Cakespy Undercover: A Cake Gumshoe Review of Frosting Bake Shop, Mill Valley, CA

Cakespy Undercover: From time to time, our Cake Gumshoes venture out into the wild to try out new bakeries in various parts of the country. Of course, they always report back to Cakespy headquarters on what they've eaten! Most recently, Cake Gumshoe Barbara and a friend spent time in Mill Valley, CA, where they sampled the cupcakes at Frosting Bakeshop. Here's what they had to say:

[It's a] very interesting store because they can't bake on the premises so they have a kitchen several miles away. The shop was very stark but the cupcakes were displayed on glass domed, tall, miniature cake plates by flavor and then the boxed cupcakes were lined up behind which made them the total focal point of the shop. Each cupcake is presented in its own hot pink box about the same as the Chinese take-out boxes (not exactly eco-friendly and I am surprised that the residents of Mill Valley who are very eco aware that they don't say something.) All of that aside we had two very tasty cupcakes.

One was a lemon twist. The other was a black and white.

We shared so that we could give our own opinions; here is what we decided (being a good gumshoe I had my notebook and pen!):

Lemon Twist - The cake was just OK, a little crumbly but then it just served as the "plate" for the incredible frosting. The frosting was more tart than sweet, very zesty and very creaming, we wouldn't have been surprised if marshmallows were an ingredient. The cupcake was topped with a very cute little sugar flower.

Then there was the Black and White....fabulous dark chocolate cake, very moist with super texture and must have had very tiny dark chocolate chips in the batter. The white icing was excellent, very fluffy and creamy but very light. I was happy that it was not a buttery flavor, just light vanilla. The cupcake was topped with dark semi-sweet chocolate crystals. Divine!!!

Intrigued by Barbara's sleuthing? Check 'em out: Frosting Bake Shop, 7 E. Blithedale Ave. Mill Valley, CA; 415-888-8027; online at frostingbakeshop.com.

*as a note, Frosting Bake Shop is a mecca for seeing green: They just introduced two vegan cupcakes and are working on a gluten free recipe. Also, all of the construction extras--including fixtures--are reclaimed; their pink boxes can be recycled; and, they donate their day old cakes to food shelters, and all local deliveries will soon be done by bicycle!