Occasionally Cake: Alexandra, VA

Occasionally Cake
Regular: $2.75
Speciality: $3.50

Tis the season for yummy sugary goodness! There are a lot of sweetness out there this time of year, but we here at Cupcake Correspondents are here to help you navigate through the sugary sweetness and find some really cheery treats that will help keep your energy up in order to take on the holiday's with all the merriness you can bring!

Nothing is more charming then old town Alexandria during the Holidays. There is something special about walking around the old brick front buildings all decorated with sparkling gold, silver, red, and green. We would suggest you take in the old town Holiday beauty from a window seat at one of Alexandria's many cupcakeries, and Occasionally Cakes is a great place to do just that. This charming shop has some unique and yummy cupcakes that will bring some merriness to your Holiday season.

The lady behind the counter was very helpful in explaining the flavors, and even made some really good suggestions. For this trip to Occasionally Cakes we tried the Cinnamon Spice, Ginger Lemon, Red Velvet, and the Gluten Free Vanilla Strawberry cupcakes.

The Cinnamon Spice cupcake was a cinnamon cake with a cinnamon vanilla buttercream frosting. The
cake was moist and had a good light texture, and the buttercream frosting was smooth and had a good cinnamon flavor. The frosting was just a little too sweet, and the flavor was a bit one dimensional. However, it was a festive cupcake and we enjoyed it.

The Ginger Lemon cupcake was a unique flavor combination, with a Ginger Vanilla buttercream frosting and a lemon flavored cake. This was a delicious pairing, and is definitely worth trying on every visit!

The Red Velvet cupcake was had a nice red color, but the cream cheese frosting was just a little too sweet.

The Gluten Free Vanilla Strawberry cupcake was a vanilla cupcake with a fresh tasting strawberry vanilla buttercream frosting. The fresh strawberry taste with a moist vanilla cake was yummy, and a good representation of what a gluten free cake can be.

Overall we enjoyed our visit to old town Alexandria, and also enjoyed our time at Occasionally Cakes!

Gluten Free: Available
Sugar Free: Not Available
Vegan: Not Available

Cupcake Atmosphere: 5 out of 5 (it was a charming cupcakery and was full of beautiful cupcake themed goodness)
Flavor Selection: 4 out of 5 (the Ginger Lemon was a great combination)
Customer Service: 5 out of 5 (the lady was friendly and welcoming)

Overall Quality: 4 out of 5 (the frosting was a bit too sweet for our taste but we loved Occasionally Cakes)

Lavender Moon Cupcakery: Old Town Alexandra, VA

Lavender Moon Cupcaker
Regular: $3.00 (full price that's including tax)

The gloomy fall weather in Virginia this weekend didn't stop us from exploring two cupcakeries. On this trip we brought a friend along and both CarrotCake and I loved the company. Friends and cupcakes are the best combination.

Our first stop, Lavender Moon who brightened our gloomy day with a flash of bright pink as we entered their cute shop in old town Alexandra. The cute cupcake art work and charm was all so cute. I fell in love with the little crochet cupcakes sitting on a shelf behind the "real" cupcakes. They were all too cute. We felt the space was charming and very lively. This one we thought the decorated cupcakes were by far the most beautifully done cupcakes we have seen. But, after writing about so many cupcakeries we expect a lot in the next ones. Even though the decorations of the cupcakes and the shop were beautiful; there wasn't that lighting that we expected to see as we made our way to the back to buy some cupcakes. We thought it was a little dark. Lighting would give these beauties all the more excitement as you entered. . Also, the cupcakes where on beautiful stands. We couldn't "see" the uniqueness of each one as they showcased the lovely cupcakes waiting to be tasted.



Now on to the cupcakes...we bought three beauties, Flour-less chocolate with almonds and sea salt, Devils food with peanut butter mousse, and Lemon Lavender Chiffon.

Left to right: Lemon Lavender Chiffon,
Peanut Butter Mousse, and Flour-less Chocolate

The flour-less chocolate with almonds and sea salt frosting was so good. The taste of the cake felt like a regular cupcake and a little dry. It didn't have the fluffy bounce that we talk about at Cupcake Correspondents. I loved the sea salt and almonds on it. Just the right touch.


Devils food with peanut butter mousse, this one's frosting was amazingly good. Our friend got this one and loved the frosting. She kept mentioning she wanted a bowl of it. If you don't like a lot of peanut butter taste this one is good. It still has that peanut butter taste but isn't over powering. Which I loved. You can still have this one on a date (wink!).

Lemon Lavender Chiffon, we heard online that this one is there most popular one. The lemon taste was good, but we couldn't taste the lavender in it at all. This one could be better in a yellow or white cake with hints of lavender and lemon rind in the cake. You can take this idea, Lavender Moon, make it yours. It will be great! We all felt we needed a bowl of each of our frostings to go. They were all good!

Gluten Free : Available
Sugar Free: Not Available
Vegan: Not Available

Cupcake Atmosphere: 4.5 out of 5 (the shop is clever and very fun. The bright colors were very cute, again the lighting around the selection of cupcakes was a little dark. We wanted to see sparkle.)
Flavor Selection: 5 out of 5 (best decorated cupcakes so far)
Customer Service: 2 out of 5 (quiet, but nice. they knew their cupcakes)

Overall Quality: 4 out of 5 (cute and fun)