Best Cupcakes in Old Town Alexandria Virginia

My daughter and I recently decided to determine who makes the best cupcakes in Old Town Alexandria Virginia. We purchased cupcakes from Alexandria Cupcake a cupcake only bakery and Nando’s Peri-Peri a Portugese peri-peri chicken restaurant who imports their cupcakes from Chicago. At first glance how can a restaurant who imports their cup cakes from Chicago possibly beat a bakery that specializes in cupcakes? Let the tasting begin.

We compared 4 cupcakes from each restaurant/bakery. We tasted them for frosting, moistness of the cake, and the balance of the frosting and cake. We rated each on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best cupcake we have ever eaten).

Nando’s Peri-Peri – 8.5 Rating

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting – Good balance of flavors with a burst of chocolate ganache in the middle.

Chocolate cake with Chocolate Frosting – This was as close to perfect as I have ever tasted.  It had complexity, richness, and a balance of flavors with a rich moist cake that made us asking for more.

Alexandria Cupcake – 6.1 Rating

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting – The frosting was so sweet and overpowering that the dry cake was completely lost.

Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting – This cupcake had a good balance of flavors but the icing was gritty and the cake was dry.