CakeLove

I drove here just to get the chocolate and peanut butter cupcake. Not only did they only have one left but the worst part was it was cold.
The girl informs me of the suggested time to let them «sit out» before eating them. I ask her why I can’t just eat it right now and she doesn’t respond.
Really I have to wait to eat my cupcake!?? Oh and let’s not forget I have nowhere to eat it in the place, one table with 4 chairs.
Bad bad bad

The cupcakes aren’t very good, but the cakes-​in-​a-​cup are wonderful, unfortunately they are $ 4. This location maybe permanently closed. I went today at 6:25 and they were closed. Hours state 7.

Was really excited to try the cupcakes at Cakelove. My fiancé and I went in last night and picked out the Salted Caramel and the Vanilla on Vanilla. They were nicely packaged in a box that held two cupcakes. The packaging allowed the cupcakes to remain unscathed on our walk home to our condo. When we finally got home and took our first bite we both had the same reaction. I expected the cake to be moist and fine but it tasted dry and coarse. The salted caramel icing was really just whipped cream with caramel drippings on top. My fiancé took one bite and told me I could have the rest. I really wanted to like this place since it is around the corner from us, but unfortunately we won’t be returning.

I hadn’t tried Cake Love in a while but was in the mood for something sweet after lunch. I gave it another shot, and honestly I won’t be back. I ordered a chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream. The cupcake itself was so-​so and I was displeased with the frosting. It seems to be lacking sweetness and there is little indication of traces of vanilla. The frosting tasted more like whipped cream, which is not appealing to me and not what I expect from a buttercream. There’s improvement to be made, but until then I will not be back.

I decided to give CakeLove another chance because the manager seemed to be trying to improve the customer experience, and that goes a long way in my book. I also received a buy-​3-​get-​1-​free coupon in the mail this month, so it was now or never, I reasoned.
The cupcakes were startlingly small — somehow even smaller than I remembered — and, as always, chilled and inedible when I bought them. I noted the price is now over $ 3 per cupcake, which is more than either Best Buns or Georgetown Cupcake. I was eager to eat my selection right away, but I also wanted to give the business a fair shake, so I followed «instructions» this time by letting them sit, and sit, and sit until I knew they were definitely room temperature. Later in the evening came the moment of truth as my wife and I each tried our cupcakes. Pure disappointment.
Maybe these businesses are cash cows and I’m off-​base, but I think the $ 3+ chilled-​cupcake business model will soon go the way of the dodo. I read a few interviews with «dreadlocks former-​laywer dude» and he seems to have become bitter, now holding his customers in contempt by dismissing any negative reviews of his product. Bad karma.

Meh.
Cakes were beautiful. But the taste… One was actually good. But, just good. And it was a lot of money for just good. The other cake, I didn’t even want to keep eating it. And that’s unusual for me to turn down a sweet. Husband tried their cookies. Yuck.
Sorry, I really wanted to like this place and support the local community but I definitely will pass on by next time I want something sweet.

Not so good.
We bought a selection of cupcakes for our daughters birthday. Overall, the reaction was… Meh. Nothing really objectionable and we certainly weren’t delighted.
The cake was a bit dry. The whipped cream frosting wasn’t very tasty, even for whipped cream. It also seemed to melt quickly, even for whipped cream. The result was some pretty sorry looking treats.
On the plus side is plenty of free parking nearby. That helps offset their cost.

Good stuff! Impressed more with the story of the lawyer who turned baker., but in a pinch these cakes will work.

Like the other locations, good cupcakes, great buttercream, and fast service. If you’re a fan of the cupcake trend, this is a place to stop by.
Reading a few of the other reviews made me chuckle — yes, you should wait 15 minutes for the buttercream to soften. It’s butter cream. Made of butter. To keep it ready to eat, you would need to leave it out of refrigeration… which doesn’t work for buttercream. The best part is the subtlety of buttercream flavors — but only if you’re a fan of that sort of thing. I can see where it wouldn’t have appeal to others who prefer lighter flavors.
But, if you like that sort of thing (like I do), then by all means, see it on the corner by the Signature Theater!

My heart is broken but I have to write this. Cake Love was my FAVORITE cupcake place. I stood strong when people talked crap about this place. I refused to like Georgetown Cupcakes and I even got into a verbal argument with my friend when she wanted to go to Georgetown and I put my foot down! I said Cake Love was larger, way larger, loads of icing and they were so moist. She argued GC was prettier, I didn’t care, if I want pretty I’ll buy flowers!
We bought 20 assorted cupcakes for my spouse’s grad class for his birthday. He came home with the leftovers, I opened the box and I was immediately disappointed. They got smaller! They’re more expensive than GC how are they the same size now? Where is all my icing? The red velvet was sickening sweet and not as cheesy as it used to be. It was so sad I almost cried. I went on Unilocal and saw all the bad reviews from the years I ENJOYED THEM! I loved them when they were super hard and cold, they told me to wait and I said hell no I love them firm and now… after immediately coming from the fridge their soft. What evil magic is this?
I don’t blame Cake Love, I blame all the jerks who complained about their AMAZING previous product and maybe their sales were down, maybe they buckled, but they changed. I failed Cake Love I went on a diet I haven’t eaten their stuff in a long time. I’m so sorry! If I would have kept eating there MAYBE you would have kept things the same. I didn’t even write a good review back then because I just thought people who hated them were nimrods.
You won haters thanks for ruining my favorite cupcake place. I hate you! And I’m sorry Cake Love, but you changed and it’s just, not for me.
Small, kind of dry, less butter or cream, less icing, more sugar? Is this what you wanted Unilocalers? Are you freaking happy???

Honestly, I was pretty disappointed with our cupcakes from Cakelove.
We got the German chocolate cupcake which was not good… at all. Also got the red velvet and chocolate versions, both were dry and overpriced.
I was hoping Cakelove could surpass Georgetown’s cupcake, but they were even less satisfying. I’m still on the lookout for a better Arlington area cupcake!

Ohh Cake Love, I have grown over the last years, but my love for you has not. I read my review from 2008 and here it is 2014 and I can’t get over your mediocre-​ness.
Your white cake with the fresh strawberries and buttercream is your prize winning shortcake rendition. Everything else is dry and tasteless. One thing I do appreciate is your not overly sweet icings, for that I say thank you.

A little pricey for quality and taste. I came in here and got the carrot cake bites $ 4 and salted caramel chocolate cupcake for my co-​worker which was $ 3.35. She gave me a couple of bites, and unfortunately I was not impressed by that either.
I work right next to CakeLove. There are not any other dessert places in Shirlington Village. I hope something comes in because I don’t see myself revisiting here for my dessert fix. Better luck exploring elsewhere…

Cake is good. Service is great not to many customer. Quick service. They got milk. Wifi next door from the public library. No plug outlet. Indoor and no out door seating. But the outside of the library has some table. Very pretty lights at night. Cup cake is good. It not the greatest. They don’t have all there cake for sale. Maybe I my come back. Plus they have to make there coffee every time a customer what a cup.

Despite my last review, the [new?] manager of CakeLove reached out to me and I couldn’t say no. Although I did not redeem my free cupcake offer, I did stop by here a few weeks ago for an impromptu last minute sweet gift for a friend. I ended up trying a bite in the store (they had free samples of one of their seasonal flavors) and of my friend’s cupcakes and I have to say, the manager was right. CakeLove did change a major step in their process (no longer keeping cupcakes refrigerated), but also, imo, in their recipe. The dry crumbly-​in-​a-​bad-​way cake and lackluster-​oddly-​textured-​thin icing they used to serve in the past, is long gone and they actually make a moist cake and yummy frosting. I wish I had pics but I will be stopping by again soon so I will add pics then! I also wish I had cashed in on their recent groupon/​living social deal-​I missed out! lol.

Cakelove is on par with the other cupcake outfits around town and more expensive than other bakeries that make specialty cakes.
I tried one of each of those involving coconut flavor. Yes, sometimes people confuse me as a Pacific Islander. They were artistically decorated and very nice to look at.
The cake portion was a little dense. Which, when you think about it, it must be, structurally, in order to support all of that frosting — and everyone knows that’s where all the special flavor comes from.
The frosting was pretty thick itself and I skimmed about half off (if you’ve ever seen anyone make frosting you’ll know why).
Lots of good flavors overall but I can’t fathom shelling out such princely sums frequently… it’s a cupcake.

The original Cake Love created the most amazing cakes. Yes, they were always expensive, but I didn’t mind because Warren was a genius and the cake’s were magically scrumptious. Alas, I don’t know what happened — the business model didn’t scale or got too large too fast with satellite locations.
And, lately I ordered a 6 inch cake for my wife and thought it was going to be $ 27.95. Then the sales woman told me it was $ 45.00 something. I really didn’t hear her, maybe made an honest mistake, and found it difficult to understand her. But she insisted I was wrong and she had told me. Maybe she had, but it was her tone and attitude. Not at all welcome or nice. The business is going is going to fail without customer service. And I want it to be better and a success. Sad.

Last week I met with Warren via a Unilocal event at the Shirlington location for a cupcake tasting. I tried around 8 different types of cupcakes, the strawberry shortcake, and a delicious sugar cookie.
I can really tell that the cupcakes have changed for the better (except the chocolate cake, which is still a bit lacking in flavor and moisture). The cakes are lighter and the frosting is more balanced. Yay for no more cold, cornbread-​y cupcakes or separated frostings!
What I sampled, in order of preference:
#1 — sugar cookie with icing
Perfectly soft with a strong hit of citrus and vanilla while still tasting balanced
#2 — Strawberry on Vanilla — *New* Vanilla cake with Strawberry buttercream
#3 — The King — *new* banana cake, peanut butter frosting, chocolate ganache
#4 — Red Velvet — *New* Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting
#5 — Toffee Crunch on Chocolate — chocolate cake, cream cheese (?) frosting, crunchy toffee topping (a bit too sweet, but the crunch on top was awesome)
#6 — Salted Caramel — *New* Vanilla cake with cream cheese (?) frosting and salted caramel drizzle (A bit too sweet)
#7 — Chocolate Chip Cheesecake — chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting, chocolate chip & graham cracker ganache
#8 — Chocolate Fuzzy Wuzzy — chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate curls
#9 — Strawberry Shortcake — layered pound cake, vanilla buttercream, fresh strawberries
The chocolate cake hasn’t been re-​worked yet, so that’s why they were at the bottom of the bracket. I also didn’t care for the frosting on the strawberry shortcake, but others loved it.
You also get a lot for your money. I compared the cupcakes in size to one I made at home in a standard muffin tin and they’re almost double the size!

tl;dr: Buy CAKES.
To update/​reiterate my previous review: Apparently people don’t like the cupcakes here. Fine. I don’t like cupcakes anyway. Usually, I don’t like cake either, but CakeLove cakes are the exception. We brought in a tiered set of Neil’s Hat Trick cakes for our wedding in 2009, and continue to buy about one a year because they are JUST THAT GOOD. («White and dark chocolate cake layers sandwiched with vanilla buttercream and fresh raspberries under a glaze of rich chocolate ganache.»)
It’s true, you have to order whole cakes in advance, but they’re always ready on time and the customer service here is excellent.
Use the Harris Teeter garage if you’re just stopping to pick up a cake.

Cake Love is a nice little cupcake store tucked in the corner of the Village at Shirlington. I have to admit, it was a bit of a challenge to find being that you have to pass some other amazing restaurants’ on the block to get to it. It’s located at the end of the street in the corner of the village.
I had the Toffee Crunch cupcake. The cupcake it’s self was very moist. The icing was a little on the runny side which was very strange. As for the toffee taste and crunch, it was perfect to my taste buds. I had more fun eating the toffee then the cupcake itself. For me it was just an OK cupcake. I would still attended Cupcake Love, but only for the Toffee Crunch