Cupcakes of Ann Arbor, MI

Last week I stepped in for a co-worker on a trip to Ann Arbor. He seemed a bit on the eager side to let me go in his place. Now I know why.

That's not even the coldest! The temperature read -12 at one point during my drive to the airport. ANYWAY, other than the cold, Ann Arbor is a really neat little town and I'm looking forward to visiting sometime a little more...temperate.

Since I was going to a new place, one of the first things I did, of course, was see if there were any cupcakeries I could visit. Cupcakes Take the Cake listed Cake Nouveau on their handy dandy cupcake bakery list and a Google search revealed that the Birmingham based Cupcake Station had recently opened a shop in Ann Arbor. I had a bit of free time between events so off cupcake tasting I went.

First up: Cupcake Nouveau

Cupcake Nouveau is an adorable little shop with couches and tables for cupcake enjoyment. Also a big plus - their cupcakes were buy one get one free, so I got all 4 flavors they were offering that day for a grand total of $5.

As soon as I saw the cupcakes in the case, I got a little nervous. They were a little too glisten-y, which, as I've stated here before, tends to throw up alarms for me. It can only mean two things - too much butter or not enough. But, I thought I'd give them a shot anyway.


I took one small taste from each of the frostings and each of the cakes. And nothing else. Unfortunately, the cupcakes just really weren't that great. I really wanted to like them, but ultimately they just weren't worth the calories. Frosting was just too light for my tastes. The cake was ok, but nothing to write home about.

Stop #2: Cupcake Station


Cupcake Station is also a cute little shop with tables and areas to sit and enjoy your cupcakes.

They also have tons of cupcake gear! I love cupcake gear :). You can check out their stock on-line. If you order over the phone, they'll even ship to you.

One day I will have kids and buy them tons of cupcake related gear.


I got the shirt on the upper right. It has a cupcake and an alien and it says "Take me to your cupcakes." I couldn't resist. I wanted "Cupcakes save the world," but they didn't have my size.

Cupcake station has some standard flavors as well as some rotating specials. You can also design your own cupcake and submit it to Cupcake Station. If yours is chosen they feature your cupcake for the month and you win half a dozen cupcakes!


Their cupcakes come in regular and mini sizes. It occurs to me now that since I was just tasting, I should have just gotten the minis, but oh well.

They also have some daily specials:


I chose 4 cupcakes (this seems to be my M.O.):

From the upper left and continuing clockwise: White Bumpy Cake (signature dark chocolate cake with white cream bumps, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with dark chocolate), PB&C (signature dark chocolate cake with peanut butter cream frosting, topped with peanut butter cups and chocolate shavings), Chocolate lovers (dark chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting, sprinkled with chocolate shavings), Vanilla petals (very moist vanilla bean cake with butter cream frosting). All cupcake flavors and descriptions can be found here. You can also create your perfect cupcake on-line or in store and they will build it for you! Very cool.

I loved all of the Cupcake Station flavors but my favorite was White Bumpy Cake. Cupcake with extra frosting (like Sweet Revenge) and then dipped in chocolate! Definitely something I've yet to see and a big win.

Another thing I enjoyed about these cupcakes was that they had crunchy tops. I'm not entirely sure how this is achieved, but I always like them when I have them.

My last cupcake of the trip was an inadvertent discovery. I went to the highly recommended Zingerman's for a sandwich and bread shopping trip. If you haven't been to Zingerman's and ever find yourself in Ann Arbor, you must go. It is amazing. Gourmet food market, deli, coffee bar, all rolled into one. They have an amazing bakery with breads like chocolate sourdough and parmesan pepper and an over flowing cheese counter that I of course couldn't resist. I ordered a pastrami sandwich from the deli and went to sit down next door. When I went to order a coffee I noticed them sitting there in the bakery case: cupcakes. Needless to say, I had to buy one.

The pastrami sandwich was delicious, but unfortunately, the cupcake, not so much. Cake was too dry, frosting could be removed from cupcake in one piece, and overall it just wasn't very tasty. They may have been a few days old. Zingerman's other baked goods are delicious, but as is often the case in a regular bakery, the cupcakes are an after thought - something made with leftover cake batter. I still highly recommend Zingerman's as a whole - just skip the cupcakes.

I really would love a Zingerman's in San Francisco, but for now I can get my fix without the plane flight by ordering from them on-line. Mmmm...chocolate sourdough...

The hands down favorite of my mini-Michigan cupcake tour was Cupcake Station. Whenever I make it back to Ann Arbor I will definitely be stopping in again.