Berkeley’s Love at First Bite Cupcakes
This tucked away little bakery in Berkeley definitely has the perfect name.
After friends on Facebook started up a swoon-inducing discussion about Love at First Bite’s strawberry cupcake, I knew I had to make a trip to the East Bay to try one.
If you didn’t know this bakery existed, you’d be hard pressed to just stumble upon it, as it’s located at the back of a small retail plaza on a largely residential street.
But being that I have a nose for cupcakes, I found it handily with the help of my husband.
Love at First Bite sells 12 to 15 different cupcakes each day, priced from $2.75 to $2.95 each.
Of course, my eyes zeroed in on the “Pretty in Pink” cupcakes — the famous strawberry cupcakes made with real fruit and topped with swirls of pastel pink strawberry buttercream.
It was every bit as good as I had read. This little cake packs a whopper of strawberry flavor. The frosting was super lush, though I wish the sugar had been dialed back just one tiny notch.
Since I was there, I had to try a few more, right?
The matcha green tea one is made with the powdered ceremonial Japanese green tea and smeared with an almost avocado-hued green tea whipped cream. The cake was barely sweet, and had that lovely bitter-vegetative edge from the tea.
The “PB Affair” is a devil’s food chocolate cake dressed up with peanut butter buttercream, and a sliver of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. The cake was super moist, and the peanut butter buttercream boasted the least sweet frosting of the three cupcakes.
Love at First Bite will definitely have you at first bite.
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Tuesday, 27. April 2010 6:28
This place is probably my favorite cupcake shop with Cupkate’s running second!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 6:58
You have me drooling! Must find a cupcake. Good thing there’s a Kara’s down the street. And good thing I’m working from home today so no one can judge me when I schlep down the street at 10:00 am when it opens to get me a cupcake!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 7:17
your lighitng is gorgeous on these… it’s 8 in the morning and i want to eat these!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 7:25
Gorgeous. I love that you can tell from the photos how moist each cake is, which given how many dry cupcakes are out there is no easy feat.
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 7:54
These are gorgeous! The name is a bit precious but I can forgive that.
Anything for a good cupcake…
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 8:03
Jennifer J: WHAT?!? You’ve been holding out on me. You never told me you’d been to Love at First Bite.
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 8:33
I am drooling, a glanced had already melted my heart, lovely cupcakes indded. One bite will brighten up my day! definitely my sunshine!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 8:39
That strawberry cupcake looks so huge on my screen, it’s like I can reach out and grab it. Funny, when I went to Love at First Bite I got the matcha and PB cupcakes too! But it didn’t really win me over. Maybe I should have tried the strawberry, especially since they’re in season right now. Did you go to the Cheeseboard afterwards?
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 9:41
The strawberry cupcake…all the way!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 10:07
Hmmm, I really like the way they decorated the green tea cupcake. That’s very inventive!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 11:33
Oooohhhh, they look so pretty and devilishly good!
Cheers,
Rosa
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 11:58
Single Guy Ben: You know me TOO well! I went to the Cheeseboard BEFORE going to Love at First Bite. Too funny. After all, I had to stock up on my fave English muffins and cheesy breads.
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 13:27
Dear Goodness! I haven’t been up to Berkeley in probably ten years, but by a stroke of great timing, will be heading up that way to meet a friend (we haven’t seen each other in over 40 years — thank you Facebook!) for lunch on Thursday. Clearly I need to factor in some “poking around to find the cupcake place” time. I’m kinda nervous about the parking situation, so I might just need a sugar hit to give me the energy to walk from wherever I end up leaving the wheels. Thanks, Carolyn!
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 16:11
That’s a mind boggling cupcakes.. they are so perfect, this is a timely a post for my dinner
All the best,
Gera
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 18:50
Ohhh my…. that strawberry cupcake looks incredible. One of the first things I ever made on my own (that I remember) was a boxed strawberry cake mix, and while I wouldn’t be caught dead cooking anything out of a box these days, the concept still has a special place in my heart. Love that they used real strawberries for the flavour and colour.
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 20:17
Your choice of Pretty in Pink intrigues me in the first sight but then the little Sakura on the green one draw me even closer to the screen : ).
Tuesday, 27. April 2010 20:31
I will pick matcha or “PB affair” cos’ I am not a fan of strawberry-flavored food other than fresh strawberries. I do have a strawberry-shortcake mini-rubber-figurine when I was a kid
hahahhaah….
Wednesday, 28. April 2010 0:00
Wow…..so beautiful cupcakes! I love all of them. They look so impressive. beautiful pictures!
Wednesday, 28. April 2010 0:56
ah, they’re so exquisitely decorated–those tiny touches make a world of difference. sounds like a lovely shop.
Wednesday, 28. April 2010 5:51
Oh man these look amazing! Found you on Foodgawker btw!
Wednesday, 28. April 2010 8:41
More like Love at First SIGHT! Would love to try the green tea cupcake, I love matcha flavored desserts!
Wednesday, 28. April 2010 9:20
I have had a few of their cupcakes when I am in the neighborhood. Love the matcha but I have not yet had this strawberry cupcake. Will have to pick it up next time.
Wednesday, 28. April 2010 13:26
You inspired me to check them out. Not only are the cupcakes awesome, but so is this amazing banana pudding/cake thing that they do!
Friday, 30. April 2010 21:45
Wow – these cupcakes are stunning. thanks for sharing, makes me seriously reconsider the ones I make
Wednesday, 26. January 2011 12:50
Talk about wanting an incentive to drive over to Berkeley! I live in SF BUT totally willing to drive out to LAFB!! This is one of my dearest friends FAVORITE bakeries (ever). I know I’m late in reading this post but I’m soooo going! Your pictures are amazing!
Tuesday, 3. May 2011 8:15
I tried 8 different cupcakes at this shop. They were ALL dry and the strawberry was way too sweet. The only decent cupcake they had was the coconut. Total waste of money!
Thursday, 25. August 2011 5:26
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