Go to Daisy’s for the cupcakes and stay for dinner

>

Daisy Cafe & Cupcakery on Atwood Avenue

Designer cupcakes are always an interesting conversation for me because I really enjoy cupcakes but get annoyed when I pay $2+ for a cupcake that doesn’t end up impressing me.

Keys to a successful fancy cupcake:

1. Cake part has to AT LEAST as moist as something I can make out of a box
2. Frost to cake ratio needs to be even (I am not the biggest fan of frosting but if fancy cupcake-frosting is done well I am a huge fan of it. So the frosting needs to flavorful and not over-the-top sugary).
3. There should be a good mix of classic flavor choices and interesting options (I usually get a classic red velvet and something new and interesting!). 
4. The cupcakes NEED to be fresh.

Daisy’s

 I have not been to too many cupcakeries or fancy bakeries but the few that I have been to seem to follow these guidelines pretty well. Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery on Atwood Avenue is very good about the guidelines! Their cake is always moist, fresh and usually an interesting flavor instead of just vanilla or chocolate. All of the frosting I have had from there is light and flavorful unless it is the cream cheese frosting which is amazingly rich and heavy (which cream cheese frosting needs to be to be good)! And their cupcake display case always (unless you’re too late and they already sold out!) has classics like red velvet and a traditional butter cream options.

Cupcakes to go!

Their red velvet is fantastically traditional and well-done but I keep going back to try their new flavors. The first time I went I got a chocolate cupcake with mocha butter cream frosting. The cake was good but mixed with the delicately flavored mocha butter cream was exceptional (mind you, this was the only option left when we got there for dinner!). The second time I went I got a red velvet and cupcake made with a banana/pecan cake and topped with a chocolate/peanut butter butter cream frosting. This cupcake takes cupcake eating to another level. The cake is dense and moist with the pecans adding great texture. The frosting is light in texture but amazingly dense in flavor! The third time I went back for the banana/pecan/chocolate/peanut butter cupcake but they had already sold out of them so I got a more traditional vanilla cupcake with vanilla butter cream frosting, which was very flavorful and fresh but not as amazing as the specialty cupcake I went back for!

Daisy’s server more than just cupcakes.

Now on to dinner. I haven’t had a chance to eat here for breakfast but plan to in the very near future because Daisy Cafe has been serving breakfast a lot longer than dinner and probably has it perfected! I went to dinner with a friend a little less than a year after they started serving dinner and we were shocked to be the only ones in the dining room at 5:30pm on a Thursday. But despite being the only diners we both really enjoyed our meal. I got traditional meatloaf and my friend got the chicken and bacon pasta. Both of us were pleasantly surprised with the amount of food we got for the prices and really enjoyed our dinners. My meatloaf was very flavorful and came with the traditional mashed potatoes and vegetables. The mashed potatoes went really well with the meatloaf just as tradition says but the vegetables were a surprising respite from the heaviness of the meal. My vegetables were perfectly sauteed and seasoned perfectly. And even though both of us had to take part of our meal home we got a cupcake to go (the mocha one!).

Bottom Line: the cupcakes are worth the $2.50 you pay for them, I will keep going back to see what new flavor they are making, their dinner menu offers a full range of options and I will be going back to try the multigrain pancakes or huevos rancheros de la Daisy.