Dozen Bake Shop

          I was driving down to the strip the other day to get some sushi and when I got there it was packed and I wasn't wiling to spend $10 to park for a $15 lunch.  I turned around and decided to get something sweet.  I was on my way to Oakmont Bakery, but then I thought about it and realized Dozen was right down the street from where I was at.  I have been wanting to try them for awhile so I figured I would give Dozen Bake Shop a try.              

          When I think of a bakery I envision a large space with tons of cookies, cakes, pies, etc.  When you enter into Dozen you get none of that, I must say I was initially disappointed.  They have a small counter with six varieties of cupcakes, three different cookies and about seven other random small items, very different from Oakmont.  From the poster on the wall it looks like the cupcakes change daily, I was a day late on the red velvet, good thing I would have bought them all.

          I choose three different cupcakes the Elvis, the Margarita and the Salted Caramel.  I also bought a peanut butter cookie but thee isn't a picture because it didn't make it home.  The cookie was huge, it was about five inches wide and about an inch thick.  It was moist but crumbly and had a rich and creamy peanut butter flavor.

         The Elvis cupcake was amazing, it was a banana bread cupcake with a chocolate center and a peanut butter frosting.  The cake was so moist and had a strong banana flavor.  The frosting was as if someone took some peanut butter and whipped it untill it became light and fluffy.  It was perfect, the denseness of the cake and light frosting and what goes better with peanut butter than chocolate.  The chocolate frosting center put this one over the top, this is the perfect breakfast cupcake.

          The Salted Caramel cupcake was my wives favorite, it was a chocolate cupcake with a vanilla frosting and topped off with salted caramel.  The caramel was very salty but it was a great contrast with the very sweet frosting.  The cake was a bit on the dry side but the toppings saved it.

          The Margarita cupcake was different, it was a vanilla cupcake with a tequila frosting, at least that is what the lady at the store told me.  It was very nice looking with the green icing and yellow coarse yellow salt sprinkled on it but all I tasted was vanilla and salt.  The icing didn't do much for me, I was expecting a lime taste or a tequila taste.  The cake was nice and moist but all together this one didn't work for me.

          Will I be back?  If I am down that way and want a cupcake, yes.  The price of a cupcake is 2.50 each and that is the same price as Oakmont and they have more of a choice.  I will say that these taste more homemade not mass made like they are at Oakmont.  This place had wonderful food don't get me wrong but I do like more of a choice when I go out for dessert.  So in the end I didn't get my sushi but I did get a very good dessert.  Dozen has a very good product, and if they get more of a selection I bet they could compete against some of the better know bakeries in the area.

Dozen Bake Shop

3511 Butler St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15201