Less is More

Today I was a tour guide.  I had my lil cousin (who isn't really a first cousin but a distant cousin but it's much easier to just call him a cousin) in town and it was my duty to show off parts of Chicago to him.  I first took him over to see Millennium Park to take a look at the Bean and the Pavilion (my home for the summer).  We even made it to the Taste of Chicago but we took a quick look and made our way back out.  For being a Chicago native, this was the closest I ever came to "going" to the Taste.  I don't really think I can say that since we didn't participate.  He had just eaten lunch and I wasn't all that interested.  


Anyway I feel as if I've betrayed my friend, the cupcake, since I took the cousin to Beard Papa's instead of a cupcake shop.  Don't hate me.  I was fresh off of my cream puff high and the cousin seemed really excited about going to BP's.  But to make up for my lack of cupcake love, I stopped by More Cupcakes on my way home from our lil outing and on my way to Trader Joe's.  

Located at: 1 E Delaware, Near North, Chicago

More Cupcakes has the unfortunate location of being a couple blocks away from Sprinkles Cupcakes.  In their defense, More was there first.  Even I chose Sprinkles over More last summer.  


In my cupcake googling, I found that More Cupcakes was rated the Best Cupcake in Chicago, according to the Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago 2010 List.  That's a big title for being in such a big city.  So naturally, I had high expectations for More.  


Ironically, More has very little decor inside the bakery.  The lack of decor I think comes from the lack of seating inside the tiny shop and its very minimalist feel.  The website calls it a "modern art museum-meets-cupcake boutique."  "Owner, Patty Rothman, (and self-proclaimed cupcake curator), opened more with the sole vision of embracing excess in every bite."  All this sounds a lil bit pretentious and too fancy schmancy.  Aren't cupcakes as cutesy and friendly as they get?  


Anyway they had a good variety of flavors.  I remember seeing Mint Chocolate and their best-selling Red Velvet.  I asked for a recommendation and the girl suggested I get either Vanilla Raspberry or Chocolate Hazelnut.  I went for the Vanilla Raspberry.  

After three hours of walking and Chicago humidity, I came home with my cupcake in tow and decided just to try a bite.  I wasn't hungry so I thought that was all I really needed.  One bite turned into devouring the entire cupcake.  It was light and a delicious lil cake.  The vanilla cake was moist and tasty but the frosting only really tasted like raspberry when I ate the fresh one on top...haha.  I'm not complaining since the frosting was tasty and it was also inside the cupcake too.  Even with the cream filled cupcake, it wasn't frosting overload since it was not too sweet and light in flavor.  No need to cloud the cupcake with all that sophisticated talk.  This is a good cupcake!  A More Cupcake can be yours at the price of $3.25.