701 Belmont Avenue, Suite C, Pinole | (510) 964-5265 | thecrownedcupcake.com Cupcake everyday cupcakes, which my family
and I thoroughly enjoyed over the
next several days! Gaby shared that
she enjoys creating new recipes to
introduce as daily specials, and gauges
the popularity of each new flavor to
determine whether it should be included
on the everyday menu and/or the
frequency of offering it as a daily special.
Some of the other special cupcake
flavors recently offered include Cookie
Dough, Apple Pie, Banana Cream, Key
Lime, Buttered Pecan, Circus Animal
Cookie, Carmel Apple, Maple & Bacon,
and Peanut Butter and Jelly. The special
flavors of the day are posted daily on
The Crowned Cupcake’s Facebook
page and on Instagram so that you
never have to miss out on your favorite
flavors. Sometimes even the everyday
flavors sell out early, though, so if you
want to purchase specific cupcake flavors
and want to ensure that your order
can be fulfilled, the staff accepts phone
order requests and will happily set your
selections aside.
The sample cupcakes that Gaby sent
home with me were amazingly good!
Each-and-every cupcake was extremely
moist and had its own unique flavor.
In my experience with other bakeries,
sometimes the flavor of the cake is not
discernable because it is overpowered
by the frosting; but this was not the
case with our samples. Admittedly, the
cupcake frosting is generally very sweet
(especially the Ganache Chocolate
Fudge); however, the unique, blended
flavor of the cake and the frosting
make every cupcake a delight in which
to indulge. My favorite of all the
samples was the Lemon cupcake. The
delicious lemon cake was filled with
a generous amount of a lemon “gel”
which intensified the lemony taste. The
whipped lemon buttercream frosting
was light and not-too-sweet, and a small
(edible) sugared lemon slice garnished
the top of the cupcake. The lemon
cupcake is also the favorite of The
Crowned Cupcake customer service
representative, Vicki Shotwell (Claudia’s
aunt), who is one of the small team
that runs the amazing business every
day. Of the other cupcakes that we
received, I also indulged in the Tres
32 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM JANUARY 2019
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Leches cupcake, which was creamy
and rich, and was served in a shallow
plastic cup, seeming more like a parfait
than a cupcake. I also claimed for
myself the signature Crownie cupcake,
as I was eager to experience the 3-in-
1 creation. The cookie and brownie
pieces baked into the cupcake were
smaller than I expected; none-theless,
the combination of flavors in this
signature cupcake was very appealing.
As I indulged in the Crownie, I couldn’t
help but reflect on Claudia’s explanation
of how she derived the recipe for this
special cupcake.
The Crowned Cupcake also
specializes in custom cakes and is eager
to work with customers to design
just the right creation for their special
occasion, including cake flavor, icing,
theme and decoration. They also offer
“edible creations” which means you
can bring in your own photograph
and have the image transferred onto
the cake. The shop has previously
delighted customers with many varieties
and styles of birthday cakes, as well as
cakes for baby showers, bridal showers,
Vicki and Gaby