The Cakery

I had a craving for a cupcake over the last few days and thankfully so did a dear friend of mine so today we decided to try cupcakes at a bakery we've never been to before...The Cakery.
Inside the front door of the bakery are tables with picture books of all the different cakes the bakery has made over the years as well as a display counter. From an outside window you can see inside the bakery and watch cakes being decorated and iced. 

The Cakery has been in operation for 12 years and we got to meet one of the owners.  He was a lot of fun, joking with us, offering us an icing sample and telling us all about the different items in their bakery display.  I decided on a lemon cupcake with buttercream icing and key lime filling and their rainbow cake.  The rainbow cake is a creation unique to The Cakery, made up of multiple layers of cake scraps with icing on top.  Since they use pieces from whatever cakes they've recently been baking, each slice is unique. 
The cupcake I tried was moist and the icing was delicious and lighter than traditional buttercream icing.  The rainbow cake was very moist too and full of various flavors of cake.  I think my favorite part of the sweets I tried from the bakery was that although moist and sweet they weren't too rich or heavy. 
My only complaint about The Cakery was there weren't really seats anywhere to sit and eat.  The tables and chairs they did have were covered with Cake photo albums so we ended up eating our cupcake on a bench outside in front of another store.

Ele Cake Company

I'm still not sure how to pronounce the name of this place but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it!

My experience started with a lunch invitation to eat at the café which is inside the West Carrollton location but separated from the bakery counter.

The café is only open for lunch (10-2pm). The café seating area was comfortable and reminded me a little bit of a coffee shop.  If I lived closer to this location I could picture myself coming to hang out and reading a book amongst their comfortable seating.

Soup, Sandwiches, Salad, Coffee, and smoothies are included in their menu.  Ele uses very fresh ingredients and their portions are intentionally light so you have room for dessert!  I ordered a combo meal of ½ Dijon ham sandwich (thinly sliced roasted cider glazed ham, caramelized onions, swiss cheese with Dijon mayo on a toasted pretzel roll) and a cup of the soup of the day.  It was very tasty and light.

After hearing about Ele cupcakes, I figured I didn’t have a good excuse to not try one.  I tried a plain vanilla one because I wanted to be able to measure the freshness of the cake and icing without extra flavor.  I was not disappointed!  The cupcake was moist with a good portion of icing but not too decadent like many other gourmet cupcakes. 

You must visit just to look at the beautiful cakes and bakery items in their display area if nothing else.  In addition to the West Carrollton location, there’s also one in Beavercreek that offers the bakery side of the business but not the cafe.

Warning: Sugar Coma!

GiGi's cupcakes may send you into a sugar coma but they sure are a fun treat. The mile high frosting is really what makes the sweets so rich. 

I looked up the company's history online and the franchise has a neat start-up story.  It almost made me want to support them even more because of it.

The cupcakes may seem to be priced a little steep but that seems to be the trend these days with gourmet cupcakes.  From what I've seen the majority of Gigi's customers buy no more than 6 at a time. 

They do have a frequent buyer club card so after purchases of so many cupcakes you can get some free.

To ensure my body doesn't freak out from a sugar coma on the special occasion when a Gigi's puchase seems fun I've started cutting the cupcakes into smaller pieces. This way I can share the calories as well as the sugar and still get to partake in the wonderful sweetness!