The Best Cupcakes In Every State Slideshow

Cupcakes might not be the "it" dessert any more, but that doesn't make them any less tasty. We still want to know: Which ones are the tastiest in each state? That's a tall order, as the only true way to evaluate a cupcake is by stuffing it in your face, and taste preferences can obviously vary from person to person.

So instead of just this factor, we've also added a couple more criteria to the evaluation of these tasty, frosting covered treats. Menu variety was the first thing we looked at, followed by presentation. Rankings were determined based upon consistency and artistic creativity. We looked at social media as well, tabulating the numbers of followers these bake shops have as an indication of how engaged they were with their communities — and vice versa. We then turned to online review sites to help us determine just how satisfied customers were with their cupcake experience. And the last factor was editorial discretion, which took the preceding criteria into consideration along with culinary value and variety. Only one place per state could make the list (plus Washington, D.C., because America!), and here are our results.

Whether in the shop or on the truck, there are plenty of tasty options available at Dreamcakes Bakery — 15 or more flavors daily, to be exact. The thing about these delicious cakes is that they actually look like they were dreamt up during a magical tea party. With a billowing topper of fluffy frosting and a delicate design, these cupcakes are a work of art. If you can catch it, try the fluffernutter cupcake, a peanut butter cake with marshmallow meringue that's topped with a peanut butter cookie.

If you love fluffernutters, you'll also love this fluffernutter doughnut.

Though the Midnight Sun Cakery focuses a lot of its energy on signature cakes and stunning wedding cakes, it certainly hasn't forgotten the small things. Each month, the bakery features a special sale on its unique flavors like peppermint bark, cherry chip, and raspberry cheesecake, giving patrons something special to look forward to.

Click here to check out 11 cheesecake recipes you have to try.

With at least 15 flavors available every day, Caketini promises cupcakes that are twice as big (and twice as tasty) as their cupcake competitors. We can say for sure that these cupcakes are some of the most beautiful we've seen: each one is frosted and swirled with subtle signature designs that makes it as much a treat for your eyes as it is for your taste buds. Try their by-request-only chocolate silk cupcake, a chocolate cake topped with buttercream and chocolate truffle drizzle.

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Built on the work of four generations of bakers, this cupcakery has industry know-how and inventiveness on their side, featuring both traditional and more unique flavors ranging from cookies 'n cream to oatmeal cream pie. The rum-infused pineapple piña colada cupcake is a life-changing coconut cake, iced with coconut rum buttercream for a delicious confection you'll be hard pressed to find elsewhere. Plus, the presentation is practically flawless, with a healthy balance between cake and frosting.

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This small, family-run bakery began as a passion for cookies but quickly grew into a gourmet cookie and cupcake destination. The delectable cupcake creations come in a variety of flavors like Boston cream pie, PB&J, red velvet and tres leches, to name a few. They also offer French macarons and "sumptuous cinnamon rolls" along with their growing list of cupcakes and custom cookies.

For a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe you can make at home, click here.

This small, family-run bakery began as a passion for cookies but quickly grew into a gourmet cookie and cupcake destination. The delectable cupcake creations come in a variety of flavors like Boston cream pie, PB&J, red velvet and tres leches, to name a few. They also offer French macarons and "sumptuous cinnamon rolls" along with their growing list of cupcakes and custom cookies.

For a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe you can make at home, click here.

Sugar is a mother-daughter team who have combined their knowledge of baking and passion for decadent dessert to create declicious cupcakes like their signature cannoli — vanilla cupcake, chocolate chip cannoli cream filling, vanilla buttercream, and mini morsels. Other flavors include wedding cake, apple pie, and trick or treat!

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Adorning their creations with a fancy wax paper protective liner and an impressive frosting presentation to boot, Sweet Somethings has been catering to its patrons for more than a decade. Though stocked with pies, tarts, and other pastries, Sweet Somethings' cupcakes continue to blow customers away. The menu is packed with sweet options that range from a chocolate cupcake with Oreo cookie mousse to a light toasted coconut option.

To discover the craziest Oreo flavors ever, click here.

From its inception, Misha's Cupcakes was designed for family. The owner began this delicious cupcakery as a way to spend time with her newborn daughter (and also to make a few extra bucks). A successful business blossomed a few years later, and now it's one of the finest cupcake joints in Florida. Be sure to check the site for the current flavors, as they change with the seasons. Some of their flavors for fall include ginger snap, chocolate obsession, and pumpkin dulce de leche.

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An artisan bakery dedicated to small-batch baking, The Atlanta Cupcake Factory operates on a philosophy centered around interesting and unique flavor profiles. Sweet potato bourbon, red velvet, and coconut almond cupcakes are just some of the seasonal sweets you can enjoy at different times of year. Be sure to follow up frequently with this bakery, as its commitment to freshness means an ever-evolving menu.

For a great Sweet Potato Cupcake recipe, click here.

Getting a cupcake at Hokulani Bake Shop is like getting a slice of heaven in paradise. You'll feel totally spoiled! Inspired by the island it inhabits, this bakeshop makes fresh, natural, and delicious cupcakes for everyone to enjoy. If you really want to get into the Hawaiian spirit, try a toasted coconut cupcake: It's filled with toasted coconut flakes and topped with the signature buttercream frosting.

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After a decade of serving some of the best wedding cakes in the region, Family Ties bakery birthed Sugar Rush Cupcakery in order to bring all the deliciousness of the big cakes to a more manageable portion size. Plus, it added some truly outstanding flavors! Whether you go with a safe bet such as peanut butter banana, s'mores, or rocky road, or a wild variety such as spiced chai latte, pink Champagne, or even tomato soup, you're sure to get a satisfying sugar rush.

Click here to read the Peanut Butter Frosted Banana Bread Cupcakes recipe.

Molly's Cupcakes in Chicago has sweets that really pack a flavorful punch. To customize your own, simply pick a cake flavor, choose a frosting, and then make it yourself with an array of tasty toppings. They'll bake it right in front of your eyes and are happy to accommodate even the wildest of cravings. Try one of the center-filled cupcakes like crème brûlée, peanut butter Nutella, or Cookie Monster for a truly tasty experience.

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With a striking signature pastel color palette, The Flying Cupcake will fly away with your heart after just one nibble. The cupcakes are delectably labeled with creative names that will entice you to keep trying more. Try the It's Not a HoHo, a chocolate cupcake filled with vanilla cream and covered in chocolate ganache, or the Chocolate Snoball, a chocolate cupcake with coconut cream, topped with chocolate cream cheese and coconut.

For the slightly less decadent, but equally delicious Coconut Snowball Cupcake recipe, click here.

That One Cupcake Place is anything but an ordinary cupcakery. Since it opened, it has created more than 112 flavors to add to the equally diverse and delicious menu, from stuffed French toast (maple cinnamon cake with a cream cheese filling and maple buttercream) and That Unicorn (vanilla cake with rainbow vanilla buttercream) to even more adventurous creations like the bubblegum cupcake, a bubblegum-flavored cake with bubblegum-flavored buttercream.

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We're cheating a bit here, as BabyCakes is actually on the Missouri side of Kansas City, but what's a mile between friends? With cupcakes available in three sizes, this cupcakery believes in serving sweets that are both delicious and beautiful.

BabyCakes' presentation is on point, using creative frostings and color combinations. This bakery dishes out a few playful jabs at their competition, saying: "We can proudly say we've never subjected our loyal customers to witness a tacky display of baking debauchery on Battle of the Cupcakes, Cupcake Mafia, Backwoods Cupcake Monsters, Deadliest Cupcakes, Real Cupcakes of New Jersey, Cupcake Dynasty, or any of those other History or 'Learning' Channel shows."

In short, the cupcakes can speak for themselves. The bakery has six consistent flavors year round and dabbles in an array of seasonal flavors like "eggnog cake" and "pumpkin cake" with cream cheese frosting.

Click here and pretend you are in Kansas City with these Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing.

No, you're not seeing double; we have two shops on this list named BabyCakes — and they coincidentally ended up in back-to-back spots. This bakery is run by a husband-and-wife team that has a thing for cupcakes almost as much as for each other! Drizzled and prepped to look like a cupcake right out of a dream, they offer a variety of adorably named cupcakes that steal your breath away. Our favorite easily has to be the A Rose for Mr. Darcy — white chocolate cupcakes topped with rosewater butter cream. Though the Georgia on My Mind — fresh peach cupcakes with peach butter cream would also be thoroughly enjoyed.

For the Peaches and Cream Cupcakes recipe, click here.

Buttercups Cupcakes has been sifting, stirring, baking, and dolloping its made-from-scratch cupcakes for over 10 years using high quality, pure ingredients — and it even offers vegan and gluten-free options! Choose from options such as vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry all the way down to salted caramel, wedding cake, banana pudding, and whatever happens to be the flavor of the month. One thing that's not a flavor of the month? Buttercups, which has been delighting customers for more than a decade. They even made the news back in 2007, when actress Katie Holmes ordered eight dozen on her way out of town after filming Mad Money.

For a Vegan and Gluten-Free Chocolate-Coconut Cupcake recipe, click here.

Specializing in event cupcakes, Let Them Eat Cake artfully combines personalized creations with signature flavors for truly beautiful cupcakes. They come in a variety of flavors, beginning with almond white cake and ranging all the way to ginger peach as well as pumpkin and peanut butter.

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Sometimes the most beautiful things in life come in the most surprising packages. Though the cupcakes at Flavor are undoubtedly gorgeous, its no-frills, all-flavor attitude has landed it a loyal local base. Its triumphant win on season four of Cupcake Wars didn't hurt either. The cupcakery surprises guests daily with a unique cupcake of the day and offers tasty flavors patrons can count on, like mint Oreo and Boston cream.

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Boston's Sweet Bakery offers a list of cupcake flavors that seems to keep growing. Looking for something light but decadent? The classic Boston cream pie flavor is a sweet chiffon cake filled with homemade pastry cream. It's topped with chocolate ganache and a frosting "cherry."

Click here for 13 Old Time Desserts That Need to Make a Comeback.

This cupcakery is still impressively operating as an old-fashioned general store. Don't let the Old World charm and whimsical curiosities fool you, though — the signature cupcakes are piled high with a distinctive tower of frosting and have unique flavor profiles that make them more modern than they probably care to admit! If you make a pilgrimage to this cupcake hotspot, try the "How About Them Apples" caramel apple cupcake topped with caramel buttercream frosting.

Click here to see the Caramel Apple Cinnamon Cake recipe.

Well, it doesn't get any more straightforward than this: a cupcakery named Cupcake that simply sells delicious cupcakes. As a winner of Cupcake Wars, this small Eagan bakery has blown up into a local must-try and gives patrons a large variety of sweets to choose from (including gluten-free and vegan options). How could you not love a U.S. Navy serviceman-turned-pastry chef who makes cupcakes called the "Michelle Obama" and the "Alton Brown"?

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L'Oven Cupcakes is dedicated to making the best cupcakes in town. From chocolate cheesecake to Death by Chocolate and Pretty in Pink, their tasty cupcakes, baked fresh every day are sure to be a treat for your taste buds.

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If you've got a big appetite for cupcakes, you've come to the right place, friend. These gourmet cupcakes weigh nearly half a pound each — hefty enough to stand on their own against the likes of brunch. Try the pink velvet cupcake topped with cream cheese, caramel buttercream, and a German chocolate cake for a unique and flavorful cupcake experience.

Did you know German Chocolate Cake Isn't German? Click here to find out all about it!

A Missoula landmark, Bernice's Bakery has been around since 1978. Its baking philosophy is centered on providing quality food at reasonable prices and striving to build community through friendly service and sustainable environmental practices. At least eight cupcake flavors are kept in rotation at all times, ranging from traditional vanilla and chocolate to the more eclectic pancakes and bacon. Want a Montana cupcake adventure? Ask for the chocolate cherry Coke.

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Trademarked as ULTRA moist cakes, these little bites are a total treat. The Cake Gallery has mastered the cake-to-frosting ratio on each of its cupcakes and provides patrons with uniquely enticing flavors. Try the banana split (which looks like an actual bowl of ice cream), "a banana cake filled with strawberry and a dollop of pineapple, iced in whip, dipped in chocolate, and topped with nuts and a cherry."

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Though this iconic bakery is known for its tasty and jaw-dropping wedding cakes, its bakers are no strangers to the art of cupcake-making. Its line of classic flavors — like chocolate peanut butter and strawberries and cream — never disappoints. You'll fall in love with these sweet treats and the dreamy, thick swirls of frosting on top.

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Selling more than 500 freshly baked cupcakes a day, this family-owned bakery has been making locals' and tourists' days a little sweeter since 2009. Their style is simple, as they hope to wow with flavor and presentation. A straightforward variety we think you'll enjoy is the Sunshine, a flavorful yellow cake topped with homemade buttercream frosting and covered in yellow sprinkles.

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Pink Cake Box is a critically acclaimed bakery that features sweets ranging from the tiniest of cupcakes to a towering wedding cake structure. This bakery will take your breath away with its sculptural masterpieces and cakes so moist and delicious that you won't even care how beautiful they are. Flavors include hazelnut Frangelico, pink Champagne cake, pumpkin, and dozens more. Try this amazing bakeshop for a specialty experience you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the nation.

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The owners of New Mexico's Smallcakes must have been on quite the sugar high when they came up with some of their flavors. If you think varieties like Pink Chocolate and Caramel Crunch sound good, that's just the beginning. With flavors like Orange Creamsicle and Heavenly Heath, these cupcakes are sure to delight. Pair one with a scoop of homemade gourmet ice cream and you're sure to get your sugar fix.

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Billy's Bakery was founded in 2003 by two college friends who shared a passion for pastries. The 1940s-styled stores — there are three locations — boast recipes from the same era; they are time-honored and time-tested baked goods. The banana Nutella cupcake elegantly blends classic and new flavors, while the carrot cupcake is a seasonal, classic favorite everyone will enjoy.

For our Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe, click here.

Simply put, Simply Cakes is simply amazing! Its from-scratch methods produce cupcakes that are pure quality in taste and appearance — and you'll be able to tell after just one bite. For your first bite, we recommend sinking your teeth into a Raspberry Pop, a yellow cupcake filled with raspberry mousse and topped with raspberry buttercream.

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The perfect cupcake means something a little bit different to everyone. So why not completely personalize the cupcake experience? At Sweet Treats Cupcake Bar & Bakery, you can choose from classic cake bases like vanilla and red velvet, flavored buttercreams, and an array of toppings to make your cupcakes as gourmet as you'd like.

If you want to know 3 Ways to Flavor Buttercream Frosting That Will Make You Look Like Martha Stewart, click here.

Built on the belief that Old World baking charm is something worth implementing daily, Fate Cakes has high standards regarding what makes a good cupcake. Just look at the way the chocolate sauce rolls down the mountain of frosting on that mocha latte cupcake!

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An intricate swirling structure of frosting atop a moist, freshly baked cupcake from The Pinkitzel Cupcakes & Candy is guaranteed to please. This bakery not only makes some of the most gourmet cupcakes around, it also sells more than 100 varieties of loose candy, making it the ultimate sweet house in Oklahoma City. As for the cupcakes, indulge in the Birthday Party — a vanilla cake with a pink almond buttercream and pastel sprinkles — for a treat that will make you feel like every day is your special day.

Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays With Cakes and Parties Anyway? Click here to find out.

Lisa Watson and Peter Shanky's attention to detail and extensive candy experience at Cupcake Jones shines through in its flavor profiles and gorgeous cupcake display. Its menu — including both hand-candied rose petals and carrot cupcakes — proves that quality is definitely better than quantity. If you want to be dazzled, try the Velvet Painting cupcake, a "red velvet cake filled with vanilla bean pastry cream, topped with cream cheese icing, and a hand-candied rose petal."

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Whipped Bakeshop focuses on fresh, impactful flavors and can artfully customize any cupcake order. Take a bite into the vanilla buttermilk — it has a light, melt-in-your-mouth texture that perfectly complements any of the illustrious frosting favors.

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With its loveable mascot and company motto ("Life is short... Eat a cupcake"), Cupcake Charlie's delivers fresh, frosted cupcakes that will make your day. The Grammy's Carrot Cake and Charlie's Chocolate Chip are both shining examples of a perfect cupcake. Make sure you pop by to check out the cupcake of the day, chosen from more than 137 varieties, in addition to the decadent daily flavor specials.

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If genius can be disguised as madness, well, bring on the crazy! This incredible cupcakery embraces the sugared insanity and churns out unique and artful cupcakes in the process. "Crazy" cupcake flavors are posted every day at 10 a.m. (recent selections include a caramel cupcake topped with bacon and a tiny pancake), but be sure to call ahead — they often sell out quickly. They also sell more traditional flavors like red velvet and double chocolate if you're not in the mood to be adventurous.

Click here to try this recipe for Not Just Chocolate Cupcakes.

If you've got a hankerin' for something sweet, this is the place to go. The Cake Lady does a touch of everything, but the cupcakes are certainly standouts. It offers fresh-batch cupcakes in a rotating catalog of flavors daily and even creates artisanal event cupcakes to make your momentous occasion a little sweeter.

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Want something truly sweet? Try a cupcake from Sweet Things Bakery — you will not be disappointed. The shop has classic flavors like vanilla and chocolate as well as French lemon cream and fudge marble.

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This bakery has major design prowess and the flavors to make its cakes taste as beautiful as they look. Toot Sweet's expertise expands far beyond cupcakes (try the artisanal breads and breakfast pastries), but the cupcakes are where the true joy lies. The Lemon Lusty cupcake — made with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon curd, topped with lemon buttercream — is the perfect way to celebrate spring.

To read Lovely Lemons: 12 Wonderfully Zesty Recipes, click here.

So Cupcakes began with a wish, when Celina — the owners' daughter, who was born with cerebral palsy — was granted a wish from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In February 2008, So Cupcake was opened in honor of Celena. Their cupcakes range from the everyday So Cocoa Delight to the special So Andes Mint and the seasonal So Gingerbread.

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Trust us: Despite the fact that these sweets are baked in miniature, there is nothing "little" about these cupcakes. They're little bits of heaven piled high with frosting or, when the cupcake calls for it, smothered in it. The flavor is big-time as well, with a wide variety of options — from Almond Squared and Lemon Raspberry to Piña Colada and Maple Pumpkin — sure to appeal to everyone.

For this delicious Piña Colada Cupcakes recipe, click here.

Over the years, Buzz Bakeshop has become known for its amazing cakes and cupcakes. Not only are they gorgeously executed, the signature flavors leave a lasting impression. We recommend trying out the Cookie Monster or the Buzz Signature for a cupcake that you won't soon forget.

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Seattle's pioneer cupcakery and café really is like cupcake royalty. It proudly claims to be the first real cupcakery outside of New York City and has led the charge in creating subtle, perfected cupcakes that customers love. Being innovative but not too outlandish with its favorites has allowed it to be appreciated for its true baking talents. You can see the classic quality in cupcakes like the lemon cake with lemon buttercream, the red velvet with cream cheese buttercream, and the vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream.

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Red Velvet Cupcakery has been delighting guests and patrons with elegant and understated cupcakes since 2008. Hungry customers can enjoy a variety of selections that not only surprise (like the peanut butter cup) but also tantalize (like the white and black velvet cake options).

Click here to learn why Red Velvet Cake Is Red for All the Wrong Reasons.

These cupcakes are so famous that they are named after the stars who stopped by to eat them! Sample signature sweets like the Clint Eastwood, a dark chocolate and white chocolate cupcake; the Elvis, a banana cupcake with a creamy chocolate filling and peanut butter cream cheese icing; or even the Al Pacino, a chocolate cupcake with a caramel center and mocha frosting, topped with chocolate-covered espresso beans.

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If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. At least that is what Erica Elia thought when she baked the cupcakes for her own wedding. When her guests told her that they were good enough to sell, she listened! Today, Classy Girl Cupcakes sells cupcakes every which way you can imagine. In the mood for a push-pop cupcake? Check! How about an ooey-gooey cupcake truffle or bomb? Check! And while she does have classic cupcakes in specialty flavors, we are particularly intrigued by the cupcakewiches, which house flavored buttercream between the top and bottom slices of a cupcake. Though she only has five on the menu, we recommend you try the cookies and cream cupcakewich, a Ghirardelli chocolate cupcake encasing Oreo buttercream and rolled in crushed Oreos.

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Alla Lala Cupcakes serves as Gillette, Wyoming's only cupcakery... and any wannabe cupcake shop owners would likely have difficulty competing with the shop's quality and variety. With an impressive menu of inventive flavor profiles — such as rhubarb basil cake, grasshopper, and brown sugar pecan — competitors would surely have their work cut out for them! Now that you know the best cupcake in every state, click here to discover the 101 best cupcakes in America!

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