Cupcakes by Sweet Passions Bakery

They have a cute little stand in Valley Fair, near the Geox store, Na Hoku, and J. Crew. Their cupcakes are usually 2 for $ 5 and they’re probably the biggest cupcakes I’ve seen. There are also many appealing flavors such as Marble, peanut butter cup, and of course the classic red velvet.
I’ve tried the peanut butter cup and red velvet. Honestly the cupcake is alright. The frosting isn’t butter cream or cream cheese based; I’m not really sure what it is but I’m not a fan of it.
3 stars because the price is very reasonable, they have interesting flavors, good packaging to assure the cupcake won’t smush, and it’s convenient if you’re craving a cupcake while you’re shopping.

I won a free cuppie via Twitter so I checked it out yesterday.
If you like your cuppies large and spongy with creamy frosting you will love this place. For the money the cuppies are decent. I had the Kahlua cuppie which was okay… there was a faint hint of espresso but that was about it… the chocolate portion of the cupcake part I could not taste because the vanilla was overpowering. the swirls were pretty though! Overall… I would go again, but I am not going out of my way to come here.
Zac. thanks for taking me through the menu and being so patient. He gave me his favorites along with what was popular. Give that man a raise! Great customer service!

A friend gave me 2 cupcakes as a thank you for driving her to the airport. When I first looked at the clear plastic containers they came in, I was concerned because they made me think of clowns. Very colorful, confetti-​like sprinkles, a lot of frosting.
I had a banana crème and a peanut butter. Unlike most cupcakes I’ve had, the cake was actually moist and the fillings were sweet but not overwhelming. Be warned that these things are kind of humongous and I had to wipe most of the frosting off but what I had was good. I think I was actually supposed to share but that didn’t happen. It’s a good thing this place is in San Jose and I have no reason to go there very often or I could be one big fatso.

This is place is good, but not great. I tried the 2 Red Velvet and the Chocolate cupcake. I would not go out of my way to come here for again. However, if I was at the mall and craving a cupcake, it would satisfy my craving.
The Red Velvet frosting was more of a cream/​icing rather than the cream cheese frosting that I’m used to. The Chocolate was actually quite tasty and moist.
So overall, I would eat here again only if I was in the area.

$ 2.95 each… cheaper than Kara’s accross the street and tastes good. I tried 1 fresh banana and 1 kalua cream cupcake… the cake was moist, topping was flavorful… but it was kinda sweet. i was only able to eat half of the banana and about 1 bite of the kalua cream… Needed a cup of hot tea to wash it down.
They have plenty of other flavors to choose from and each comes with a plastic container that holds it in place (love it).
Anyhow, next time I guess I will order the minis only. At $ 3 a cupcake is still kinda expensive but it’s ok to treat yourself once in a while.

The hubby and I decided to check out Valley Fair this Saturday since we hadn’t been here for ages. We did a lap around the mall when I suddenly had the urge for a cupcake. I busted out my trusty iPhone and looked up cupcakes on Unilocal.
«There’s a cupcake place in the mall!» I squealed. From the pictures on Unilocal,there was no way to figure out where in the mall the kiosk was located. So we figured we’d just walk around till we found it. Of course I had my cupcake radar on so I immediately found it even though we were on the second floor looking down. Yes there was a big ol cupcake sign but still.
+ star: Their cupcakes are huge and only $ 2.75 a pop.
+ star: They had a 2 for $ 5 deal if you mentioned Unilocal
+ star: Each cupcake has it’s own housing. The container is genius as it protects the fragile nature of the cupcake. You won’t get smooshed frosting and cake.
— 2 stars: The red velvet wasn’t that great. The cake portion was really dense. It was a weird consistency that just made the cupcake very heavy. The cream cheese frosting was weird. It was light and fluffy like a buttercream frosting. If it was actually buttercream it would have been great. But as cream cheese, it was weird.

Came here to pick up some cupcakes (some 4 dozen or so :)) for my bosses’ baby shower…
This update is solely on their customer service.
Super helpful and friendly. I came in needing to order a large amount of cupcakes. Got the order in quickly and they were nice enough to hold my cupcakes while I went to run a few errands around the mall before heading back to the office. When I went back to pick up my order, everything was boxed and ready to go. They even helped me to my car, which was very helpful.
I should have paid more attention to his name tag (dumb me), but I was a bit frantic that day. But he seemed like the boss there. He was great help and very friendly and just wanted to note that.
Verdict: Amazing service. And the cupcakes ain’t bad either ;) Win!

I love these cupcakes! I believe it’s about $ 2.75 for 1. The employees are very, very nice and friendly. They never hesitate to answer my questions. A variety and combinations of flavors. Some of their nontraditional flavors I stay away from because I like classics. I have tasted lemon raspberry, red velvet, chocolate w/​chocolate buttercream. and vanilla almond. I have never been disappointed. They all made a delicious, sweet treat!
The Cake = not dry, not too moist. I don’t enjoy cupcakes that are overly moist because they’re really oily, gross :{. I’ve had 1 – 2 cupcakes from here that were a bit too crumbly. When I sunk my fork in to take a bite, the bite would fall apart and make a huge mess.
The Buttercream = perfect! Not too heavy, waxy, nor too sweet. The right amount of sweetness, and it’s light, so you can be guilt-​free while eating it! The cream cheese frosting on red velvet is also good. There’s a surprise buttercream in the center! But I guess it’s not a surprise anymore because I just told you :). But it really adds to it, allowing you to accompany every bite with buttercream to moitsen the cake!
Follow them on Twitter for specials and updates. Sometimes they have Buy 1, get 1 free. YUM! I want a cupcake right now!

First impression as I strolled by: The cupcakes were huge!
So I stopped by to see what they had to offer and to my delight, they were offering 2 cupcakes for $ 5…what a steal! I got the banana and red velvet flavor. Each cupcake had a perfect cake to frosting proportion because there was, not only frosting on the top of the cupcake, but also in the center of the cupcake. I thought the red velvet was good. I tasted the cream cheese frosting just fine but the cake wasn’t as moist and light as I hoped for. On another note, the banana cupcake was my absolute favorite of all time! If you enjoy banana bread, I’m sure you will enjoy this flavorful cupcake. The cake was super moist and the frosting was fluffy and perfect – it’s a must try!

I was actually browsing in the Apple store when the craving hit me. Just like that, I wanted a cupcake and I had to have it now. It was late on a Saturday night and I was sure many of my usual places were closed, but since the internet was at my fingertips, I decided to check to see if perhaps any new places had opened up since I last looked.
To my surprise, Cupcakes by Sweet Passions was the first hit, and even more surprising was that it was in the mall! I immediately left the Apple store in search of this mysterious little cupcake stand everyone is raving about.
When I arrived, I found myself to be slightly taken aback by two young employees behind the counters and huge cupcakes in their individual cases on display. The employees were friendly in describing what the flavors were, of course I got the ²⁄₅ deal so had to get the red velvet and one other one. The oreo caught my eye. I took my prized possessions upstairs and eagerly awaited a table for the devouring to begin.
Unfortunately, to my disappointment the red velvet was dry, somewhat tasteless, very cake-​ish like and not so moist on the inside and the frosting was a bit hard and not as buttery /​creamy as I would expect a red velvet to have. Goodness, even CPK makes better creamy frosting on their red velvet cakes!
That alone would have probably dumped the review in the 2-​star category, however, I was pleasantly surprised by their vanilla oreo cookie cupcake. Although the cupcake is a mix of vanilla and chocolate I believe, the frosting was a mixture from a delicious oreo ice cream cake type flavor, it was creamy, consistent and very oreo-​y. MMM delicious.
I would not come here for red velvet, but sign me up for an oreo cupcake please!

yess i LOVE these cupcakes! I just got their lemon raspberry one today and boy is it tasty! the cake portion is super moist and light. it reminds me of lemon pound cake. their cream is also light as well, not too heavy or sweet like sprinkles.
major tip: follow them on twitter (
) they always have deals going on! my friend and i got a free cupcake by just naming a cupcake in their twitpic! BONUS: we also didn’t have to come on the actual day to pick it up… great customer service! =)

Maybe I’m just a cupcake snob, but these cupcakes were just.meh.
After happening across Sweet Passions Bakery’s cupcake kiosk inside Valley Fair, J was nice enough to pick a few up, resist the urge to dig in during her journey back to SF, and stop by my place to share. I tried the regular Red Velvet, mini chocolate, and mini banana. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t get to try the cupcakes until the next day, but all the cakes were dry. Plus, what are these, diet cupcakes? I tasted no sugar in them, and none especially in the frostings, which were light, airy, and… flavorless.
Thanks, J, for thinking of me and involving me in your cupcake escapades (I really do appreciate it!), but maybe we should just stick with our favorite Moonbabycakes. I mean, if I were to come across Sweet Passions Bakery cupcakes again, I’d be willing to give them a second shot, since, again, I had eaten day old cupcakes, but I will not be expecting to be wowed.

This place makes some really good cupcakes! Although they are a little pricey (3.50) for a cupcake, they’re large and very delicious.
I’ve tried a bite of lemon, red velvet, and marble-​vanilla and they’re all really good. Note that they have 3 special flavors per day, including Chocolate-​Mocha, Pinacolada, Chocolate-​Chocolate, White-​Strawberry, Chocolate-​Raspberry, and others with an additional 2 daily flavors (always Banana and Red Velvet) being served 7 days of the week. (That’s a total of 5 flavors a day! O_​O)
HOW TO SAVE A DOLLAR: Follow their twitter to see when they have their special sales. My friend and I did this and got 2 for 5 dollars. 2.50 is a fair price for a huge cupcake. mmm.

Cupcake stand? Hmmmm. The first time I saw it, the cupcakes were behind a fogged up glass display counter. «Ehhhhhhhhhhhh, stale?» I wanted to try it, but then I did not.
Many months later, I decided to give it a try. This time the cupcakes did not look as stale. The glass display was clear, and I was able to see the cupcakes. It was 2 for $ 5…so hey, my fellow snacker and I ordered the Red Velvet and Marble with Kahlua Cream.
Red Velvet: Mmmm… no good. My fellow snacker liked the texture. I did not like how dense it was. I could not really taste the red velvetness-​I tasted a normal bland cupcake. The cream cheese/​whipped cream was not a complement to the cake. I would not get the red velvet here again.
Marble Cake with Kahlua Cream: This was better. The cream complemented the cake. When I cut the cupcake in half (I was sharing) –SURPRISE! It was yellow on the outside and chocolate cake on the inside. This was average, but better than the Red Velvet.
I sampled the Banana Cupcake. Yes, this was good. It had the perfect sweetness. problem is… it is like eating banana bread in cupcake form. Nah, I rather have my banana bread in bread form, not cupcake form. The three stars mainly comes from the good banana cake though. I really like the container that the cupcake comes in. The cupcake actually stays put and won’t get smashed or moved around.

When I entered Valley Fair near California Pizza Kitchen and started to walk towards Nordstrom, I saw the Sweet Passions Bakery kiosk. Right away, I knew that I had to get a cupcake.
I chose one red velvet ($ 3.50) and paid for it. The worker told me that since I was their 100^th customer, I could get another cupcake for FREE. YES! I decided to get a white cupcake with amaretto flavored frosting. The two cupcakes were a decent size. Much larger than other cupcakes I have paid for at the same price. The cake itself is very moist and light. Out of the two cupcakes, white cupcake wins. The red velvet had no flavor at all. You just know it is supposed to be red velvet by the color. The frosting was like whipped cream. I could barely taste the cream cheese flavor. I gave the white cupcake to Aaron and the one bite I took had more flavor than the red velvet I had.
I wouldn’t mind go back here, but next time, I would avoid the red velvet.

I’m a sucker for cupcakes so my bf surprised me with red velvet cupcake from this new kiosk in Valley Fair. I never tried Sweet Passions before but from its neat to-​go box it looked delicious!
The cake was really moist and dense and the favor was just right, not too sweet. The only thing was its super red color kind of turned me off, I wonder how much food coloring they had to use… lol. And when I opened the to-​go container I was quite surprised to see such a big swirl of frosting and then I spilt it in half and there was more inside! YUM :) The taste of the frosting was light and not too sweet. The only thing was that it had a slight aftertaste, maybe because it wasn’t a cream cheese frosting? Haha: D
But I’ll definitely be stopping by again to try their other favors and for three fifty it wasn’t too bad. You do get a lot of frosting! :P

I have to give this place 5 stars because I’m a big fan of their shop off Alum Rock and I was delighted to hear that 2^nd location opened up! Longer hours here and they’re stocked with cupcakes! I’ve come into their bakery a few times and it’s always sold out. Therefore, I’m happy that they’ve opened up shop in VF.
My fav is the banana cupcake! So yummy. Yes, their cupcakes are HUGE, but for what you’re paying for, it’s definitely a good price. You’d be paying the same for Sprinkles or Karas. so might as well get the bigger sweet passions cupcake =)
Their mini cupcakes are awesome. I came here last week to get my bestie 24 cupcakes for her 24^th birthday. There was an assortment of 6/​box. I really liked the banana, burnt almond, and chocolate ones. It was a hit and everyone loved them! No plates, forks, or knives. No mess. My only suggestion for the owner is to have extra boxes. I wanted 1 box to consolidate all of my cupcakes, but they didn’t have any.

Knowing about my passion for sweets, my bf decided to surprise me with $ 1 mini banana and red velvet cupcakes from this newly opened kiosk in Valley Fair Mall. I’d had their banana cream cake from their actual bakery before, and bites of their giant cupcakes when they were at our Elite Event at Moorkpark Hotel, but I never tried their minis.
The verdict? Super moist! Sometimes minis can be baked too long, resulting in dry cake, but these were made perfectly. These tiny things literally lasted a second on the lips. And they’re so good, you can’t help but have more than one.
For variety, get several minis. For quantity, get one of their giant $ 3.50 cupcakes. You’ll be satisfied no matter what.

My friend & I were bored & decided to go to Valley Fair. We passed by a kiosk with a few people hovering around, and the banners read, «Grand Opening.» We discovered they were cupcakes and that day, Friday, the 17^th was the grand opening. The kiosk wasn’t marked, but later we found out all the sweets were from Sweet Passions Bakery. The guys were really nice and offered us a mini sample size of Carrot Cake cupcakes. They were so moist and not too sweet… I usually don’t care much for carrot cake, but these were delish! This was also my first «designer cupcake» experience… but definitely not my last!
While all the cupcakes looked huge & delicious my friend was about to get the Marble cupcake, then decided to come back later… and of course she forgot that she still wanted her cupcake after we left. Anyways, yay for cupcakes at Valley Fair! The kiosk is located near the Haagen Daz kiosk near the what I call, «The expensive stuff I want row» (the expensive stores – Tiffany’s, LV, etc).

Went there this morning around 11am for their grand opening — I think I was their first paying customer, as no one knew what was going on, the cash register wasn’t working properly and there was no change available. A message I had received on twitter mentioned free samples, but there were none when I was there.
I ended up buying one of the huge banana cupcakes, and mentioned that I saw on Unilocal that if you buy a cupcake that you get a mini cupcake for free. I ordered the cupcake from Luis, who didn’t know what I was talking about — and ended up giving me a carrot cupcake instead. Thankfully, one of the other gals (Summer?) gave me the mini cupcake which was banana, and I asked if I could try something else since I was buying a banana cupcake — and she said that’s not what I have, so she switched out the cupcake for me. I ended up with a carrot mini cupcake instead, which I enjoyed. My cupcake was $ 3.50, and they had no change. Eventually Lydia had to go to her purse to get me the 50 cents. It was really awkward to be standing there with all the employees just staring at you, while you’re waiting for the boss to get change from her purse.
Speaking of which, I’m a little disappointed that there’s a five star review from someone named Lydia who looked a lot like the Lydia that was running this place. Whenever there was a question, it was Lydia who had to answer it. I’m not a fan of owners reviewing their business without disclosing it. :(
Onto the cupcake itself. It’s huge. It’s got a massive mound of frosting on top, and it’s got more of that frosting inside. It’s tasty, but I thought it was pricey — I’d prefer to grab a healthier (and less expensive) snack at Red Mango a few doors down. Did I mention that I didn’t see pricing details? I might’ve missed it. I only found out how much my cupcake was when I received my change finally.
All the cupcakes were packaged to go in these cute custom-​shaped plastic holders — maybe if they packaged them when you ordered, it would be less expensive? It also made me feel like they weren’t all that fresh — I know, they might’ve been baked that morning, but seeing hundreds of them prepackaged just didn’t give me the right impression.
Overall, an interesting idea and I’ll be curious to see how it goes once they get up and running a bit more smoothly. I’m an absolute sucker for banana cake, and Kara’s beats Sweet Passions here — especially since Kara’s are filled with caramel.