Lemony Snicket Cupcake from Sift

I can't believe it has taken me this long to make it Sift Desert Bar in the Fillmore district of San Francisco but I finally did it. Sift has been around since 2008, coming more into focus in the public's eye after winning Cupcake Wars in 2011. The Northern California establishment has five different  locations: Napa, Santa Rosa, Cotati, Petaluma and San Francisco. 

Lemony Snicket Cupcake from Sift SF
photo by Nikki DeMartini

It's a dessert bar, which to any lover of sweets (like your truly) is incising. The candy striped likeness of the rose trimmed white awning outside of the small SF nook is perched just around the corner of California and Fillmore streets. Inside, more rose and bubble-gum hues spell out yum and sweet on their packaging lining the walls, doubling as decor. Even the white paper napkins have a sweet slogan of "Hey Sugar" in a matching rose colored font. 

I was tickled at how cute and simple the Sift store front is: it's cozy because of it's size yet with it's one display case, window counter top seating space and crafty decor it feels open. You can't escape the cutesy aesthetic of Sift SF. The employee behind the counter/bakery display case greeted me as I walked in and then let me do my own thing without trying to push any product, no questions asked. It was nice. 

Sift SF
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Cupcakes and French Macarons fill the case with a rainbow of colors and flavors. Some of the macarons were dusted with an eatable iridescent glitter which of course  piqued my curiosity. Perfect spirals of traditional tube pressed ridged frosting top all of the cupcakes. With its bright, canary yellow frosting, sitting front and center in the display case, the Lemony Snicket was my cupcake of choice. It simply looks like a perfect treat for a Spring day.  Plus, I love a good play on words so how could this not be the cupcake for me?

Upon ordering, I was asked if I wanted it for there or to go. Even though I could have easily eaten it there lickity split,  I wanted to see how cute their to go packaging was for a single cupcake. It was placed in a colorfully stripped Chinese food box, adorable of course. 

Lemony Snicket Cupcake from Sift SF
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The vanilla cake of the Lemony Snicket cupcake is one of the most decadent vanilla cakes I have ever tasted. It's rich and moist but not weighed down with butter. The lightness of the creamy lemon curd filling balances things out with it's bright, sweet-tart flavor, not an overly citrus tone. If I was told that the frosting was anything other than buttercream, I would have believed it. Besides being thick, this fluffy and sweet buttercream frosting doesn't have the characteristics of a classic buttercream frosting. There's a hint of lemon folded into the sweet buttercream, just the right amount to make it refreshing. As if the yellow frosting wasn't enough of an icing on the cake, it was topped of by a gelatin lemon wedge and tiny pearl sprinkles.  

Lemony Snicket Cupcake from Sift SF
photo by Nikki DeMartini

When I think of Spring I think, bright pops of color, sun shiny days and refreshing starts. Sift found a way to embody all of that in their Lemony Snicket cupcake. I've only been to one of their five locations but I'm sure the other Sift storefronts are just as cute. They also do weddings and cater events! And they deliver orders, too!