Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake from Frost Cupcake Factory

I've been to my share of bakeries and cupcakeries but Frost Cupcake Factory is the first cupcake factory I've been to. 

When searching cupcake places in San Jose before a recent trip to the South Bay area, Frost was on the top of every list so it was an easy decision. I got there when they opened at 11am and was pleased to see they are carefully following COVID-19 compliance protocols for the safety of all of their costumers and staff: only one costumer is allowed inside at a time, paper towels are available outside to use to open the door and appropriate signage is up informing people a mask must be worn at all times inside. 

Frost Cupcake Factory 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The front of the small cupcake factory is covered in window decals celebrating the fact that Frost is a cupcake wars winner! Los Gatos local, Andrea Buswell and her Frost Cupcake Factory became the first Bay Area cupcake place to win Cupcake Wars in 2013.
We'd be proud and want everyone to know we won, too!

The front counter is filled with stacks of different cupcakes. The first thing I noticed was how much frosting is on all of the cupcakes.
The second thing I noticed was the scrumptious scent of freshly baked cupcakes.
Was I in heaven?
Frost offers different flavors everyday of the week, so I checked it out before I went and was happy to see that a Thanksgiving appropriate flavor was on the menu the day of my visit. 

Cupcakes @ Frost Cupcake Factory 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I was even more happy the day of when I walked in because the third thing I noticed was that they had the flavor I wanted! They actually had both of the flavors I wanted: Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake and Frostfetti. Go big or go home right? Well, I went big and I went home but I'm only reviewing one of those flavors. 

The masked girl behind the counter boxed them up and I was in and out of there in less than 5 minutes flat. 

Frostfetti & Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake cupcakes from Frost Cupcake Factory 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Even though I noticed that the cupcakes from Frost have a lot of frosting on them I didn't realize quite how much frosting until I took the Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake cupcake out of the box. I've had some heavily frosted cupcakes in my day but Frost takes the cake. I love frosting, love it, can't get enough of it. If you do not like frosting, you've been warned! 

Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake from Frost Cupcake Factory
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Not only is there a lot of frosting on Frost cupcakes but the ratio of cake to frosting isn't typical. When I started unwrapping the cupcake from it's paper cup I noticed that it was "short", there was more frosting than there was cake! My dream cupcake! The bottom part of the cupcake was crumbly and that's when I quickly realized that this is a layered cupcake. 

As one might guess, the cheesecake portion is the cream cheese frosting which is thick and dense, not very creamy.  It's a perfect mix of the subtle savory flavor of cream cheese with the subtle sweetness of buttercream frosting. The cake had a top layer of a buttery, moist pumpkin cake with just a hint of the popular Fall flavor and the bottom was a thin layer of graham cracker crust, just like the crust of a cheesecake. I thought that the caramel element was just the caramel drizzle on top but when I got to the middle of the Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake there was a dollop of caramel hidden inside! It was a smooth caramel, not a sticky one, maybe a combo of caramel and caramel frosting? It was sweet and salty just like caramel. 

Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake from Frost Cupcake Factory 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I ate this cupcake slowly because it's a lot to take in and I wanted to fully enjoy every bite. While there is a lot going on with the Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake, all of the flavors compliment each other really well. There's not too much of one or the other and they are all pretty subtle, so as a whole I didn't find it overwhelming. Since the flavor palette is a savory and sweet one, I didn't find this cupcake to be too sweet but I do have a huge sweet tooth.

With that said, it did satisfy my sweet tooth that night, so I waited to have the Frostfetti cupcake the following night (two cupcakes in one night is no big feat for me). 

Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake from Frost Cupcake Factory 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I haven't had it in years but Pumpkin Cheesecake is one of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts. It's a fun, fancy and yummy combo of two classics. 

Pumpkin cupcakes are super popular this time of year.  Almost every cupcake place has some type of variation of a pumpkin cupcake and a lot of pumpkin cupcakes have cream cheese frosting. 

Frost is the first place I've come across that calls the Pumpkin cake + cream cheese frosting combo Pumpkin Cheesecake, brilliant. 

It's also the only place where I've seen a Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake cupcake on the menu. The caramel and the graham cracker "crust" really tie this cupcake flavor together in my opinion. 

I am so thankful that I found Frost Cupcake Factory, went there on a Thursday and was able to try their Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake. I think this might be my new favorite cupcake place. It's definitely the best pumpkin cupcake I've had!

The Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake is available on Thursdays but I doubt that Frost is open on Thanksgiving Day. Their Pumpkin Spice cupcake is available on Wednesdays and Fridays if you're looking for a pre or post Thanksgiving treat. 

Have a happy, healthy and yummy Thanksgiving!