(See the April 2, 2011 Review here.)
If I had one, and only one, question to ask a stranger, in order to determine whether or not they were plugged in to the DC food scene, it might be the following:
“Where do you get your cupcakes in Georgetown?”
My expectations of Baked and Wired have become so unwaveringly high that when something falls short of perfection, it sounds like a wrong note in Mozart K545 (the “Simple Sonata” in C Major).
After a business meeting at one of the three (ugh, yes, three) Georgetown Starbucks, I hiked up Thomas Jefferson Street to Baked and Wired around 3 PM, delighted to see it packed with people, just as it richly deserves to be (for far too long, Baked and Wired languished in the overwhelming shadow of its highly publicized neighbor and rival; not any more – people in-the-know have found it, and even though they may prefer one over the other, they still *always* at least mention it in reference to my question up above, thus passing my superficial little test.
I ordered two Cakecups (that’s what they call them) and a Bar (“sweet squares of something special”) to go, enjoying nibbles of each later in the day.
The Carrot Cake Cakecup ($3.50) was glorious perfection, and everything you could possibly want in a mini-carrot cake. Baked and Wired’s website describes it as “moist carrot-filled cake with an even balance of spices and crunchy pecans (no raisins here) and cream cheese frosting.” As tempting as that description sounds, it was happily incorrect: there were lots of raisins, lots of glorious raisins, just as there should be in a proper carrot cake <ducks as tomatoes are thrown>.
I’ve had the Pretty Bitchin’ Cakecup ($3.50) before and loved it (it’s chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting – what’s not to love?); yesterday, however, it became the first thing I’ve ever eaten at Baked and Wired that wasn’t pretty much perfect (this includes coffee, quiche, etc.). While the quality was clearly there, the cake-cup had seen better times in the past: it was the first dry cupcake I’ve ever had here, and the peanuts on top were just a little too old. If I were someone visiting for the first time, and I’d gotten only this, I probably wouldn’t return (I do hope Baked and Wired reads this – it’s meant as constructive criticism only).
A hilariously named Soccer Mom Bar ($3.15 I believe) is Baked and Wired’s 7-Layer Bar, graham cracker crust, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, pecans, and “lots of sweet, gooey stuff.” It’s the type of bar that every child in the world would adore, and every adult would bemoan because of the calories – it’s something you’d want to eat every day, for every meal.
Despite one dud, Baked and Wired remains strongly in Italic in the Dining Guide, and is my favorite cupcake shop in the whole world. Okay, I haven’t been to every cupcake shop in the whole world, but I can try.