Review: Sweet Bites Cupcake Truck

With the gourmet food truck craze taking over DC (as well as the weather warming up!) I've decided to visit as many of these trucks as I possibly can.  And thus begins my new "series" of tasting various trucks around the city.

A few weeks ago I was walking by McPearson Square and noticed a pink and white truck parked on I Street...it was Sweet Bites, the Cupcake and other fabulous baked goods truck.  This was a particularly cold and windy day, but once I spot a cupcake-eating-opportunity, I cannot resist.  DC has seen it's fair share of cupcakeries popping up around the city, but a cupcake AND gourmet food truck? Be silent my heart.... 

To preface this entry, I have to say that I am very picky about my cupcakes.  I actually do not like Georgetown Cupcake (gasp!) and prefer Baked and Wired.  So when I stepped up to the truck, I had my critique face on and was ready to judge.

 

On this day, I thought their sophisticated Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache cupcake with a dollop of vanilla buttercream on top sounded tasty.  The cake is made with dark chocolate (which I cannot resist!). However, being a baker myself, I know that it is difficult to cook with dark chocolate.  The moisture level is much lower with dark chocolate versus a milk chocolate, so it is difficult to make a moist cake.  I have to say that their attempt at keeping the cake moist with the ganache topping fell just shy.  HOWEVER....the vanilla butter-cream icing on top was BRILLIANT. It helped to add moisture that was missing from the cake to each bite.

Not to be one to judge a restaurant by it's first tasting, I went back last week and obtained the Chocolate Coconut Cupcake (pictured below).

This cake held redemptive powers for Sweet Bites.  As I bit into the cupcake, I found it to be more moist than the bittersweet chocolate cupcake.  Their butter-cream icing is silky smooth and not too thick. I still think Baked & Wired is my favorite bakery in DC, but that does not mean I won't be heading to McPhearson Square today because it is again what I have now coined "Cupcake Truck Thursday"...What can I say, I'm a sucker for cupcakes.

If you check out Sweet Bites' website, you can see exactly where the truck will be that day. Or, you can  follow their tweets on Twitter. Most food trucks now tweet where they are located to let people know when they open. I do not have a Twitter account, but most of these trucks also post on Facebook, which makes me a happy camper!  So check out Sweet Bites' site to see when they are coming to a square near you.