Sugar Cupcakery (again!)

Oops! Did I say that Arnold's was the last place we went on our day-tour of Cincinnati? On a whim, my friends and I ended up in Milford for some all-organic cupcakes from Sugar.

Sugar Cupcakery was a much different experience this time around, which is why I wanted to write it up again even though I've already visited once. Last time we were almost shooed out because they were closing; this time, because we were eating in, we were invited to the outdoor patio and our cupcakes were carried out to us on sweet little plates.

We whiled away an hour or so on the patio, which is gorgeous (and the night was perfecto). Make sure this is on your list of hangouts for the summer. (STILL: I'd call ahead and make sure they're stocked up, before you drive out there. They tend to sell out at random hours!)

Sugar is one of my favorite cupcake places in the city. (How's that for non-committal?) For my money, Take the Cake Cafe is where it's at, but if you're looking for a nice drive out of the city and a change of scenery, I'd definitely give Sugar a try.

Sugar Cupcakery's website: http://www.sugarcupcakery.com/

Busken Bakery

The difference between Busken and every other bakery that I'm aware of: Busken's open for 24 hours.

Okay, so I'm sure plenty of bakeries are open all night, to stock the stores they provide for. And yes, it's only the main Busken HQ that's open around the clock. BUT, when it's super late (or early?) and you have a sweet tooth, this Busken branch is like a beacon from heaven.

Frosting shots?! Okay, not my speed, but fantastic nonetheless. I'm a traditional Busken cookie girl myself-- I'm not sure what they put into those things, but I'm assuming any larger dose would be illegal.


Dan went for the doughnuts-- one glazed, one maple. I thought he was going into cardiac arrest when he started eating them.

Ooh, I almost forgot about the tea cookies! I bought a small bag for a gathering. Well received, as usual. Wish I was chewing on a few right now, tell ya the truth...

Busken's website: http://www.busken.com/

Film This (at Take the Cake Cafe)

It turns out I love Take the Cake even MORE at night, if that's possible.


@AlexShebar (along with @alisonjo1, though I haven't really met her yet) have set out to watch all the AFI's top 100 movies within a year. They're about 15 into the list already, and Dan and I recently found out that Fargo was coming up, so we put it on our calendar.


We had no idea it'd be such a big event! There were 20-something people in the room, and that was with Bockfest going on concurrently.

This particular event was held at Take the Cake, which-- had you any idea?-- apparently has a full A/V setup. (I talked to @GeekJames and he said this had something to do with being downstairs from an art gallery. So awesome.)


Dan and I bought cupcakes-- hell, EVERYONE bought cupcakes, why on Earth WOULDN'T you-- but the room was far too dark to capture their deliciousness in a photograph. Trust me, though... the pumpkin-y spice cupcake I had was divine. It's hard to match Take the Cake are far as desserts go, and when you pair that with a Coen brothers movie... mm. Mmm mmm mmm.

By the way, I made some comment to @GeekJames about how I hope the bakery made good money that night-- he just shrugged and said that wasn't the point. Sounds like @TaketheCakeCafe is hosting another dozen or so #FilmThis events, because they're an active part of the community and just love good movies. *dreamy sigh*


I'm hoping to tag along to more of the #FilmThis (renamed to #WatchThis for reasons that are probably apparent) events. What an awesome way to see some of the best movies in America?

Thank you for making this available to all of us, Alex & Allison!

FilmThis' website: http://filmthis.tumblr.com/
Take the Cake's website: http://takethecakecincinnati.com/

Local 127 revisited (dessert)

Yarr. Every time I post directly from my iPhone, this is the quality I get. My apologies. I'll start carrying the real camera more often!

My coworker Jeff and I are both budget-conscious these days, but we were anxious to give Local 127 another spin. After all, our first visit was on their opening day (of the lunch menu, I mean) and we weren't sure we'd gotten an authentic experience.

And so, Jeff's stroke of genius: eat lunch at the office, swing by Local 127 for dessert. We hadn't had much of a chance for dessert last time because we were so full form our lunch fare, so this would be a new experience altogether.

It was a good call. The service was much more relaxed-- Mike, our waiter, was knowledgeable and friendly but not all up in our faces.

And our desserts were fab. I was a little envious of Jeff's-- he had cheesecake served in a Mason jar, with dried fruit and homemade whipped cream on it. He also ordered a coffee, which came with semi-sweet chocolate, cane sugar and more of that fantastic whipped cream. He was jittering by the end, to say the least.


I had the pudding, which was delicious, rich, and far too large. I can't imagine finishing it after a full meal. The sample size we were given on their opening day was a much better size-- enough to taste, enjoy and move on. This this was a full commitment. Again, I think I would have preferred the cheesecake-- I tried Jeff's and it was light, whipped, and delicious.


These were the only two desserts on the menu-- it's not really their focus, and they will change with the seasons of course.

Local 127 still has a pretty low rating on UrbanSpoon-- I think the lunch experience must be a lot different from the dinner experience. If you have a nice business lunch coming up or you're just tired of the same old 4th street lunch options, try this place. Maybe give dinner here a second thought?

Sugar Cupcakery

I managed to snap a few more pictures of Sugar Cupcakery (though I apologize that they are still pretty low-quality):





I really enjoyed Sugar. Their cupcakes are all organic-- they are smaller than at Abby Girl, and a bit higher priced ($3.25 each), but I thought they tasted better. The frosting in particular is of a delicious consistency-- I am picky about my icing, and this was decadent.

The other thing that Sugar does well is social media! Abby Girl has no UrbanSpoon page (yet), Sugar has responded to me on Twitter, AND when I checked in on FourSquare I won a free cupcake! Gotta love that stuff.

If there was a downside, it was that I didn't get much of a variety-- because Sugar is only open until 7pm and it's out in Milford, we pulled up right as they were closing. We took home a chocolate chai, a vanilla, and a banana-- all were DELICIOUS, but I've heard talk of other flavors that I'm dying to try. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get out to Milford any sooner than closing!

Sugar Cupcakery website: http://sugarcupcakery.com/
Sugar Cupcakery on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sugarcupcakery

Abby Girl Sweets Cupcakery

I've been in a cupcakey mood lately, and I've hit up both Abby Girl Sweets and Sugar Cupcakery (reviewed tomorrow). First, a couple (bad) iPhone pictures:



I actually didn't EAT any of the cupcakes from Abby Girl-- I bought them for coworkers. I purchased a Neapolitan (strawberry cake, vanilla and chocolate frosting), a double chocolate and a peanut butter cup. They were all well-received, but I heard the best things about the strawberry cake in the Neapolitan!

I do like the family focus at Abby Girl. You can read their story on their homepage, but Abby Girl is the granddaughter in the family. It's a sweet story and a welcome addition to the downtown scene.

Abby Girl Sweets Cupcakery website: http://www.abbygirlsweets.com/