' in place perfectly. I'm giving them a 5 on this, it was really that good!
The yum factor:ICING- The chocolate icing was pretty disappointing. It was WAY too sugary and tasted store bought. There was too much of it, we wound up leaving a huge glob of it on the plate because it was just too much. For this they get a 2.5. Icing can make or break a cupcake and it almost broke this one!
Money money money!- At $4.95 this seems pretty pricey, but it was a HUGE cupcake, AND it was stuffed so this actually turns out to be a pretty reasonable price. 4 for for price!
Vibe-The one guy working the joint was pretty nice, he had no trouble explaining to me what each cupcake was stuffed with (even though I was clearly missing a sign that had them all listed!) and brought our cupcake and drinks over to our seats. The 'theme' was...coffee shop lol But it had an interesting "grandma's living room" kind of feel. I give them a 3 on this.
To infinity, and beyond!- It was a stuffed cupcake!!! The filling was absolutely delicious, very smooth and creamy almost like pudding. As cool as stuffed cupcakes are you don't see them everyday, so they definitely earn an extra point for this.

Total Points: 17.5/25

Rating:3.5/5!

Overall this was a pretty cool place! had a kind of grandma's living room theme goin on but it's pretty cute to me! And the cupcake was awesome, although I would work on the icing because it almost killed the cupcake!  The presentation was pretty boring and could definitely have used some color to brighten it up, but it was not a dedicated bakery. If you're ever in the Bradley Beach area hit this place up! They also have some great coffee drinks :) 

Follow me on twitter to find out where or what I'll be reviewing next and to stay up to date on my blogposts!! 

Stay Hungry Carnivores!

Cake Bake & Roll!! Review Time

Hey Carnivores!! Today, I checked out the Cake Bake and Roll bakery in the Pier Village section of Long Branch, NJ.

Cake Bake & Roll is a cool little bakery that has all kinds of breads, cookies, cupcakes, and ice cream. Most reviews are on chocolate or vanilla, but that's not how I roll (no pun intended hahahaha) I chose 2 cupcakes, a Peanut Butter Cup chocolate cupcake, and a Red Velvet cupcake. My partner in crime boyfriend Joe tried both of them with me and this is what we thought.

Has it got the look?- Cake Bake and Roll isn't an exclusive cupcake bakery, so I wasn't expecting much but most of them looked pretty good! simple, but really tasty looking! However they should have added a little glam to the wrappers. However, some of them where fancier than these, with more intricate decor.
The yum factor- On first bite, the Red Velvet was somewhat crispy and dry, but the middle of the cupcake was more moist. The Peanut Butter cupcake was slightly better but still crunchy on the outsides. The icing on both cupcakes was awesome and definitely home made! The Red Velvet had a delicious cream cheese frosting, and same for the peanut butter frosting on the other. Great job there!!!
Money money money!-  These two cupcakes where marked at 2.95 each. They were the same size as a homemade cupcake, but a fair price.Worth a visit!
Vibe- an upscale place, with a cute european vibe combined with a musical theme. Very friendly staff as well!

To quote the PIC', "you can make better cake than this, but you ain't got shit on this icing!!" and damn he's right haha. I make awesome quality cake, but I haven't even tried icing yet haha.

Well that's it for now Carnivores! Follow me on Twitter to see where or what I'm gonna be reviewing next!!!  I'm gonna be adding video soon so it's less wordy wordy and more fun!!

Stay Hungry Carnivores!

Hey Hey CupCake Lovers!

Hey hey! I'm Bevie and I am... a Cupcake Carnivore. I love cupcakes and everything about them!! I've been told I have a problem, and that maybe I should join a 12 step program...but the only steps I need are in the cookbook!  I'm not a professional baker, but as far as my kitchen is concerned I am!  I'm 25, I have a day job and I bake on the side (mostly for my coworkers).  BUT I do love baking and want to someday open a cupcake store. Soooo what I'm going to be doing here is going to as many cupcake shops and dessert stores in the Tri-State area as I can to see who has the best cupcakes and what makes them so damn awesome!  I'll let ya know which cupcakes taste the best, which ones are bland and suck, which places have the best people working them and which ones have bitches you wanna knock out :) When I rate a shop, I'll be basing my rating on this stuff right here:

Has it got the look?-well, its gotta look good for you to even wanna eat it right?
The yum factor- it can be all dolled up like a Barbie but if it tastes like crap no ones gonna want it!
Money money money!- its a cupcake people, not a lobster dinner lets keep it reasonable
Vibe-friendly? bitchy? laid back? I'll let ya know my overall feel of the place
To infinity, and beyond!- anything that makes this place extra memorable, or goes above and beyond

I'm also gonna be posting my favorite cupcake recipes that I test out on my boyfriend, best friend, and coworkers, pictures and videos of reviews, and reviews of the many cool cupcake gadgets out there! So stay tuned and get ready for my first cupcake store review coming this weekend! I'll be reviewing Cake, Bake & Roll located in the Pier Village section of Long Branch, NJ.

Stay hungry Carnivores!!