Rant- Cupcake Royale

[swimcat]

datamuse @24- lol. I’ve also paid a few visits in the evening to CR only to find a barren display case. I only eat cupcakes at night, it’s not a morning or afternoon treat.

And frankly, I don’t think their cupcakes are that good. Too dry and flavorless. Though their chocolate frosting is quite good, I will admit.

I have a simple palate I suppose, but I still think the best cupcakes are homemade from a box. Betty Crocker mixes are the best and you can make two dozen and frost them for less than $3 if you buy the ingredients on sale.

I used to LOVE Coffee to a Tea’s cupcakes, but the last few I had were too dry so I’ve switched to eating homemade ones. Sorry- I will gladly support all local cupcake shops when I can reliably buy an excellent MOIST cake!

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[gunnerddog]

Coffee to a Tea’s cupcakes are sooooo much better. Much moister than CR’s. The times I have gone to CR, the cakes are dry and the frosting overly sugary. Plus, the staff at the Juncion shop can be downright rude. I haven’t noticed the same thing at their Ballard store. Coffee to a Tea has incredibly friendly staff who enjoy talking and interacting with customers. They don’t feel that the people providing revenue to their business are some sort of imposition in their lives.

Viva la Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes!!!

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[JoB]

JW..

if we can’t complain here.. where?

This is a forum.. the advertising section for businesses is located to the right of your screen.

you have the same opportunity to post positive experiences with a business that anyone else has to post negative.. and some people do just that.. that’s where the raves come from.

would you have us be all raves and no rants? life isn’t like that.

as for veracity… none of us knows for sure that anything anyone posts here is true… but that is a huge leap from assuming that any complaint anyone posts is fabricated.

I am all for supporting local businesses.. so much so that i would support meeting up at a local business that campaigns for causes i support (Cafe Royale) even though i don’t much care for their cupcakes…

i wouldn’t have known that if not for the OPs rant.

but Cafe Royal isn’t the only business in West Seattle that cuts their bottom line to provide their workers with health care or supports causes i support.. or…

they just got publicity today for doing the right thing.

And supporting any cause could do them more harm than good…

in fact, in another thread on this forum a local businessperson was thoroughly trashed for speaking up for a cause because someone thought business owners should be publicly neutral.

the bottom line is that Cafe Royale still has to sell cupcakes people want to buy to stay in business.

some companies have wisely begun datamining on-line forums to read their customer comments.. there is a wealth of information here that could potentially help them increase their business…

That’s what i would do if i was a local business. You once had no option but to pay big bucks for this kind of feedback.

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[sam-c]

sld- what about the recipe for the: “Strawberry Meringue Buttercream” ?

so if there was a forum meet up at cupcake royale, what happens when there’s only enough cupcakes for half of the people that show up?

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[JoB]

JenV…

you are insulting me by insisting that it was my intent to insult someone else.

and no, smiley faces don’t help.

having a bad day?

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[JW]

JoB, you are right on many points and I was probably too quick on the trigger… but… we are obviously of fundamentally different opinions on the issue of whether this kind of topic serves any purpose other than harm. I’ve seen enough pettiness in these forums to last me a lifetime; truly, I keep coming back to the fact that this is an unverified complaint, these are exceptionally hard times for business owners (not to mention the Junction in general!!), and this is a SBO who is helping make a real difference in people’s lives. So, valid complaint or not, it’s a cupcake… when I weigh out the significance of it all in my mind, I just am more sympathetic to a struggling business owner in my local community. And with that, I should probably stop reading these forums… I probably don’t belong here, with the folks who like to rant/wax poetic about baked goods.

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[JoB]

sam-c

we share.

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[JoB]

JW..

I personally don’t feel passionate enough about baked goods to rant or rave about any of them..

but i do have a particular passion for Full Tilt ice cream and Paisanos broiled chicken.. and no stakehold in either except a desire to see them succeed so my favorites are available:)

You are right that a rant here can impact a small business the same way that a rave here produces a blog bump in business.

That is why the forum rules for a rant include an attempt to work any disagreement out with the business.. as the OP did by both speaking with employees and by emailing.

but you or i could rant or rave all we wanted and if no-one agreed with us, then it wouldn’t hurt or help a business at all.

This is where forums like this can become a very useful tool to a business, helping them to better meet their customer needs.

as for the pettiness some days… well it is just that.. pettiness.

some of it is intended and some of it something that that is read into a post that was never the posters intent…

but mostly, it’s not worth getting too upset about.

my guess is that Cafe Royale will come out ahead on this rant…

people like me will choose to patronize them for no other reason than the owner’s support of a public option for health care… in my opinion.. a necessity for the health of small businesses…

Want to meet for a cupcake?

I don’t care if they have the strawberry special or not.. everything goes better with chocolate:)

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[charlabob]

The cupcake department in coffee to a tea is a small business inside a small business so I don’t feel disloyal. There were at least four people in this thread who went to a cupcake store and didn’t find, um, cupcakes. When Shoofly is out of one kind of pie, you buy another — if they were out of all kinds of pies, I suspect they’d buy new inventory management software. Sheesh.

Coffee to a Tea makes lots of the minicupcakes. The first battle I had with Cupcake Royale was when I, like Jen, wanted to buy some to take to work. I couldn’t afford to buy the large ones so I wanted to buy the mini ones. They had enough, but they wouldn’t sell them to me because they wanted to look like they had more. “If you want a big order (12 cupcakes?) you have to call ahead 24 hours — it says so on our web site.”

Yup, I asked — I complained — I complained the second and third time. After that, I just walk right by.

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[swimcat]

I don’t think it’s very unreasonable to expect the product a small bakery specializes in to be available at the end of the day, the time that most people want to enjoy the product. I’m not a small business owner but would assume that there is an easy and profitable solution to this OP’s rant. Just my two cents though.

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[JoB]

charlabob…

could we meet at the corner with cupcakes purchased from either Cafe Royale or Coffee to a Tea?

i don’t even want a cupcake so i am finding it difficult to care …

either way we should call ahead so someone will have enough cupcakes for all of us.

:))))

I am getting this wonderful fantasy of shutting the junction down while we all congregate for our cupcake tea party … who is bringing the tea?

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[sam-c]

JoB- You can’t share a CR cupcake; I’ve tried. If you try to break part of it off/ in half, the whole things falls into your lap in a big pile of crumbs.

like you mention above, sounds like forum peeps would have to convene somewhere after purchasing treats from store of choice.

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[CMP]

I just ate a mini cupcake from CR and am not too impressed. They’ve changed their recipe so that the cake is moister but it tastes like it’s from a box. Then they changed the frosting and it’s not nearly as good as it used to be. Then they got rid of my favorite cake (the MoFro)and replaced it with the salted caramel (blech!). Then they have surly employees and run out of inventory by 3:00 pm. Geez, I could go on and on about Cupcake Royale but I think you get the point.

That’s why I buy my cupcakes down in Portland (luckily I’m there quite often) at Cupcake Jones b/c they kick a$$…and probably make mine fatter but that’s beside the point. Bottom line is that CR needs to manage their inventory better. There’s nothing more irritating than going to a shop for something specific and they have nothing left of what you wanted hours before they even close. Clearly they’re doing fine though if they’re selling out of cupcakes so I doubt any of the complaints written here will make them improve.

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[saney]

couple of things…

i never said i dislike their cupcakes. the red velvet is my favorite “regular”. i just really wanted to try the strawberry special.

i dont want their business to fail..i want it to improve…hence the suggestion about selling the leftover cupcakes the next morning. could INCREASE business because a)perhaps word will get out that they fixed the problem with running out of cupcakes by making extra and b)word will get out that you can get a discounted cupcake with your morning coffee.

someone said cupcakes were $4..they are actually $2.50 and $2.75(for the specials, which they consider the red velvet to be).

i dont think having rants on a public forum does damage to business. i think it gives businesses a way to get free market research. if someone from CR reads this and fixes the problem, they used a great opportunity to turn a negative into a positive. i included a link to this thread in my email, so maybe that will happen.

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[Smitty]

I know absolutely nothing about the situation, but I do think that sanely acted stupidly.

Beer?

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[Jiggers]

$2.75 for a cupcake..lmao!! I would never spend that kind of money on a stupid cupcake. You people are getting hosed.

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[sam-c]

I’d say the same thing about people that buy a $4 coffee drink every day (especially an iced one, which really looks to be a big cup of frozen water with espresso shot thrown in for flavoring)

but different strokes for different folks. I certainly don’t bake during the summer. and a cupcake, CR or coffee to a tea hits the spot on some days .. if they are available.

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[Cait]

Don’t waste your time – go straight to Coffee to a Tea.

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[sld]

Here it is Sam-C:

Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries (8 ounces), rinsed, hulled, and coarsely chopped

• 4 large egg whites

• 1 ¼ cups sugar

• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature

Puree strawberries in a food processor. Combine egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl

of a standing electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, mix until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few T. at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all the butter has been added, scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula and switch to the paddle attachment; continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Add strawberries and beat until combined. Stir with a flexible spatula until the frosting is smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

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[JoB]

sam-c

:(

smitty…

saney didn’t post stupidly.. she was perfectly coherent… and doesn’t appear to be biased against any flavor cupcake… or against cafe royale. she just wants her cupcake.

you want your beer… and likely a meet up around beer would draw more attention today… in fact a meet-up that included beer and totally blocking the intersection in the junction sounds like it would be a big draw.. even though it would get us all arrested on too many counts to count.

i bet both Cafe Royale and Coffee to a Tea got blog bumps from this topic today anyway:) i nearly ventured out there myself. The only thing stopping me were the dogs.. can’t have them wait in the car on a day like today… not even for a chocolate rush… cupcakes backed with broiled dog just doesn’t sound appetizing:(

i can’t get too passionate about beer either since i can’t drink it any more… and what i remember is unfortunately really old news.

tho.. i am still considered a wine expert by friends and family that knew me when.. go figure.

But if anyone changes my favorite restaurants to pepsi products… i won’t wait to meet them in a dark alley.. i will beat them about the head and shoulders with a cane i keep for just such opportunities…

never mess with a granny.. we’re old and weak so if we’re going to fight we have to fight dirty ;-0

that’s my story and i am sticking to it ;->

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[MargL]

Envisioning WSBlog flash-mob where everyone goes and buys a mini-cupcake of their choice from either CR or Coffee to a Tea. Then we all stand out in the middle of California/Alaska intersection during an “All Walk” cycle and eat them.

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[JoB]

MargL

i bet that would get us on u-tube:)

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[Cait]

MargL – I’m going to be in the junction tonight and I’m ALL FOR THIS!!!!

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[pigeonmom]

I used to say “what’s the big deal?” over CR until I tried them again recently. They have changed their cake recipe and now they are moist and delicious! I don’t eat them all the time so yes, I will pay $2.75 for a treat from time to time. I know I can make delicious and perhaps less expensive cupcakes at home but I cannot eat them all before they go bad.

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[getreal]

True story — I went to KFC once (when I was in desparate need of some greasy comfort food) and they had no chicken … I consider this to be the same as going to CR and being told they have no cupcakes… it should NEVER happen, and if it did, they should have provided you with a free coupon for a free cupcake next visit, at least that would have made me happy as a customer. And this is exactly the forum for this type of complaint. CR is not the only small business that deserves business in this area.. nobody “deserves” business, just because they are a small business, still means they need to provide a service or product in exchange for $$. I will never understand how that place stays in business, I’ve been there and it has not much to offer me, and I’m not that particular, but I’m not a cupcake fan anyway, so have no idea what it would be like to go to a shop just for a cupcake. I am not a huge baked goods fan, but Alki Bakery does have the best cookies around and I sometimes will go there just for a fresh baked cookie (and a cup of coffee). CR is mediocre at best. That is my opinion, and if you don’t like it, don’t pay any attention to it. If CR is so great, why aren’t there more supporters on here saying how wonderful they are? So far their score card ain’t so good.

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