by Christopher DeWolf

7 December, 2009

Hong Kong cupcake death match

Ap Lei Chau's seasoned champ Babycakes vs Mongkok rookie Cup Cakery

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Hong Kong cupcake craze: mesmerizing.

The first Hong Kong cupcake bakery opened in 2007, when Babycakes found a home for their expensive frosting-topped confections in Ap Lei Chau's Horizon Plaza.

It's been a good decade since cupcakes were reborn as an international cult dessert icon, helped along by New York's Magnolia Bakery and episodes of Sex and the City -- but it's never too late for Hong Kong's cupcake bakery to crash the party.

This fall, another Hong Kong cupcake bakery opened. Cup Cakery is a Mongkok upstart with playful, low-priced cupcakes that have been drawing drooling crowds away from Babycakes.

In the rough and tiny world of cupcakes in Hong Kong, there can be only one winner. So we threw Babycakes and Cup Cakery in the ring to see which one would make it out alive.

Round one

Babycakes: Patty Cake!

Height: 5.75cm. In other words, stubby.

Appearance: Like the South Island tai-tais who eat it, this cupcake has spent a lot of time in the dressing room. The mint icing, smooth and creamy, has been deftly applied in light, broad strokes, and it's an appealing milky green. Underneath the wrapper, though, the chocolate cake looks a bit dry and crumbly.

First blow: Just a scrape on the cheek. The icing is buttery and very sweet, with a faint but fresh mint taste. The cake has a mellow chocolate flavour, pleasant but not overly striking, but its texture is too dense, which weighs the whole thing down.

Knockout punch: Not by a long shot. This cupcake's too genteel for its own good.

Diabetic shock value: The icing's sweetness builds over time. A whole gang of this might knock you cold, but one won't do any harm.

Price: $25

Cup Cakery: Mint Chocolate

Height: 8cm. Big and tall -- a proper gangster.

Appearance: The icing on this cupcake looks as fake as an MK girl's bottle-blonde hair. An unnatural shade of green like the fake grass that adorns supermarket sushi, it sits on the top of the cupcake like a hat that doesn't quite fit. The cake, however, looks moist and decadent.

First blow: : This one packs a wallop. Though the airily-textured icing isn't buttercream, it's much bolder and mintier than its Hong Kong Island counterpart, and the cake strikes the right balance of moisture and density to give it some real bounce on its feet.

Knockout punch: There's no knockout blow, but this is a down-and-dirty, street-fighting cupcake.

Diabetic shock value: The Cup Cakery is just a block away from the emergency room of the Kwong Wah Hospital. There might be a reason for that.

Price: $8

The winner: The Cup Cakery's Mint Chocolate is the better cupcake and at less than a third of the price of its opponent, it's not rough on the wallet.

Round two

Babycakes: La La Latte

Height: 6.5cm

Appearance: As pretty as a well-poured cappuccino. The caramel-coloured icing is piled delicately atop a puffy white, gold-topped cake. An adorable coffee-bean-shaped chocolate crowns the cupcake.

First blow: It turns out to be angelfood cake, which is an inspired move, and the icing -- again, very sweet but mildly-flavoured -- contains the lightest hint of chocolate.

Knockout punch: Prim to a fault, it just barely makes the blow we're so eagerly anticipating.

Cupcake hangover: You can eat a couple of these without feeling too bad in the morning.

Price: $25

Cup Cakery, Milk Chocolate Hazelnut

Height: 7.5cm

Appearance: The thick rolls of light brown icing looks like a pile of poo. It's cute, though, especially studded with chocolate chips. The cake is a healthy golden yellow.

First blow: Uh oh. The cake, which seems to be made with hazelnut powder, is too dry and crumbly to go well with the amply-applied icing, which is at least quite robust in its chocolateness.

Knockout punch: The crumbly cake proves to be a fatal misstep. Down for the count!

Cupcake hangover: Drink lots of water, eat some fruit and get some rest. You'll need it.

Price: $8

The winner? Our accountant begs to differ, but La La Latte is the clear victor here.

Final round

Babycakes, Mochalucius

Height: 5.5cm

Appearance: Handsome, with a smooth layer of chocolate icing topped by a flower of latte-coloured icing and a tiny chocolate button.

First blow: It looks strong but soon falters. The cake is dry and the chocolate icing, which tastes faintly of coffee, is a bit too gluey.

Knockout punch: This one falls flat on its face before it can even swing.

Sugar high: Between the chocolate and the coffee, this will keep you going all night.

Price: $28

Cup Cakery, Cookies 'n' Cream

Height: 8.75cm. A giant!

Appearance: Lots of fun. A rotund chocolate cake topped by a round, marshmellow-like puff of whipped cream, which itself is crowned by half an Oreo.

First blow: Despite an unwieldy cookie sticking out of its head, this one's light on its feet. The cake is the same as that in the Mint Chocolate cupcake, which is a good thing, and the whipped cream is a nice departure from icing.

Knockout punch: This cupcake actually left us feeling refreshed, which says a lot about how much icing we've consumed.

Sugar high: At least an hour, maybe two.

Price: $8

The winner? Cookies 'n' Cream takes the cake.

Overall result

Hong Kong cupcake heavyweight champion: Cup Cakery

You can't beat the Cup Cakery's lethal one-two punch of consistency and good value.

Getting there

Babycakes, Shop 1114, 11/F, Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau Tel: +852 2890 2253

Cup Cakery, Shop 14B, Yan On Building, 56 Dundas Street, Mongkok

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Tags: Mongkok, Hong Kong cupcake, Hong Kong bakery

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