Checking out mobile cakes at Cupcakes2GoGo

Aside from being an adorable town, nestled between two other adorable towns, Westmont has a mid-week farmers market. Ray and I love to pop over Wednesday evenings to pick up fresh produce to get us through the latter half of the week, and we usually get treated to some good music as well.

A couple weeks ago I noticed a cupcake truck at the market and we decided to check it out. Cupcakes2GoGo proudly proclaims on the side of the truck that it’s South Jersey’s first cupcake truck (Philly has a handful … of which Sweet Box Truck is my FAVORITE).

The menu had 6-8 offerings and Ray and I went with two of the more interesting sounding flavors: Lemon Creamsicle and Apple Cinnamon.

On its website, Cupcakes2GoGo lists the Lemon Creamsicle as “Vanilla cake with lemon filling and icing that tastes like, well, a lemon creamsicle. The kind of cupcake that makes you close your eyes and smile.” According to my tasting notes, I found the crumb of the cake to be nice and moist, the lemon filling (reminiscent of pie filling) to be bright and citrusy, and the frosting had a hint of lemon to it. The Apple Cinnamon cupcake, which isn’t listed on the website is most likely a vanilla cake with a small amount of filling … could it have been pureed apple pie filling? The frosting tasted like vanilla and was dusted with cinnamon.

Ray commented that the cake crumb reminded him of box mix … fine and moist and having that traditional taste–you can never forget from being a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s. I’m not 100% sure what the baker for this mobile truck uses, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was boxed (a lot of bakeries use boxed mixes, which I find to be a shame).

We were slightly turned off when we found out that the woman in the truck is not the baker as well. She just owns the truck and contracts out the baking to someone else … a person whose name she could not disclose.  I understand this type of business model, but it’s not for me. I’d rather buy my baked goods directly from the baker, and not someone who chooses to sell baked goods for the profit. I’d also rather BE the baker than the businesswoman (though I plan on being both eventually).

So, in the end, for the price the cupcakes were fair, but I’m not interested in cupcakes–or dessert for that matter–that are simply fair. I want them to be a full taste experience, otherwise what’s the point in eating them?