Located at the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto, Kara’s Cupcakes greets customers with a wacky yet interesting array of flavors displayed across shelves lining the store. The cupcakes, decorated with varying chocolate and fondant accents, offer flavors that may delight some cupcake lovers, while leaving others unimpressed. Each cupcake costs five dollars.
Peppermint Bark Cupcake: 10/10
This cupcake does everything and more to encapsulate the flavor of true peppermint bark and holiday cheer. The small peppermint pieces provide the perfect minty crunch amongst the sea of sugared chocolate frosting. With a perfect frosting to cake ratio, the delightful Christmas tree decoration placed atop the cupcake makes it the perfect festive treat.
Red Velvet Cupcake: 2/10
This red velvet cupcake, a blend of red chocolate cake paired with classic cream cheese frosting, feels hard to mess up. Yet, when biting into the base, one can’t help but notice the dryness within the red layers. The cream cheese frosting fails to moisten the texture, instead delivering an overly sweet taste that leaves customers grasping for water.
Chai Cupcake (Flavor of the Month): 9/10
Available only during December, this chai-flavored cupcake leaves customers hoping for a year-round return. Topped with a spiced frosting, the cupcake tastes identical to any creamy chai latte with its classic black tea base. The satisfying mix of warm fall flavors perfectly complements a good book by the fire.
Banana Caramel Cupcake: 6/10
The banana caramel cupcake is a solid attempt at a quirky flavor profile. While the cupcake as a whole doesn’t display any true caramel flavor and falls short of its title, the bottom half of this cupcake makes up for the caramel’s absence. The cupcake takes a twist on traditional cake flavoring by taking up the same quality, texture, and flavor profile of a typical banana bread, bringing the delightful banana flavor to life.
Sweet S’mores Cupcake: 4/10
While an astonishing three-layer creation, this toasty s’more cupcake unfortunately falls short. The top layer, a bronzed marshmallow plopped onto a chocolate cake, is flat out soggy and doesn’t pair well with the dehydrated chocolate cake. Nevertheless, the crumbly graham cracker layer at the bottom does add a nice touch.
Passion Fruit Cupcake: 5/10
This unique cupcake, filled from the inside out with a delightful yellow passionfruit filling, looks appealing at first glance. However, the lack of passion fruit flavor in the filling becomes evident after the first bite. Although the cupcake does not fully capture its passion fruit flavor potential, the classic vanilla cake and buttercream are moist and add a delectable touch that complements the blandness of the filling.
