SmallCakes: A Cupcakery has taken over the dessert market in Lakeside Village. While Cold Stone Creamery and Yogurt Mountain have offered frozen treats there for a number of years, SmallCakes is offering a new dessert option on the Lakeside Village menu: cupcakes!

[pullquote]“SmallCakes is just delightful”[/pullquote]

SmallCakes is a chain cupcake store that was founded in 2008 by tier CEO Jeff Martin. The chain has over 90 locations in the U.S and abroad. Martin has appeared on The View and on the Food Network’s series, Cupcake Wars. According to USA TODAY, SmallCakes is one of the Top Ten Cupcake Places to try in the country.

The store features twelve signature cupcakes, including: Pink Vanilla, Pink Chocolate, Choco-Holic, Vanilla-N-Chocolate, Cookies-N-Cream, Lemon Drop, “Famous” Red Velvet, Caramel Crunch, Hot Fudge Sundae, Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate Cream, and Birthday Cake. They also have over 200 specialty cupcakes that vary by month and day of the week.

I think buttercream frosting is one of the most fowl tasting things on Earth. So I was a bit disappointed to discover that nine out of SmallCakes’ twelve signature flavors use buttercream frosting.

When I visited the Lakeland location, I tried three of their cupcakes, one specialty and two signatures. All three cupcakes had perfectly textured cake that was far from dry. When it came down to the frosting, the Cookies-N-Cream left something to be desired since it was tolerable, but it was still the sugary overload that is buttercream frosting. The “Famous” Red Velvet showcased why it got its title because it was the best red velvet cupcake I have ever had, and I have eaten many red velvet cakes and cupcakes, but I am also partial to cream cheese frosting. My favorite cupcake though, was their specialty Canoli cupcake which was frosted with chocolate chip canoli cream and even had a mini canoli on top. If they made that a signature flavor, I would probably SmallCakes best customer at the Lakeland location.

According to the Lakeland location’s employees, the Peanut Butter Cup is one of their best sellers. A chocolate cupcake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting and topped with peanut butter cups, “the Peanut Butter Cup is the perfect cupcake,” said Mantoula Blumenthal, FSC sophomore.

Overall, “SmallCakes is just delightful,” said Christie Brugler, FSC senior.

If you want more information about the new Lakeland location, you can follow @SmallcakesLakeland on Facebook or @SmallcakesLkld on Instagram. And if you need a little pick me up during the end of this semester, maybe a cupcake will help?

Smallcakes is located at 1560 Town Center Drive (Lakeside Village).