The Perfect Circle Cupcakery — yay or nay?

I was in Orange with Austin of The Hungry Dogg, the other day and I told him since we were in the area, I wanted to stop by The Perfect Circle Cupcakery. I had heard so many mixed reviews about the place and wanted to once and for all, make my own decision on it.

We found a super cute store, with black and white hues running throughout. A feeling of nostalgia, of days long gone, of the old Hollywood era immediately comes to mind.

Those of you who know me know that I am very VERY picky when it comes to desserts because it takes a special kind of sweet treat to really wow me. Basically, ya gotta be DAMN good. I only recently realized that the reason I have disliked desserts in the last four decades is because of all the lousy desserts I’ve come into contact with, not necessarily because I don’t like desserts — which is what I had always thought.

In the last two years, I have found a few cupcakes and other desserts which have won me over — not a lot — but a few REALLY good desserts which I can add to the short list I have made. When I heard how The Perfect Circle Cupcakery had won Cupcake Wars, naturally, I wanted to try.

We decided on two flavors — the lemon kiss and the banana bomb, the latter had a Food Network sign next to it so we assumed it was a winner on the show.

I tried the lemon cupcake first. The frosting was grainy, greasy and had already started to harden. The cake portion was very dry which led me to believe that it had been sitting there a while.

The cupcake itself had very weak lemon flavor even though there were bits of lemon zest dotted inside. All the lemon was concentrated in the frosting and because I wasn’t able to eat the unctuous goop, it left the cupcake bland and forgettable.

The banana bomb cupcake had the same problem with dryness although it wasn’t AS dry as the lemon. The frosting was again thick and goopy — SUPER sweet too. It is mind-boggling how banana cake can be dry and crumbly. Both taste and texture were subpar.

At $3 a pop, it was a waste of money because we shared them with friends and after one taste, no one wanted another. I was the only one who took two bites just to be sure. We ended up throwing away the rest.

Such a shame because they obviously put a lot of thought into their cute decor, but I can’t eat decor and the cupcakes were so unmemorable it won’t entice me to return again. It may be a yay for some, but it’s definitely a nay for me.

The Perfect Circle Cupcakery
165 N Glassell Street
Orange, CA 92866
Tel: 714-997-2253