SWEET MARIA'S Cupcake Shop and Other Baked Goodies

Disclosure: The cupcakes were given for free, so that I could give it a review. Hence, this fact may influence my judgement, albeit unintentional. 

Sweet Maria's Bake Shop

Officially launched in August 10, 2013, Sweet Maria is an online pastry shop offering your taste buds with luscious homemade cupcakes, made with love. 

Just recently, Maria Espie Vidal (owner of Sweet Maria) wanted me to try her cupcakes, so she sent me a box of 6 cupcakes! Considering this as a great opportunity for me and for her,  I accepted the offer. Thus, I ended up with these packaged goodies. Well, check out how neatly it was packaged!

Sweet Treats (Cupcakes) from Sweet Maria
Sweet Treats from Sweet Maria - Neatly packaged!
I know the packaging is far from being elegant, as opposed to those famous cupcake stores like Larcy's Cupcakery and Sonja's (the former being my benchmark). However, I'm sure that sooner or later, Sweet Maria will start offering cupcakes in a beautifully designed and labeled package. For now, considering that it just recently opened, this packaging is decent and commendable enough!

Anyway, opening the box exposed the lovely cupcakes below.
A Wonderful Variety - Sweet Maria Cupcakes
A Wonderful Variety - Sweet Maria Cupcakes!
Just to provide you with more information, all of these cupcakes are medium or just-right sized. Yup, Sweet Maria is providing you with options! You may either choose the bite-sized cupcakes (smallest), just right (medium) and super-sized ones (large).

Judging the Cupcakes

My criteria for giving my review for the cupcakes are taste, texture, sweetness and price using the 5-star rating scale. Keep in mind, that I happened to benchmark these cupcakes with Larcy's (the best I've tasted so far). To be more specific, here are the bases for rating:

  • Taste - this almost sums up everything about the cupcake but focusing more on the, well, taste itself
  • Texture - I am a huge fan of moist and soft cakes/cupcakes, so higher rating means the moister the cupcakes are
  • Sweetness - extremely sweet cupcakes are a big NO-NO for me; 5 start rating means the sweetness is just right
  • Uniqueness - well, this is self-explanatory yet pretty much subjective; however, I'll focus more on how it was baked and presented

Dark Cookies and Cream Cupcake || P27 - Bites || P37 - Just Right || P55 - Super Size
Sweet Maria's Best Selling Dark Cookies and Cream Cupcake
Sweet Maria's Best Selling Dark Cookies and Cream Cupcake

Taste:  
Texture:
Sweetness
Uniqueness


Note: Best eaten when chilled, similar with all the cupcakes here

What made this cupcake interesting for me was the baking technique used to come up with this. I love how Sweet Maria was able to add a crust then cake then icing/frosting for this one! Another thing that I enjoyed about this was how the sweetness of the frosting was somehow balanced by the cupcake itself. In other words, the sweetness is coming only from one direction, and that is the frosting.

The major problem I had with this was the texture of the cupcake itself, and the crust's lack of firmness. I could have appreciated this more if it was softer and fuller. Lastly, the frosting would be better it was creamier, but then that may lead to a trade-off of being too greasy (which I dislike more).



Chocolate Fudge || P30 - Bites || P40 - Just Right || P60 - Super Size 
Chocolate fudge with a bursting chocolate filling of Sweet Maria
Chocolate fudge with a bursting chocolate filling of Sweet Maria

Taste:  
Texture:
Sweetness
Uniqueness
For this, I highly praise Sweet Maria for a job-well done on the frosting in terms of the taste! The entire cupcake was not too sweet, but still has the right kick for your sweet cravings! Aside from that, there's a big surprise in its core - a mildly sweet chocolate bursting with flavors!


Vanilla Cupcake w/ Chocolate Ganache || P35 - Bites || P45 - Just Right || P60 -Super Size 

Sweet Maria's Vanilla/White Cupcake Topped with Chocolate Ganache
Sweet Maria's Vanilla/White Cupcake Topped with Chocolate Ganache

Taste:  
Texture:
Sweetness
Uniqueness
Simple yet catchy - that's how I will define this cupcake! It has a melt in your mouth chocolate topping that was so creamy bringing you to a temporary insanity state. The vanilla cupcake itself was not extremely sweet making you focus more on the lovely chocolate ganache. Again, my only issue was the texture. If it was moist, then it could have been perfect!



Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcake || P35 - Bites || P45 - Just Right || P60 - Super Size

The Not-so-Red Velvet of Sweet Maria

Taste:  
Texture:
Sweetness
Uniqueness
I'll admit that this was not the best red velvet I've tasted so far, but I still adore the great frosting. No, definitely not by the way it was presented (although I'm assuming it just got melted), but rather by the taste. It was sweet, creamy [enough, but could still be improved] and salty at the same time creating a mix of bliss! Unfortunately, the goodness ended there and did not proceeded with the cupcake itself.

Nevertheless, I still love how the red velvet was not completely red, As we all know, redness comes from food coloring, which isn't in any way healthy for us. Good attempt in changing what is conventional!

Cherry Bomb Cupcake || P60 - Just Right
Sweet Maria's Deluxe Cherry Bomb Cupcake

Taste:  
Texture:
Sweetness
Uniqueness

This was named Cherry Bomb, so I was expecting something that would take me by surprise. However, nothing like that happened. It was simply a black forest made into a cupcake, but to describe it more, it was chocolaty with a sweet light frosting. I hate to sound like a broken record, but this one lacked softness and moisture. One of the good things about this cupcake was the maintained level of sweetness despite it having a chocolate base.

Vanilla Raspberry || P35 - Bites || P45 - Just Right || P65 - Super Size

Sweet Maria's Vanilla Cupcake with a fruity Filling of Raspberry
Sweet Maria's Vanilla Cupcake with a fruity Filling of Raspberry

Taste:  
Texture:
Sweetness
Uniqueness
Now, I'm down to the last cupcake - the Vanilla Cupcake with Raspberry! Although it looks pretty well in the photo, I didn't find it much visually enticing - probably because I can tell already that the frosting is somehow rough (something that I'm not practically used to). Anyway, what I found unique about this one was the fruity core, since I do not often taste cupcakes with a fruity filling. Sadly though, I found this cupcake sweeter than the others (which may be natural for this), since the potent sweetness was coming from 3 directions (i.e. the frosting, the cupcake and the filling).

Sweet Maria in a Nutshell

In general, Sweet Maria was able to prove its potential! It crafts its cupcakes with great-tasting frosting, although more creaminess is still suggested. Also, the texture of the cupcakes could have have been more enjoyable if they were moist and soft. However, in essence, I love how the cupcakes of Sweet Maria made me focus on the flavors and not on the sweetness alone. Oh, let's not forget how affordable the cupcakes are.

There you go! I hope you enjoyed this review I conducted for the cupcake shop! If you think you were enticed by the cupcakes, feel free to use the information below to contact the owner.



Sweet Maria
77 Rivera St., 1500 San Juan,
Philippines

Contact No.: +63915 405 9145
Facebook Page: Sweet Maria

Menu and Price List 
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2 comments:

  1. Curious about the oreo cupcake. Although I'm generally not a fan since I always find cupcakes too sweet for my taste even sonja's. =(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for dropping by Stacy! I'm also not into pure sweetness. I want variety of flavors in cupcakes. Luckily, I have good tolerance for sweets. :)

    ReplyDelete

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