Lulu’s Cupcakes

I am SO sad that Lulu’s is closed. Lisa by far made the best cupcakes. I would drive from the west valley just for those treats! I watched her on cupcake wars tonight and it just validated how awesome she is. I think it is ironic that Candance Nelson is a judge on that show, when her cupcakes are so lacking quality. They taste like a cake mix cake. NOT anything extraordinary for the price. Lulu, I hope you can come back… I miss you! :(

Gluten Free Creations just bought Lulu’s so the café will now be entirely wheat and gluten free! Will post an update as soon as the new place is open.

Went there today at 3 and they were closed!

Lulu’s Cupcakes are just as tasty as Sprinkles but without the pretension or cost. I ordered 20 cupcakes from Lulu’s for a brunch that I recently hosted. Ordering on the phone was easy and fast. When I went to pick them up a couple of days later, they were packaged in nice and tight so as to quell any fear that they might smush in the car ride home.
The cost? $ 50, with more flavors than Sprinkles offers. (I had 15 varieties in my bunch.) Not to hate on Sprinkles, because I actually do love their cupcakes as well, but do you know what 20 cupcakes would have cost me there? Close to $ 90, I kid you not. And that’s just not happening in this recession.

OH so yummy, OH so cute! Irresistable. Adorable.

I’m like some who don’t quite understand the cupcake craze. A small little store that does nothing but cupcakes seems a little bizarre to me. I mean where are all the pie-​only boutiques?
Anyway, my girl friend loves cupcakes, especially red velvet. Since we were riding our bikes along the greenbelt here, we stopped in to check it out. Right off the bat, we discover that they don’t make red velvet cupcakes because they do not use artificial ingredients. I get it. But after the sucky cupcakes we had, they should reconsider.
My girlfriend had the Pucker Up. The only hint of lemon was the actual lemon wedge that was stuck in the hockey puck of icing sitting on top of the cupcake. She hated it and after only one bite it ended up in the trash can with a thud!
I went with the Blonde Bombshell and although I wouldn’t go so far to say it was inedible, it absolutely was not worth $ 3. It was very bland and crumbly. The icing itself, I thought should’ve been a sweet buttery flavor, actually had a sour taste to it so I scraped off as much of it as I could.
Someone else on here, prior to my write-​up, had Unilocaled something to the effect of taking the $ 3 and going for a happy hour beer… my girlfriend and I agree that we should’ve walked over to Duke’s for a pitcher. It would’ve been much more rewarding after a bike ride than a couple crappy cupcakes.

If all natural means dry and bland, then this cupcakes are definitely «natural.»
I was super excited to try Lulus, and then was quickly disappointed. They were out of everything and the cake texture was like cardboard. Whipped frosting? ummm where is my cream cheese?
Save your $ 3 and go grab a happy hour beer.

Lulu’s is fantastic. They beat out Sprinkles in the taste department and the looks department. They are really cute. And kudos to Lulu’s for creating some really inventive flavors. When I went in the flavor of the day was bubble gum! Cupcakes are $ 2.95 each, $ 10 for a foursome, and $ 36 for a Lulu’s dozen (16!).
My friends and I picked out four flavors and then cut them into fourths so we could each try them all. Here are my thoughts:
Pucker Up: Lemony goodness. My favorite!
Bottle Blonde: Perfectly moist chocolate cake with rich vanilla buttercream. Basic and good.
Hold the Jelly: Peanut butter frosting on chocolate cake. Who wouldn’t like this combo?
Dentist’s Dream: Mucho coconut on top, would be even better if the cake was coconut cake!
Too bad it’s in such an awkward location. You would never see it just driving down McDowell. Hopefully you were lucky enough to search for cupcakes on Unilocal and can now check out the map and make your way over to Lulu’s!

***After going to the NW corner (where I thought I was supposed to go, so much for relying on my memory…) Lulu’s cupcakes pink lettered sign was a welcome beacon to the land of the delicious.
On the inside was the counter with glass covered (cupcake stands. After much deliberation I settled on the Mood Elevator (a chocolate cupcake with a mocha-​chocolate frosting and chocolate covered espresso bean, a Lemon cupcake (I’m sure it had a snazzy name, but I totally forgot to write it down), a Pumpkin cupcake, and D-​cupcake, a vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling and a chocolate ganache frosting.
Although smaller than the normal high-​end bakery cupcakes (think normal made-​at-​home sizing) they are delicious. I often find with the bigger cakes its a struggle to finish them, and when I do I am so full I can’t eat for hours… these cakes were perfect size for me. The cakes are moist and melt in your mouth with each bite. They have just enough frosting, you don’t feel the need to knock off half a pound — it compliments the cake flavor well. I especially enjoyed my Mood Elevator, the chocolate was not too rich, making it difficult to finish, but instead was balanced well with the espresso icing. Overall, they were tasty, and I would go back again.
This joint has a lot of repeat business, but it did seem like they make limited quantities of some cakes (Our party wiped out quite a few in stock) so, it may be best to call ahead and make sure they have what you want.

(Update) Mom — now having consumed more cupcakes in 24 hours than she cares to divulge — has given me the green light to award the final star… for deliciousness. She advises these babies are a frosting lover’s dream.
Thanks again, Lulu’s.
(original review follows)
OK — I’m holding back 1 star UNTIL the «Lulu’s Dozen» (16 cupcakes, just $ 36!!) that I ordered… by phone… just this morning… from New York… actually get delivered to my East Valley Mom. But so far, so great as far as Lulu’s service quality is concerned!
Lisa at Lulu’s Cupcakes graciously took my phone order & cheerfully informed me that YES! They COULD deliver my gift-​packaged Lulu’s Dozen cupcakes later today! Woo Hoo… they sooooo SAVED my out-​of-​state, Mother’s Day-​procrastinator a**.
Lisa was sweet, thorough in terms of finding out exactly which of their FIFTEEN cupcake varieties I most wanted — and even happily took note of some post-​order, «special delivery» terms for the dropoff at Mom’s house.
Cheers, Lulu’s. LOVE your friendly personalized service– will be back later to Unilocal the cupcakes themselves ;).

I love Lulus cupcakes! They always have a perfect amount of frosting and alot of their cupcakes are better than the ones at sprinkles. This is because they seem to be moister and hold themselves together better.
I love the raven! The Sales people are nice.
So yummy! And I love that the place is pink!

In keeping with the thought that I needed a treat today, I stopped by my favorite Scottsdale cupcake store, Lulu’s.
I didn’t say my favorite cupcake store (TC, you know who you are and you’re delightful), but my favorite in Scottsdale.
They had a special on today, 2 for 1, so I brought one home for the beautiful Carin and then cut them half so I could have ½ of Blonde Bombshell and ½ of PB, hold the Jelly.
They also had a «D-​Cup» cake (I do so love double entente’s), but strangely enough, it didn’t really look so hot.
Anyway, both cupcakes were good and just what I needed to restore balance to my life (esp. for the extremely reasonable price of $ 3.00 for 2).The BB was moist and icing rich and flavorful (if you can truly say that vanilla is flavorful… which I do… probably something to do with my Norwegian heritage).
I thought the PB was less successful, the cake was a little dry (why do so many cupcake places, and bakeries, for the matter, have trouble making a moist chocolate cake???). The icing, while tasty, had that little bit of crust that says «I’ve been sitting here a little too long».
But both were good and LuLu’s is my go to when I don’t want to leave Scottsdale for a cupcake.

I love Lulu’s Cupcakes. I have to say that my favorite flavor is the chocoshnitzel, which is chocolate cake with a yummy coconut frosting. My husband likes the mood elevator, which is chocolate cake with coffee frosting and the bunny boo, which is the carrot cake cupcake.
The staff is always smiley and wonderful. The store is always clean and pretty. I tell everyone I know about Lulus!

Call to check if they have cupcakes before you go! There were a few times that they had NONE! A few times they were closed.
Although the cupcakes were pretty good — and they claim ‘no preservatives’…it made me think that I should take up baking… cuz they werent so cheap! And I remember the days of Betty Crocker and remember those Easy Bake Ovens… well I might give it a whirl.
I brought them to clients a couple of times and won some BIG smiles — but BEWARE… the icing melted really quickly.
The interior of the shop was really cute — all in bright pastel motif.

There’s some sort of cupcake craze going on in the valley which I don’t understand. What can I say about LuLu’s? This place isn’t really worth me writing about it, it’s crap.
I spent $ 4 on a cupcake that was small, dry, and had some crappy whipped frosting piled on. I have this good idea to make their cupcakes actually edible: ‘Betty Crocker’.

Don’t let the vinyl banner sign in the abandoned-​looking strip mall fool you. Lulu’s Cupcakes is one hip, modern bakery. The cupcakery is much larger than it looks from the outside, with a long, L-​shaped counter at the far end. Lulu’s menu is suspended above the counter, describing the flavors of the cupcakes perched on covered glass cake trays below. Next to the entrance is a high counter with a handful of bar stools, and a couple of small two-​person tables are lined against one of the longer walls. Modern lighting fixtures hang from the ceiling above all of the seating areas. The other long wall houses a display case full of all sorts of baking-​related accessories and knick-​knacks, as well as some totally random stuff. A pair of large armchairs and a coffee table are located in the center of the store. In general, the space in Lulu’s seems largely empty and underutilized. I’m guessing they’re still pretty new.
My selection at Lulu’s included the Tantrum Tamer (vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream) and the Bunny Boo (carrot cake with cream cheese buttercream).
Tantrum Tamer: The vanilla cake was extremely dry and had a sharp, alcoholic flavor. The flavor had the metallic tang that usually accompanies the use of too much vanilla extract, except that I didn’t really taste any vanilla — just alcohol. Eventually, a sweet, buttery flavor with a subtle vanilla aftertaste became noticeable underneath the sharp alcoholic bite. The chocolate buttercream was thick and fudgy with a nice, rich dark chocolate flavor. However, it had a fairly bitter aftertaste and a heavy, greasy feel to it.
Bunny Boo: The carrot cake was dry and kind of bland. It had a salty muted carrot cake flavor — the spices didn’t really «pop». The cake was kind of rough and when combined with the shredded carrot and nuts it made for a chewy, crunchy texture. The cream cheese buttercream was exactly that — a light, sweet buttery frosting with a cool, refreshing cream cheese flavor. Yum! The cream cheese added some moisture and sweetness to the cake, but somehow the cake’s saltiness and greasiness seeped through. I really, really liked the frosting, but the sub-​par cake just ruined it. It’s a crying shame because this was a truly fantastic frosting.
At the end of the day, though I loved the super cute bakery, $ 2.95 was just way too much money given the quality of these cupcakes.

I don’t eat cupcakes that often, but I recently had a ‘bunny boo’ (carrot cake cupcake with butter cream frosting) from Lulu’s, and I really enjoyed it. The cupcake was the perfect size… I didn’t feel that guilty after eating it! Danielle and Rob, the owners are really friendly and sweet…
The location is not the best, but it’s worth a trip — especially for a Lulu’s Dozen to bring to a party. (It comes with 16 cupcakes). I brought these to a birthday party I had for my boyfriend and they were a huge hit! They deliver too if it’s not convenient for you to pick them up.
****You can buy a $ 50 gift card at ½ price this Friday at 10am on
as they are the Beth & Bill’s Big Deal of the week… great way to check them out for cheap!

This week for my cupcake fix I decided to go to Lulu’s. Its a bit of a trek from where I live, and I can’t say it was all that worth it. If I was in the area (not sure why I would be…) I may stop in but it wasn’t that convenient.
The cupcake that I had was very good (carrot cake), much better than at Cupcakes last week. The frosting was very good and the cake itself was bursting with flavor and very moist. However, I was dismayed to see the size of the cupcake… they are no bigger than the kind you can make yourself. I’m used to specialty cupcakes being a little larger. They don’t offer a peanut butter option which is upsetting to me… it just seems like such a natural pairing even if its just chocolate cake and pb frosting.

I picked up the advertisement to LuLu’s cupcakes at Green one day. I had it in my pocket for at least a month until I finally made my way into Scottsdale and towards LuLu’s.
The cupcakes were everything I hoped for. 100% Natural and %100 Naughty. The cupcake selection is not enormous, but the taste makes up for it. I had the cupcake of the day, vanilla with raspberries and blueberries. Yum. They are small, kind of expensive, but worth it for a special treat.
The deco is kitchy and very ikea looking. It was pretty much dead when me and my boy went in. There are a few items for sale on the wall and spread around (think spencers or urban outfitters clever gift items). The girl at the counter was very helpful and friendly, thumbs up there.
I suppose, like other Unilocalers, I must complain about the beverage choice. It seems to me the business would be much more pleasant and profitable if they included espresso drinks. Or even more tea choices, and maybe some jones soda or something. Its nice they spend all that time on their cupcakes, but jeez! Offer something good to satisfy our thirst too!
Still, I recommend LuLu’s if you need a special treat or something to cheer you up.

While doing a bicycle ride to the Orange Table, I pointed to a friend that LuLus Cupcakes was accessbile from our bike path. She immediately exclaimed– «we are SO there tomorrow!»
Today, I get a phone call at 4pm, saying she is picking me up to go get those damn cupcakes. She was serious! Since I had off and she got off early, we were able to visit the holy mecca of cupcake land. She picked me up in what may be one of the most ridiculous blue convertables known to man and we zoomed up to Scottsdale, blasting bad hip hop, psyched about individual iced cakes!
Upon arrival, the space was sparse and very IKEA-​ish. Pinks and lime greens dominate the palate. To the right of the counter was t-​shirts, rubber duckies and other merch. They do have a brown with orange stripes guy shirt… in XL. I guess big men love cupcakes!
But the real star are the cupcakes themselves… lovingly displayed under glass domes. Carrot cakes, german chocolate cake, mocha chocolate cake, blonde (vanilla on vanilla), chocolate on vanilla, and the special of the day key lime… oh man. MERCY. I kept dodging between the carrot and the mocha and went for the Mocha. All natural ingrediants and VEGAN sprinkles! (But very much all dairy icings, btw). Our lady, I think Melissa, was super helpful and even offered samplings of cupcakes to help us decide. She put each individual cupcake in a plastic bubble and in a cute lime green/​pink dotted bag. She noted they do have mini cupcakes for events (OMG) and I would totally splurge for those suckers.
The only real negative (besides times. I mean if this place was open late, it would be HEAVEN) was the lack of drink choices. Coffee, milk or water. Um. I mean, I dont knew a bazillion options, but even tea would have been nice. I chose hot coffee which was fine. But iced coffee as an option would have been kick ass… or lime rickeys! OMG!
As an FYI, you can leave the strip mall complex and head down to the park and eat your delectables under a shaded tree on a park bench over looking a «pond» like we did. I savoured my 2.95 cupcake, and the icing and cake was perfect. I cant even describe how yummy it was. It was worth every cent. And they arent gigantic, so you feel perfectly satisfied with your cupcake.
100% Natural, 100% Naughty is their logo… LOVE IT!