Is it worth the cost?

Lately, I've been on a cupcake kick. I tire of making large cakes that just dry out within two days. Darn you, Colorado. Cupcakes, however, I can pawn off rather easily to friends who are hungry for a sugary sweet without feeling bad about eating a whole slice of rich cake. (It's fat free if you eat with a fork instead of your hands, right?)

I went to a local cupcake shop to try out their goods a few days ago. This store is notorious for using boxed mixes and for having bad customer service, but I thought I'd give them a second chance.

A few friends and I had visited said cupcake shop about a year ago. We walked into a half empty store with a big glass case. We nervously walked to the counter where a stoic young guy was standing. I looked down and noticed they only had 2 trays of cupcakes for sale. There were only about 20 cupcakes out. The prices? $3.00 for a regular size cupcake and $5.00 for a jumbo one. WHOA NELLY!

Hold the phones... you want me to pay $3.00 for one regular size cupcake?? I can go to Wal-mart and buy a boxed cake mix and make my own for under $2.00......... for 24 cupcakes!

We didn't want to leave empty handed, so we bought regular sized cupcakes. It tasted of overpowering sugar, enough to make the cavities in my teeth burrow down deeper with just one lick of the frosting.

Either way, my friends and I left the store with a sugar rush and lighter wallets.

As I was saying, I gave them a second chance a few days ago. This time, instead of the store being empty and vacant, there were 3 employees in the store. One sitting at a table at a laptop, who upon my entry, glanced up with a "what are you doing here?" look. The second was a man standing behind some wall separators (short enough to see his shoulders and head), presumably piping frosting on millions of little helpless naked cupcakes. The third was a girl at the glass case who quickly asked "Have you had our cupcakes before?" Taken aback by her abrupt question, I said yes.

I peered into the case and saw two small trays of regular sized cupcakes. They looked sickeningly sweet and bright. Given, they also looked quite cute. After getting lost hearing all the descriptions of the 6 different cupcakes they had in stock, I opted for the key lime one. It was a vanilla cupcake with bright neon glowing green frosting. I paid my three dollars and left.

It sure was good.

I've decided to continue making cupcakes. Why not? If a bakery can sell 'from the box' cupcakes for 3 bucks a pop, why can't I sell them for a bit cheaper? Mine are more delicious...I promise!!