In the Hunt for the Cupkates Truck

In the current street food trend, you knew it was just a matter of time before there was a taco truck selling cupcakes. And you knew it was a matter of time before I blogged about it. :)

I’ve been following the Cupkates Truck on Twitter for awhile, waiting for the moment when its tweets and my location would intertwine. The truck, started by Kate McEachern, focuses primarily in Berkeley and Oakland. But after following its tweet, I noticed the truck spent most of its days parked around the University of California-Berkeley campus.

Make sense. I mean, who else but college kids would have a constant sugar craving? Plus, Kate, a former editor at Dwell magazine, started making cupcakes while a Cal student and her husband is currently a grad student there.

But that doesn’t help me out since I’m not near the Berkeley campus during the weekdays. On the weekends, the Cupkates Truck has ventured out to some other neighborhoods, mostly in Elmwood in Berkeley.

Last Sunday, I finally caught up with the truck when it was parked at the Fourth Street shopping district in Berkeley. After getting some brunch with my nephew and his girlfriend, we walked around the area and spotted the truck parked outside the Crate & Barrel Outlet Store.

Still full from brunch, we contemplated the truck’s offering, which included favorites like Red Velvet and chocolate. The Twinkie flavor was already sold out (dang it!) and I knew all the others would probably be gone in an hour. (The truck sells out pretty fast on most days.) So we got some cupcakes boxed up to munch on later.

Both my nephew and his girlfriend got the seasonal pumpkin spice cupcake, which they enjoyed, saying the icing was light and airy and not too sweet. (They’re not making this flavor anymore and have now moved onto Peppermint Chocolate for the holidays.)

I ended up getting the Double Chocolate cupcake, and immediately my first thought when I looked at the icing was that it looked like dog poop. Hey, it wasn’t just me. My nephew said the same thing even before I could say it.

Despite the poor icing job, the overall cake was good. It was light and fluffy with a strong chocolate flavor and the icing was more rich chocolate than sugar, which is always good for me. (The only odd thing I thought was how it seemed like the top of the cupcake was lopped off because it had a very leveled top. Not sure if this was a mistake or if this is how all the chocolate cupcakes are made?)

A few other shoppers walked by and admired our cupcakes, but by then the Cupkates Truck had sold out and driven off. They may not be the best cupcakes I ever had, but they’re a nice treat in the afternoon for only $2.75 each. I’m looking forward to my next rendezvous with the Cupkates Truck.

The Cupkates Truck is out every day (except Mondays), mostly at the UC Berkeley campus and Berkeley-Oakland neighborhoods on the weekend. Follow it at twitter.com/CupkatesTruck to find the exact location, and check out its menu on its Web site.