Are Sprinkles Cupcakes Worth the Hype?

Known for their characteristic circular disk sprinkle on the top of each cupcake, Sprinkles Cupcakes has been publicized all over the press – People magazine, The New York Times, The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Regis and Kelly, and even the show Entourage.  The other day while I was shopping at the Corona del Mar Plaza in Newport Beach (map), I decided to stop by Sprinkles to see if they are worth the fuss.

According to the company website, the founder was inspired to create made from scratch cupcakes like her French grandmother made.  Sprinkles Cupcakes stores are small and designed to feel like a European bakery.

I was intrigued by a tab on the website called “community.”  It turns out that Sprinkles contributes to food banks around the areas in which they have stores.  After clicking on the “Newport Beach” link, I found out that leftover cupcakes are donated to Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa.  There is also Pink Ribbon Week in October, a week long Earth Day celebration, and various school, children’s hospital, and salvation army donation promotions.

At $3.25 each, I had high expectations.  Apparently there are certain flavors offered on specific days, and there were several good choices available that day.   I ended up choosing a dark chocolate cupcake and a seasonal pumpkin cupcake.  My favorite part about the dark chocolate cupcake was the delicious icing that wasn’t too sweet.  The pumpkin cupcake was pretty good in general.  Overall, the cupcakes were good, but didn’t taste much different than any other cupcake.

Have you tried Sprinkles Cupcakes before?  What do you think?

Photo Credit:  Flickr