One weekend, the boyfriend and I were trudging through the rainy streets of 압구정 (Apgujeong). He had lost one of our random nonsensical bets and owed me coffee at a cafe of my choosing (Bwahahaa). Soooo, as we were browsing the vast selection of cafés on 가로수 길 (Garosugil), I remembered a place we had both been rather curious about, Good Ovening Cupcake. It’s a chain we see around pretty often, but never get around to visiting.
The first thing I noticed was how tiny the cafe was, in a way that made it quaint. The walls displayed a few pastel pictures of cupcakes, candy filled jars lined a long glass table, and cupcakes smothered in frosting sat in a glass case to bring the ambiance full circle. For a second there I had an overwhelming urge to throw a witch into an oven. Ignoring those feelings, I ordered a tall glass of iced royal milk tea with a Cookie and Cream cupcake and my boyfriend got a cafe mocha with a Sunflower cupcake.
The Cookie and Cream cupcake had a heavy and stiff chocolate cake base and a sweet sugary cookie butter cream frosting topped with half a sandwich cookie. Now I love anything ‘Cookies N’ Cream’ flavored: chocolate, ice cream, doughnuts, shakes you name it. It seemed only natural that I gravitated to its oreo-like ambiance, but alas it wasn’t meant to be. It was ridiculously sugary! It actually took away from the cookies n’ cream flavor and was pretty hard to finish off. 
The Sunflower cupcake, on the other hand, had a slightly softer blueberry cake base with a candy flavored banana butter cream frosting. This one actually tasted just a tad bit less sugary and I liked it more than my choice up until I hit the blueberry jam filling. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but the the sugar overload sucker punched me in the face and put me into a sugar coma.
I have a huge sweet tooth, but these cupcakes just seemed more sugar than flavor. The obvious draw is of course the lovely exterior of these mini masterpieces, but I really wasn’t impressed with the taste. It might have been the butter cream frosting and I may go back to try the whipped cream cupcakes, but I think I still need some recovery time.
On the upside, this place totally inspired me to go home and make better cupcakes. So I did! I started off with a soft mild vanilla cake base with a hand full of chocolate chips lightly sprinkled in. Then I made some chocolate chip cookie dough and infused it into the middle. On their own, they make great muffins with just the right amount of sweetness (as preferred by my boyfriend). But what’s a cupcake without frosting? So, to top it off I whipped up a bowl of cookie dough flavored frosting. Then I garnished the finished product with a few chocolate chips. It was a little sweeter than I was aiming for but still really delicious! The best part is that they tasted great refrigerated or at room temperature.
Anyhow, that’s all for now. I’ll be sure to update this post if I’m ever brave enough to venture to Good Ovening Cupcake again. If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, you can check out their website HERE for locations and even a list of some of their products. Happy Eating!
