Sweet and Chic in Chicago

Well anytime you see two girls carrying a pink box in an airport, chances are it is us! We just got home from our quick weekend getaway to the Windy City and of course, we HAD to bring along one of our cakes to Faith's Cara Linn cake deprived family.

Faith's brother Blake graduated from UIC, which was our reason for the Getaway.
He is on his way to achieving some big things in life, which is why we thought the money bag cake was appropriate. Watch out for this guy!

Way to go Blake!!!
Faith's and My first adventure when arriving to Chicago was visiting lots of Cake and Cupcake Shops. First stop...Cake Girls, as seen on Food Network and WE's
Amazing Wedding Cakes show

Faith's brothers Christian and Blake were our amazing (and handsome) tour guides. I think they had fun taste testing as well ;)

Our next stop was Bleeding Heart Organic Bakery, the owners of this place have also been featured on one of FN's Extreme Cake Challenges.

They had interesting menu choices like Hibiscus flavored cupcakes and Chocolate Covered Bacon. I have never seen that before

We tried their Pink Velvet and Red Velvet Cupcakes. They were both pretty dry in my opinion, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe I should have gone with something more risky like the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon!

I will say I did like their bright colors and Cupcake shaped tables. That was fun, and their cupcakes were only $3.25 each, which isn't bad for an all organic bakery.

Next we visited a place called Molly's Cupcakes.
Molly's was founded by a guy named Johnny, whose third grade teacher was named Molly. Molly used to bake her students cupcakes anytime they had a birthday and was nice enough to pass down her recipe to Johnny.
Supposedly they are the "best cupcakes ever" and much of their profits are donated to schools in the community.

Were they the best cupcakes ever?
They weren't bad, definitely some of my favorites of the day.
We tried the Blueberry Cupcake with Rasberry filling and their Rich Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter filling and Butterscotch chips .

The blueberry cake was excellent, I wasn't crazy about their buttercream--it tasted a little like grocery store buttercream--and the cupcakes cost $4!!! That is more expensive than NYC.
But the cupcakes and filling was really good.

Fourth Stop was Swirlz Cupcakes.
This place was probably my favorite - it is a lot like Sprinkles in CA. For only $3.50 you get a really beautiful and delicious cupcake in lots of creative flavors. They even have Vegan options.
At Swirlz, we tried the Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream (Sweet, Buttery, and Moist...SO GOOD),
The Banana Cupcake, which was laced with real Nutella, topped with Nutella Buttercream and a dried banana chip (this was probably MY FAVORITE!)
and last we tried one of their Gluten free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate covered Strawberry Buttercream on top.Last stop was a place called Sensational Bites on North Southport Ave. They have tons of desserts, cupcakes, tarts, and truffles. www.sensationalbites.com
At this point, we were all sugared out, we didn't even try anything. But the cafe is super eclectic and really nice. If you're ever in the area, definitely check it out!

So after our Chicago Cake Adventure, we focused on some less sweet, touristy things--being this was my first time in Chi-Town.

Me in front of the Trump tower

This picture was taken for my dad and brother Neil, who have always been big Cubs fans. Neil was a bit bummed I made it to Wrigley Field before him, but I didn't get to go inside, so I guess I'm not that cool, Neil!

Faith's mom, Christian and me

And of course...DEEP DISH PIZZA.
You can't go to Chicago without eating this. Faith's dad took us to a place called Gino's East.

We had a fabulous weekend! Thanks to Faith's amazing family for treating me and showing me Chicago :)