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In Search of West Hartford, Connecticut’s Best Cupcakes

Elmwood, Local Bakeries, West Hartford, West Hartford Center

Like many other hungry consumers, I have re-acquainted myself with the humble yet delectable cupcake. At a couple of the AA meetings that I regularly attend cupcakes are often served alongside the pot of coffee and I usually try to get at least one cupcake when I’m near one of the great bakeries in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Because I do often eat cupcakes from several different bakeries in West Hartford, I figured it would be a good idea to write an article which explores the cupcake scene there.

Here are my impressions of a few cupcake emporiums located in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Aby’s Bakery & Confectionery..765 Farmington Ave, West Hartford, CT..(860) 231-7773
The chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that are baked and served at Aby’s Bakery & Confectionery are incredibly delicious and very nicely textured. The cupcakes are large and reasonably priced and are baked fresh every day.

The breads, rolls, cakes, pastries, empanadas and a wide range of other items are served at this Argentinian-influenced neighborhood bakery are all very good.

Located next to Jimmie’s Pizza between South Quaker Lane and Prospect Avenue, Aby’s Bakery is open Tuesday through Sunday. Prices here are very reasonable and the staff members are quite friendly.

A Little Something Bakery..335 Park Road, West Hartford, CT..(860) 586-8711
A few weeks ago, I tried a red velvet cupcake and a chocolate cupcake from A Little Something Bakery and thought they were delightful. The red velvet cupcake was one of the best red velvet cakes I’ve eaten and the chocolate frosting was decadently delicious. The cupcakes also looked great.

This fairly new West Hartford, Connecticut bakery usually offers approximately ten different types and/or flavors of cupcakes. The staff members at this bakery are very friendly and helpful. Among the flavors that are often available here are peanut butter, chocolate chip, lemon, carrot, vanilla, coconut, Oreo and strawberry.

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Most of the cupcakes here feature buttercream frosting and some are filled. Prices are basically the same as at other local bakeries.
Breads, pies, cookies, cakes, and pastries are also available at A Little Something Bakery.

Located next to Hall’s Market near the intersection of South Quaker Lane and Park Road and is open seven days per week.

Hartford Baking Co..625 New Park Avenue, West Hartford, CT..(860) 570-1579
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to eat half of a chocolate cupcake with some type of cream cheese frosting and half of a vanilla cupcake with chocolate ganache from here. The textures of the cupcakes from this bakery were particularly noteworthy and both little cakes tasted very good.

Previously, I had tried one of the breads baked here and it was fantastic The cupcakes at this West Hartford, Connecticut bakery are competitively priced and discounts on large orders are usually offered.

It’s sort of hard to see Hartford Baking from the street, they’re located fairly close to New Britain Avenue. This bakery is worth looking for. Their foods are top-rate and the staff members are friendly. Open seven days a week.

Elmwood Pastry Shop..1136 New Britain Ave, West Hartford, Ct..(860)233-2029
When it comes to bakeries in West Hartford, Connecticut, Elmwood Pastry Shop is the oldest and in many people’s opinions including my own, the best. Located in the middle of Elmwood Center, this excellent traditional-style bakery has been in business since 1948.

Elmwood Pastry Shop is one of the best-smelling places I’ve ever encountered. Sometimes, if the wind is blowing just right the delectable aromas from the bakery fill the parking lot and the aroma is positively mouth-watering.

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When I was most recently in this Elmwood institution, they had chocolate, red velvet and carrot cake cupcakes. The regular size chocolate cupcake that I ate was beyond tasty.

Two different sizes of cupcakes are offered at Elmwood Pastry Shop and the bigger ones are often buttercream-filled.

In addition to their excellent cupcakes, Elmwood Pastry Shop also creates and sells breads, pies, cakes, wedding cakes, muffins, donuts, cookies and much more. The soups, salads and sandwiches served here are also very good, particularly their tuna and chicken salads. Open daily.

Sugarbelle Cakes..7 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT..(860) 652-9600
Sugarbelle is a fairly new purveyor of cupcakes in West Hartford. The original Sugarbelle location is in nearby Glastonbury and all phone orders for the West Hartford store are handled through the Glastonbury store.

This popular business is located across the street from the town green in West Hartford Center at the corner of Farmington Avenue and South Main Street. When I visited there yesterday, Sugarbelle was quite busy. There were a couple of customers picking up orders of multiple cupcakes and half a dozen customers were trying to decide which flavors they wanted to try. I couldn’t help overhearing one of the customers raving about the cupcakes from Sugarbelle that she served at a dinner party. She said her guests were crazy about them and wanted to know where she got them.
27 different flavors of cupcakes are served at Sugarbelle.

So far, I’ve eaten the pumpkin and chocolate coconut varieties at meetings and yesterday I tried the peanut butter ganache cupcake. My favorite so far is their chocolate coconut, which offered a balanced and satisfying flavor. Overall however, I think the cupcakes at Sugarbelle are attractive and creative, but they seem a little too sweet for me to eat more than one of them at a time. They are also priced a little bit higher than the other stores’ cupcakes.

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Some of the other cupcake flavors that are available at this West Hartford, Connecticut store are coconut, lemon, chocolate raspberry, almond raspberry, apple pie and carrot. Full-size cakes are also offered at Sugarbelle, which is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Also, I think it is important to mention the superlative bakeries at ShopRite Supermarket at 46 Kane Street and Stop & Shop Supermarket at 1235 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford. Right now, there are two mini yellow cake cupcakes with green vanilla frosting in my refrigerator. They are from my regular Sunday night meeting tonight. The coffee person has been getting them regularly from Stop & Shop and they are very good. The cupcakes made and sold at ShopRite are also above average in flavor and texture.

As far as the bakeries are concerned, I personally find the cupcakes from Elmwood Pastry Shop and Aby’s Bakery to be the best, with Hartford Baking Co. following closely behind.

Sources :
Personal experience with each of the cupcake stores
http://sugarbellecakes.com
http://www.elmwoodpastryshop.com