More Cupcakery?!?

I'm still riding the sugar high of Tuesday's Sprinkles Cupcakes opening and I've just learned of a vital error in my mission: Another upscale company, Kara's Cupcakes just debuted a few weeks ago at the Town & Country Village shopping center, which is salivating distance from Sprinkles at Stanford.

But FoodGal's Carolyn Jung knew this and planned her strategy properly, hoping to pit the two spots against each other in friendly battle. At Sprinkles, she encountered a line she didn't have the time to deal with (though it thankfully sounded waaaay shorter than Tuesday's snake of people) and proceeded to Kara's, where she got her cupcakes right away.

Jung certainly saved time, but she didn't save any money, because Kara's are the exact same price as Sprinkles at $3.25 each and $36 a dozen, though Kara's has the additional option of a dozen minis for $24. From Jung's nibbles, they look and sound similarly delicious (especially the chocolate fleur de sel caramel one she mentions).

I also didn't know that Kara's Cupcakes has two San Francisco locations (on Scott and Chestnut in the Marina and in Ghirardelli Square), and is about to open in Santana Row in San Jose (for those with South Bay commutes). Dear readers, I may have slightly faltered on this particular mission (blame the pie), but together we will win the war. —Tamara Palmer