Molly’s Cupcakes is the newest sweets shop in downtown Naperville. They feature a variety of pies, cookies and other treats, but cupcakes are the star of the show.
You can choose from their selection of specialty filled cupcakes or build your own. From peach cobbler to peanut butter Nutella to crème brulee, there are a variety of fillings. The build-your-own cupcake option offers five cakes, five frostings and a variety of toppings, including two vegan cake options and two vegan frosting options.
Inside the shop is colorful and fun, featuring a “periodic table of cupcakes” mural, a large community table and a bar with swings for seats. The desserts are also very visually appealing, with a plethora of free sprinkles options as well as decorative toppings like fruits and small cookies on their filled cupcakes. My friends and I tried a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting, a Samoa flavored cupcake and a vegan vanilla cupcake with vegan chocolate frosting.
Our favorite was the carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting. The carrot cake itself was moist and the cream cheese frosting was creamy and flavorful. Our second favorite was the Samoa cupcake, which was a vanilla cake filled with coconut caramel sporting a fluffy coconut topping. Our main complaint about this one was that it was a little too rich.
If you’re not a major fan of sweets, I recommend steering clear of the filled cupcakes, especially the more decadent flavor options. Our least favorite was the vegan vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. The frosting on this cupcake was a little grainy for our liking and the vanilla cake itself lacked some flavor. That being said, we all cleaned our plates and enjoyed our sugar buzz.
The three cupcakes cost nearly ten dollars in total, which seemed a little pricey. However, Molly’s also offers “Ugly Ducking” cupcakes that have imperfect decorations for one dollar less than their regular cupcakes. This is a great bargain and a great way for the shop to use up cupcakes that might not be up to the standards of the shop’s designers. These “ugly” cupcakes still looked appetizing and had all the same components as the regular ones, so I’m sure they tasted just as good.
Although the filled cupcake was slightly too decadent and the vegan cupcake was lacking, I would recommend Molly’s Cupcakes as a great place to support a local business and eat a sweet treat.
