Spring time in the LBC: strawberry cupcake from Frosted

Strawberry Cream Cheese cupcakes at Frosted in Long Beach 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Spring has officially sprung!
Days are getting longer and nights shorter, so I decided to take advantage of the springtime weather and have my first cupcake experience in Long Beach. 

I hopped on my (borrowed) bike and headed to the first cupcake place I could find.

Frosted on 2nd Street was the destination and what a great first impression of the LBC cupcake scene it turned out to be!

I was tickled to see a cupcake shaped bike rack right outside of Frosted when I got there. (how cute is that!?) I parked, locked up and headed inside. I was delighted that I was the only customer when I walked in  and also delighted that Frosted required all customers to wear a mask while inside. 

Outside of Frosted Cupcakery on 2nd Street in Long Beach 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

cupcakes in a box at Frosted in Long Beach 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The place itself is not overwhelming at all, with no inside dining available it's quite to the point, order and go, yet I was a tad overwhelmed with deciding which cupcake, or cupcakes to get. I was just excited I found a cupcake spot in my new neighborhood. Without a particular craving, I asked the gal behind the counter if she had any recommendations. Her first recommendation was the flavor of the month which was a cinnamony one.

Next, she recommended a customer favorite: Strawberry Cream Cheese. Being that it is the middle of Strawberry season (January - May), I haven't reviewed a strawberry cupcake in a while and the fact that was the cutest cupcake in the case I got one of the Strawberry Cream Cheese cupcakes. 

Strawberry Cream Cheese cupcake at Frosted in Long Beach 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Tucked in a box customized to hold two cupcakes, my two cupcakes (yes I got two) survived the bike ride home splendidly without any smooshing or spills. 

One thing that's always stood out to me about this seasonal favorite is how fragrant strawberry cupcakes are. At least the ones I've had in the past have been.
The Strawberry Cream Cheese from Frosted is pretty with it's pink frosting, light coating of teeny pearl sprinkles and big, matching gummy berry but the smell of juicy strawberry didn't hit me upon or before my first bite. "Yummy" was the first thing that hit me when I took my first bite. 

Strawberry Cream Cheese cupcake at Frosted in Long Beach 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

 

The cake is pink, but not too pink, nowhere as pink as the pink frosting. To me this is a good sign of it being a more authentic strawberry flavor. It was light yet moist and buttery which can probably be attributed to the fact that cupcakes are baked fresh from scratch every day at Frosted cupcakery. The Strawberry flavor is kind of hard to describe. It was strawberry but not artificial. It's a fresh baked cupcake with a fresh strawberry taste that isn't overbearing. A few bites in I found myself chewing on a chunk of actual strawberry baked right into the cupcake! That was a first and such a delightfully delectable surprise! 

The ratio of cake to frosting was spot on: pink cream cheese frosting covers the whole top of the cupcake and there isn't too much of it. It's a tint of tangy with a touch more of sweet but not too sweet. In essence it's a great cream cheese frosting and it paired with the fresh, fresh strawberry cake well, anything sweeter would have made it a completely different cupcake. With Summer right around the corner this cupcake will transition to be a great Summer time treat, too!