Sugar and Spice

At the beginning of Girl About Philly, we started a little competition called the Cupcake Showdown. It was our excuse to sample some of Philadelphia's best sweet treats. While the showdown experienced a slow down, my personal affinity for the art of the cupcake only increased with time. And before I get to my latest ranking, I will briefly mention that I am yet to meet the match of my two all-time favorites - the chocolate peanut-butter from Naked Chocolate, and the banana with cream cheese icing from Billy's in New York (technically out of our competition's geographic boundaries).

But finally this weekend I got a taste of what Brown Betty is cookin'...and it was good. Brown Betty Dessert Boutique is one of those feel-good places with a story that you could definitely see becoming a movie. The tiny corner shop has feminine touches and a cool sense of girl-power and comradary that is palpable. You can imagine the staff singing out loud while they mix flour and eggs and breaking into powdered sugar pillow fights at the drop of a hat. The kind of place that you wished you had thought of (and had the guts and baking talent to pull off). It just looks like fun...and smells like heaven.

Then of course, there were the cupcakes. I tried the chocolate red velvet cake with cream cheese icing -- which definitely gives Billy's RVC a run for its money (and is a lot closer to my apartment). My sis had the strawberry sour cream which was subtly sweet and a creative combination. Both were fresh, moist and delicious. Brown Betty, you've officially got a new BFF.

And the scoring:

Appearance- 8; Cakiness- 9; Icing- 9; Sweetness- 8; Freshness- 10; Overall flavor combination yumminess- 9

Total: 53

Brown Betty Dessert Boutique
1030 N. 2nd St.
215.629.0999
www.brownbettydesserts.com