More Cupcakes

More Cupcakes in Chicago
http://www.morecupcakes.com/

• Cake: Bland with not enough cocoa.
  
• Frosting: Nice cream cheese taste and we enjoyed the white chocolate square for decoration.
  
• Coloring: Deep red.
  
• Consistency: Very dry and crumbly cake, slightly hard frosting (around the edges).
• Additional Comments: These cupcakes are gorgeous and presented beautifully in a clear case that wraps around one wall of the store, but we think this may actually be what is allowing the cake to turn dry. Perhaps if they were in a temp/moisture controlled case they would keep better. Having a cake that's so dried out makes it very hard to judge the flavor!

~We give this cupcake 3 out of 5 stars.~

Sprinkles Cupcakes

Sprinkles Cupcakes in Various U.S. Locations

http://www.sprinkles.com/

• Cake: This is a delicious red velvet cake! We LOVED this cake. It had a great cocoa bite to it!
• Frosting: Sugary cream cheese. Stefanie liked this frosting more than Renee. Renee found it too sugary and chooses to get this cupcake without it when she orders it. Both of us dislike the sugar candy discs they put on top as decoration.
  
• Coloring: A perfect deep dark red.
  
• Consistency: Wonderfully moist. When you are lucky enough to get this cake warm (hint: ask for it w/o frosting) it's even more amazing.
• Additional Comments: If you could take this cake and add Two Little Red Hens frosting you would have the perfect cupcake. Believe us. We tried and it was ah-may-zing. Come on, Sprinkles! Upgrade your frosting!

 ~We give this cupcake 4 out of 5 stars~

Shopsins

Shopsins in New York

http://www.shopsins.com/

• Cake: These are red velvet poppy seed pancakes. It may be because of the poppy seeds, but they have more of a lemon flavor than anything remotely close to red velvet. No cocoa at all.
• Frosting: The pancakes are served with maple syrup.
  
• Coloring: Red-orange
  
• Consistency: Spongy and moist; basically your traditional pancake texture. The poppy seeds added a bit of crunch.
• Additional Comments: If these were rated as lemon pancakes we would give them a high mark, as they were very good, but because they're labeled as red velvet, we have to judge them as such.

Although these pancakes fell very far from resembling red velvet in anything other than color, all other food at Shopsins is amazing. Don't go here for your red velvet needs, but definitely check it out if you're looking for a unique lunch or dinner. The menu will blow your mind!

~We give these pancakes a 0.5 out of 5 stars~

Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks Coffee Company in Various U.S. Locations

http://www.starbucks.com/

• Cake: The cake has a weird store-bought, sort of preserved taste. It's not really any discernible flavor.
• Frosting: Cream cheese, but mostly tastes very sweet. Also has a white chocolate (but dyed red) drizzle on top that doesn't really taste like much other than sugar.
  
• Coloring: Deep red.
  
• Consistency: Moist and spongy cake, and the frosting was a bit dry.
• Additional Comments: We won't be making it a habit to order these whoopie pies but they are a step above the previous red velvet offering from Starbucks - red velvet cupcakes with coffee frosting. Those were just plain unpleasant!

~We give this whoopie pie a 2.5 out of 5 stars~

Society Coffee

Society Coffee in New York

http://societycoffee.com/

• Cake: This waffle smells amazing from the moment it is set in front of you. You are instantly overcome with the smell of cocoa and transported to somewhere only existent in your wildest dreams. The taste is exactly as you'd imagine it. Cocoa-y, red velvety ecstasy. 
• Frosting: Vanilla marscapone that serves as the most amazing pairing you could ever wrap your head around.
  
• Coloring: Deep, dark red.
  
• Consistency: The waffle is spongy, springy, but crisp on the outside. The vanilla marscapone is creamy, soft and spreadable like butter.
• Additional Comments: Holy shit is this waffle good. We cannot say enough about it. We've had it served both with and without strawberries and whipped cream, and it's good either way. It really needs nothing more than its vanilla marscapone so anything else is simply a bonus! After just one bite you will quickly forget the somewhat steep price of $13 and the disappointingly slow service at this restaurant. Trust us and go get yourself this red velvet waffle today!

 All other food items served at this restaurant are quite delicious as well. The shrimp and grits and smoked gouda mac and cheese are particularly delightful.

~We give this waffle a 5 out of 5 stars~

Make My Cake

Make My Cake in New York

http://www.makemycake.com/

• Cake: Traditional red velvet with enough cocoa flavor. A bit sweeter than we'd like.
• Frosting: They say this is cream cheese frosting but it actually tastes like buttercream. Sugary.
  
• Coloring: Nice dark red.
  
• Consistency: Cake was moist and somewhat doughy. It held form well.
• Additional Comments: This red velvet was available either with or without toasted pecans on top. In order to keep it fair with most other red velvets we ordered it without, but it may have been delightful with the pecans. There has been a lot of talk about this bakery's cupcake and although it was good, it was not as spectacular as the hype made it out to be.

This bakery is ADORABLE. There is plenty of seating to sit around and enjoy your deserts. For the atmosphere of the shop alone we would recommend heading to this bakery and giving their pastries a try!

 ~We give this cupcake 3.5 out of 5 stars~

Crumbs Bake Shop

Crumbs in New York

http://www.crumbs.com/

• Cake: Bland. Tasted like yellow cake instead of red velvet. No cocoa flavor.
• Frosting: Very sweet cream cheese, and the extra sprinkles on top of it only made it sweeter.
  
• Coloring: Dark red.
  
• Consistency: Dry cake, and heavy on the frosting.
• Additional Comments: This cupcake is just too sweet and generic. If you're already creating a super sweet frosting, you need not add additional sugar in the form of sprinkles. We didn't finish it.

Crumbs has a better presentation than what is shown in the picture. This cupcake was slightly smashed in transportation.

~We give this cupcake 2 out of 5 stars~

Zaro's New York Bakery

Zaro's Bakery in New York

http://www.zaro.com/

• Cake: This cake has a good, chocolatey taste. We'd even go so far as to say it almost tastes a little homemade.
• Frosting: Cream cheese, but almost too tangy and sugary all-in-one. It was a strange taste.
  
• Coloring: Beautiful dark red - perfection.
  
• Consistency: Wonderfully moist! Strangely, it was also quite crumbly. It's unusual to have one both very moist and crumbly, but this was it. Dense cake.
• Additional Comments: Not only was this a beautifully presented cupcake, but it tasted wonderful as well. Would have scored higher had the cream cheese frosting been a bit better. Eat this cupcake over something that can catch crumbs!

~We give this cupcake 4 out of 5 stars~