Cupcake Bakery

Cupcake Bakery

Shop 2 to 4, Lower Ground 2, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

When faced with a truckload of assignments and lectures that go at a breakneck pace, the only legal thing that can keep me going is sugar. As such, for an after-class pick-me-up before I dive into my notes, Cupcake Bakery at Queen Victoria Building is a great port of call. Few things banish the college blues (without the price of a hangover) like a breathtaking tablescape of gorgeous cupcakes iced in psychedelic technicolour. Standard cupcakes go for $3.80 each.

I’ll start with my favourite, guaranteed to leave you with a grin on your face and not a care in the world… except perhaps your traumatized Islets of Langerhans. Sticky Date has a base of mildly salty, solidly dense, date-flavoured cake paying ample homage to the pudding that inspired it. Crowning that thickly is a decadent caramel fudge icing with highlights of coffee granting it seductive depth.

Gluten-Free Red Velvet is similarly dense if a bit on the dry side with its mild cocoa flavour. Clearly red food colouring is used instead of the traditional beetroot so those looking for punchy oomph will be mildly disappointed. However, the cream cheese frosting is deliciously creamy and surprisingly light; more than enough to satisfy this sugar junkie.

Finally, those with something more classical in mind should go for Vanilla Strawberry with a layer of thick, sweet and delicately tart strawberry jam oozing at its base as well as a massive, Mount-Everest-sized mound of smooth, vanilla, go-see-your-dentist frosting.