Before the review, from left to right: Pancakes & Bacon, Tomato Soup, Mexican Chocolate (picture courtesy of Amy Sutedja)

I recently got the chance to take a cupcake run with my friend Amy down to Belltown’s Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. I’ve heard good things about them for awhile, but I’d never had a chance to try their wares.

Amy and I decided that since this was for a review, we’d be adventurous. Between the two of us we sampled some of the more interesting selections from Yellow Leaf’s menu: Pancakes and Bacon, Tomato Soup, and Mexican Chocolate.

Pancakes and Bacon tasted like it sounds: it was just like a bacon-studded cupcake with maple butter and bacon bits on top. Even the texture of the cake was reminiscent of pancakes. The finish was identical to the aftertaste of breakfast at a pancake house, sans eggs. (Amy said it was a “breakfast sensation”, but she couldn’t say it with a straight face). The cake was very good, firm and moist with enough bacon to give a nice smoky accent to the sweetness, though hard-core bacon fans might wish there were was more bacon.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from Tomato Soup. As it turns out, tomato cake totally works – it’s like carrot cake but with more acidity, basil accents, and none of the texture from carroty bits.  The cake was the driest and densest of the three cupcakes we sampled, but it wasn’t too dry and was complimented well by the rich, moist frosting. As for the frosting – I felt like I was eating dark chocolate butter. The cake and the mousse went well together, but the dark chocolate overpowered the subtle accents of tomato soup.

After the review :) (picture courtesy of Amy Sutedja)

Mexican Chocolate turned out to be less chocolate and more cinnamon and spice. The cake was great, light and fluffy with a muffin-y texture and a wonderful crunchy top.  The buttercream frosting was very rich and buttery with a light cinnamon flavor. The cake flavor was similar, spice cake with a hint of cocoa.

All in all, excellent cupcakes. I can safely say they’re the best I’ve had in Seattle so far. One word of warning – Yellow Leaf’s buttercream frosting is very rich. One and a half cupcakes was almost too much for one sitting. These are cupcakes with gravitas –  make sure you approach them with an appropriately empty stomach :)