Welcome to Miami! HIAC Does Florida Pt2

Sorry about the gap between posts, still jetlagged ;) Originally we were going to stay in Miami for 2 nights after Key Largo but we decided to go to Key West instead and just swing by Miami on the way to the airport. We will definitely have to go back to Florida as there are so many places to go and things to do that we couldn't possibly fit it all in in the time we had and also because, y'know - it's awesome!

So our next stop on the cupcake tour was The Buttercream Cupcake and Coffee Shop. It was a very sweet shop on Sunset Drive and the cupcakes were all beautifully presented. They had a range of flavours which were mostly traditional such as Vanilla, Choc, Choc-Orange, Choc-Vanilla etc but also some more 'interesting' flavours like Pistachio (which I bought) and Lime. As we were planning on visiting another cupcake shop afterwards and due to the fact we were flying home that evening, I settled on just 2 cupcakes - Pistachio and Red Velvet. As you can see, the display was FULL of cupcakes (just what you'd expect from a cupcake shop, but believe me I've seen some recently who shall rename nameless which was less than full and very disappointing!!)

Outside the store with my recent purchases. Not a good pic of me but focus on the shop ;)

Both the cakes were very light and because I was so full from eating the next cupcakes, they actually survived the 9 hr flight home as well. I liked the pistachio one best because I *think* the Red Velvet one had buttercream on whereas I prefer cream cheese on mine. However, the sponge was light and red velvety and it was red! One of the things I've noticed about some cupcakeries over here is that they just can't get Red Velvet ones right. It is tough and not one of the easiest to do but one thing that it must be is RED. I saw a Red Velvet cupcake this week that was brown...Easiest part to get right, right? Apparently not!

Next up was LA Sweets  and I think this was my favourite cupcakery of the tour (just check out that homepage!) It was really roomy and light inside and I loved the display. Their speciality is mini cupcakes - perfect for someone wanting to try as many flavours as possible. But again, I showed restraint and just picked 6! Here I am trying to decide on which ones to go for!

I went with the cupcaker's recommendation for 2: their popular Red Velvet and signature Guava. And I can see why they are their most popular. The red was a really bright red, it was light, fluffy and had cream cheese frosting. Yum! The Guava I had never tried anything like before and it really did taste like Guava. It was a really fruity, tropical taste but not overpoweringly so and even had a tiny piece of Guava on top.

My next favourite was the Chocolate Raspberry, it was divine! Moist, dark chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache and a drizzle of Raspberry sauce. The last 3 I tried were a little sweet for my taste but couldn't fault the sponge - Vanilla with peanut buttercream, Dulche de leche and Caramel Cheesecake.

Don't they look beautiful!?

Here I am with my purchases outside the front

And that concludes my cupcake tour of Florida - thank you Florida, you've been great. I can't wait for my next tour...which state should I visit next?!