Just Baked - Ann Arbor's Newest Entry into the Cupcake Frenzy

My quest for the perfect cupcake continues with a recent visit to Just Baked, a new cupcake place in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Located in the Westgate Shopping plaza (2463 W. Stadium), Just Baked will either do really well, or not so well. Consider that TJ Maxx, Kroger's, and a variety of small shops are its neighbors. Hungry shoppers might need an afternoon sugar boost. Consider, also, that Zingerman's Roadhouse and Barry's Bagels, two Ann Arbor establishments, are its neighbors. This could present a problem. Can Just Baked outmatch a wedge of Zingerman's coffee cake or a Barry's bagel, slathered in cream cheese, in this war of the starches? Can Just Baked hold its own against the Cupcake Station (in my view, Ann Arbor's best cupcake)? Here's my take on the situation.

Just Baked, which also has locations in Livonia and Novi, has the ambiance one has come to expect of cupcake shops. Clean, cute, quaint, and artfully adorned. Just Baked might just have one of the nicest set-ups of the cupcake places I've visited, if only because their product is so pretty. Just Baked displays a wide selection of cupcakes - including Grumpy Cupcake, Fat Elvis, Oreo Cookie, Rocky Road, Banana Split, Mostess, Grasshopper, and Carrot Cake - in what is a truly indulgent visual feast. This sugar freak was salivating over the flavor combinations, but also marveling at the beauty of these edible sculptures. If you don't believe me, visit the shop's website, which offers professional-quality photographs of each cupcake. (www.justbakedshop.com)

As has become standard in my evaluation process, I ordered a basic flavor: Vanilla Stuffed Cupcake. As its name implies, this cupcake features a vanilla cake topped and filled with a vanilla butter cream. This option seemed like the best way to evaluate both the cake's moistness and flavor, and the butter cream's consistency and flavor. When the friendly young man behind the counter placed the cupcakes (two, to be split and evaluated by three people) in the plastic clamshell, I was excited about the potential. And at just under $3 a piece, a bit pricey for cupcakes, these guys had better be good.

I took the hefty weight of the clamshell as a promising sign - perhaps a moist cake and dense butter cream? Alas, my taste did not validate those hopes and dreams - entirely. My fellow evaluators and I granted the cake a positive review. Even later in the day, it was moist with a solid vanilla flavor. The butter cream, so critical to the cupcake experience, was not up to par. Its flavor was reasonable - not so sweet as to taste purely of sugar - but its texture was too light. Butter cream should have some density to it, but Just Baked's butter cream had an airy, whipped quality to it that left us disappointed. Oh well. To be fair, with the variety of flavors at Just Baked, I just might have to return and give the product another try. I have my eye on that Grasshopper Cupcake. But is this the best cupcake in Ann Arbor? Cupcake Station still holds the edge.