Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe - St. Louis, MO

When it come to sweets, I am not always a big fan.  While my great grandmother always cracked me up by having a rabid sweet tooth, the gene seems to have escaped me.  I am far more enamored by the umami sensation.  That deliciously savory flavor that stews in the back of your mouth.  But every once in a while, I find myself in search of something sweet. 

And so it happened one day while in St. Louis on work.  I needed a fix.  And just who stepped in to satisfy my sweet tooth?  The winner of this season's third episode of Cupcake Wars, Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe.  Now I am not a regular viewer of the show.  In fact, I tend to think that Cupcake Wars is a little too specific to be it's own competition cooking show, but such is the age we live in.  So I can't tell you much about the competition they defeated, but if they won then I figured the cupcakes must be decent.

Upon arrival, I could see that they are very proud of their victory.  The front window was plastered with a sign proclaiming their well deserved success.

Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Cafe

Inside, I was greeted by a bright, white interior that resembled an ice cream shoppe of old.  Then I focused in on the task at hand.  Choosing a cupcake.  Because it was my daughter's birthday, I seized the opportunity to purchase four cupcakes for the family to sample and share.  It was undoubtedly a difficult decision.  Jilly's rotates their cupcakes offerings and so there is the potential for different choices each visit.  They were pimping their Cupcake Wars winning treats on a daily basis.  They were outer space inspired creations and seemed a little too risky for me.

Jilly's Cupcake Selection

Instead, I zoned in on some traditional flavors.  I thought a safe, yet colorful selection would be the Missylicious.  This was a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.  The buttercream was colored in a rainbow pattern to add some color to this otherwise very traditional cupcake.  The cake was moist and delicious as the combination of vanilla in the cake and in the buttercream made for a nice, rich taste in each bite.

My daughter loves Reese's peanut butter cups and so on this day, I knew I scored a happy birthday special.  Daddy was going to get bonus points when he brought home Jilly's "The Reese's" cupcake for her to enjoy.  And as the father of four young children, believe me I need all the bonus points I can muster.  I am not myself a huge fan of chocolate and peanut butter, however when it came time to enjoy Jilly's cupcakes I was ready to sample.  The Reese's has a moist, rich vanilla cake, injected with peanut butter and ganache.  Such a wonderful surprise tucked beneath a heaping layer of chocolate and Reese's peanut butter cup buttercream swirl.  To say that this cake is rich and delicious would be an understatement.  Since Jilly's cupcakes are so large as well, I would recommend that you skip lunch, grab a half gallon of milk, and keep some insulin on standby.  Every bite of this cupcake will be worth all the suffering.

Next, I selected the Twisted Pink Velvet cupcake. This cupcake starts with a red velvet-style cake injected with a delightful stuffing of caramel.  The whole thing is topped off with cream cheese and caramel buttercream and a healthy dusting of pecan praline.  Now this is my kind of cupcake.  Once again, the cake was moist and cooked to perfection.  The buttercream topping was rich and delicious, but the hidden treasure of caramel deep inside the cupcake made the whole thing special for me.

Lastly, I chose the Turtle Cheesecake cupcake.  Beginning with a chocolate cake, diners will find a nugget of creamy cheesecake baked inside.  All the acoutremounts of a traditional turtle sundae rest atop the pillowy buttercream topping.  Caramel drizzle and pecans abound.  This was the cupcake for me and it pained me to share it with any.  Each bite I watched others take stung a little, but made my own bites that much more special. 

My cupcakes packaged and ready to go

So for someone who doesn't normally eat a lot of sweets, I had a mini-religious experience at Jilly's.  I can't certainly see how their perfectly paired creations were a hit on Cupcake Wars.  As with anything good, daily supplies are limited so be sure to get there early.  The prices are comparably for cupcakes as each cake set me back about $5 or so.  Jilly's also offers a variety of sandwiches and salads for lunch Monday through Saturday and a Sunday brunch.