This is a review of Wicked Good Cupcakes, the Boston-based bakery featured on the TV show Shark Tank, which also ships mail-order cupcakes, cheesecake, and brownies directly to your door. **I’ve updated my review at the bottom of this post.
If you’re a loyal Kitchen Snob reader, you know I talk about cake from time to time. Okay, like all the time. Is it really that noticeable? [munches on cake while blogging]
The mother-daughter baking duo, Tracey Noonan and Danielle Vilagie, got the idea of putting cupcakes into jars as a way to keep them fresh for 10 days without refrigeration so they could ship them. And now, those of us who don’t live in Boston, can eat these wickedly good treats any time we want. Can I get a high-five?
My cake-enabling husband ordered up some of these Wicked Good Cupcakes for me after seeing them on the TV show Shark Tank. I didn’t lift a finger to stop him.
To be frank, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of cupcakes in a jar. Cupcakes are always so cute in their little decorated paper cup. To imagine one smashed in a jar just didn’t seem right. Well, I was wrrr…wrrrrr…WRONG. See, I can say it.
Wicked Good Cupcakes – The Good
Wicked Good Cupcakes – The GoodMy first impression when I received the package was how impressively nice they looked. Yes – even without polka dotted paper cups and fancy flowers made with frosting, they were pretty adorable in their little jars wrapped with silver ribbon. They were nicely wrapped in Styrofoam cutouts and came with these lovely silver plastic spoons.
The first flavor I tried was Chocolate Birthday. It was positively moist and fresh and ohhhh YES had that deep heavenly chocolate flavor with a generous portion of sprinkles. I think I just kept muttering “wow” in between spoonfuls.
Chocolate Lab was equally as good as Chocolate Birthday. The Hungry Husband loved the Salted Caramel flavor, but that wasn’t really my thang, ya know. I tend to stick to standard cake flavors. I’m keepin’ it real.
All 4 flavors we tried were rich and delicious. Grab yourself a large glass of milk!
I’m dying to try their Vanilla Birthday flavor which is made with Madagasgar Bourbon vanilla cream cheese buttercream frosting – are you kidding me? Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes! It looks heavenly on their website and I will make it mine, someday.
I truly apologize for not getting a closeup picture of the actual cake inside but you’ll forgive me when I tell you my camera didn’t have a chance once I opened the jar and had a nearby spoon. They were GONNERS.
A few of their other flavors are: Whole Lotta Lemon, Cookies n Cream, Natalie’s 24 Karate Kake, Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Guiness & Baileys, Valentine Red Velvet, Mocha Maine Coon Cat, and Peanut Butter Surprise. You can see a full list of flavors (and pics!) here.
Or check out the Wicked Good Cupcakes homepage where you can order em’ all up and find gluten free cupcake options, brownies, cheesecake, and French macaroons.
I also love that they sell Cupcakes With a Cause (with cute kitty/puppy flavor names) where they donate a portion of the sales to the American Humane Society.
Wicked Good Cupcakes – The Bad (not really)
Unfortunately these wickedly good cupcakes are expensive and then you have shipping to add on. At the time of this posting, 4 cupcakes are $28.95 plus shipping. Shipping is via UPS (1-3 days) so you get your cupcakes as fresh as possible. I think it was around $40 total with shipping, making them about $10 a cupcake. Now before you run off clutching your wallet screaming “Nooooooo!” their website says each jar is about the size of 2 cupcakes. Personally, I’d rather get these yummy cakes instead of flowers (and we know how expensive those can be). The cost is really not that much when you consider what you’re getting (nicely packaged in cute jars) and purchasing the type of unique gift that someone can enjoy but might not necessary buy for themselves. And, let’s not forget, they are wicked good!
Wicked Good Cupcakes – The Conclusion
Wicked Good Cupcakes are great as a fun treat or gift at a special time of year (Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, birthday) or to just treat yourself! If you’re a newcomer to this bakery and love chocolate, Chocolate Birthday and Chocolate Lab are an absolute must try!
Update January 2016: We’ve ordered Wicked Good Cupcakes a few times since I originally wrote this review. Unfortunately, we’ve had some bad luck with them. The last few orders were really dry. It seemed to me that the caps were not screwed on tightly. The first time this happened, I assumed it was a fluke since I liked them so much the first time. But when it happened again, I was really disappointed. I reached out to the customer service team at Wicked Good Cupcakes about the dry batches. They were quick to respond and appreciated my honest feedback. They offered to send me a new batch, free of charge, but at the time I was a little tired of eating cake. Did I just say that? 🙂
Anyway, I’m hoping that they’ll fix some of their quality control issues because they really were very good the first time we had them.
Check out Shark Tank’s update on the wicked gals at Wicked Cupcakes:
Have you tried Wicked Good Cupcakes? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Want to make your own wickedly good cupcakes? Try out these Best Impressive Party Cupcakes. They’re a hit every time I make them!
Savory Breakfast Muffins With Sausage, Cheddar & Green Onions
Hi my daughter sent me 2 jars for mother’s day, the carrot cake and strawberry lemon. These would be better sent as actual cupcakes. Not impressed with amount in jars. They were also kind of dry. Frosting wasn’t overly sweet though.
Welp, it’s 2024 and the price of a four pack is $59.99 and shipping to my house is $10. Shipping to my sisters house will cost 15.99 so I ended up looking around for reviews and I would say a majority of the comments say the same thing even now- dry. I wanted to try these so bad when I saw them on Shark Tank but really didn’t have the money then to spend that much to try them. Wish I just tried them then because they seemed really good! There were only good reviews back then. Now I just don’t want to end up spending $120+ to get 8 cupcakes lol. Oh well, I will search for local bakers but we also have websites like Goldbelly now. Time to try Tom Cruises coconut Bundt cake lol
You can shove this dumb review up your.. the sugary overpriced goo in a jar was the worst thing I’ve spent money on
Screw this company. Used to be good. Hope they go down soon because frauding me $35 for cupcakes that are half empty jars and melted goo and arent even the flavor I ordered? They were a good small company in 2014-15
They are now trash and no longer home made cupcakes. Avoid.
I loved Wicked Good Cupcakes when I ordered a few years ago… they were reasonable and were pretty good! Worth it. I went back on a few months ago to order more as a gift and they have increased the prices enormously since they went on shark tank. I was so disappointed, I probably will never buy from them again, not at the current prices. Wish they would lower them and if they do I will definitely return!
What a wicked disappointment!! I ordered 4 different flavors of cupcakes and all four were so dry I can’t even comment on the flavor. I wanted to like these – I really did – so as I forced down a taste of each before throwing them all away uneaten – I thought how much I liked the concept – what a great idea…. Unfortunately the execution just doesn’t measure up. It occurred to me the reason they serve the cupcakes in jars is because they are so DRY they wouldn’t hold the form of you regular standard cupcake – they would just crumble and be a grainy mount of bleh. Not good. Dry. Dry. Dry. Did I mention really dry?
Was so excited to try these and high expectations. Veer disappointing to say the least. Cake very dry and everything was cracking up in the jar like it was old. Certainly not fresh! Total waste of money . Never again.
WGC isn’t worth the money. Mr wonderful has had his accountants in the batter. Ultra sweet and super dry is the best description of them. Quality control problems?…is that the excuse for a $50+ transaction?….Go to a local bakery…..they ship too….!
I just tried these not so wicked cup cakes. I send a 2 pack to my Aunt and I order a 6 pack for my family and co workers. I was so disappointed. They shipped on a Wednesday and we’re received the next day. They arrived melted and the icing was sickening sweet and the cake dry. I cannot believe that these are the same cupcakes the Shark’s ate. No they can’t be, because Mr. Wonderful is so worried about making money. They are probably made in China now and shipped here frozen a month later. Plus when you order them, every one says 8 oz jar. Well that’s the only thing that is correct. The actual product is not like 5 3/4oz. I spent almost $90 dollars on a total of 8 cupcakes. They looked nothing like the beautiful pictures. This mother daughter team should have stuck to their original hand made with love recipes. Will not buy again and tell everyone how dry and small they are for what you pay. It sad that their website only has 4 and 5 star reviews…glad I could voice a true review. I think I’m going to keep the jars though and make my own Del’s Delight Dessert Jars.
Thanks for your comment, Delma. I’m disappointed they still haven’t fixed their quality control issue. And you’re right, they do taste like they’ve been frozen or the lids not on tightly so they dried out. It’s too bad because when they first appeared on Shark Tank they were pretty good!
I’m surprised people like these. The cake isn’t good and the frosting cloying. My children liked them but with shipping they’re wicked expensive. If I want to spend $10 on a piece of cake I’ll get a wicked good piece-not something mediocre in a jar.
They were sent as a gift and I would never purchase them for anyone. Cute idea though.
My sister, who is Gluten Free, ordered me two cupcakes from here. I recently was told I must be GF now too so she was excited to share this with me. The cupcakes arrived and were NOT GF! I contacted them and they said she ordered them wrong, and that’s her fault. So I went onto the website and selected GF, then when its time to select the GF flavors it puts regular ones in the cart, not GF! I contacted them and told them this was an error on their website and they basically said “Oh well!” So we are out $30 for two cupcakes, which is ridiculously overpriced. I’ll just continue going to a local bakery and buying them fresh, not a few days old, and I’ll know they are actually GF. Also I tried to call and contact them and was told to email. my packing slip said GF, my order receipt said GF, the cupcakes that arrived listed the first ingredient as wheat flour. Clearly when packing the box there was a mix up. And that’s human error, but as a business when a customer sends pictures and two emails explaining this, the business corrects it. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON OVERPRICED CUPCAKES. My husband took a bite out of the one (since I can’t eat it) and said it was dry. My daughter tried it and said it tasted like Walmart’s cupcakes. Nothing special except for terrible customer service!
I bought 13 for my family and 6 for a Christmas gift (delivered to another state). I paid the expensive shipping. They arrived so dry and basically inedible. The gift recipient thought similarly. I threw over half of them away! I wrote to them on their web site with my complaint and got NO RESPONSE. You are lucky they actually made things right for you. The packaging is attractive but I recommend people not waste money buying Wicked Cupcakes.
Amazing! Shipped on the day I requested for Valentines Day. My partner loved them. Especially that they come with spoons lol I thought the price was fair. It’s via UPS and on time. Anything delivered is more expensive. Exceptional quality. The website and selections need a little work I think but overall I’m happy. Feels great to support these gals.
I love Shark Tank. I was so excited to try these “wicked good” cupcakes! I ordered 4 cupcakes & shipping for $50. It was 6 days for delivery, only because I was not going to pay an extra $20 to get them sooner. I have never been so disappointed in my life! The cupcakes were SO DRY and tasted just like they were out of a box! Actually I’m pretty sure I could have made them out of a box and they would have been better. The icing tasted like the icing you get at Walmart on their pre-made cupcakes. I would not spend another dollar on these, let alone invest. O’Leary must have tried something different because these were disgusting! Chocolate Birthday, Vanilla Confetti, Sea Salt Caramel, & Red Velvet. The Red Velvet was the better of the four. I recommend if you want a well made cupcake for a decent price, try your local bakery. Otherwise, I assure you, you can make them yourself out of a box. SO DISAPPOINTING!!!
Thanks for your comment, Melanie. Ugh 6 days?? That is a long time! The shelf life on them is supposed to be only 7-10 days so you really got them too late. I’m sorry you had such a bad experience. I just got cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day (don’t recommend) and I was just thinking how much better my experience with Wicked Good was. My Wicked cupcakes were super moist. My husband even thought they were amazing. Hoping you just got a lemon shipment and that’s not the norm! Maybe you can call them and request either a replacement or a refund? That is a lot of money to be so disappointed.
Did you need my address, Snob? Or are you waiting for Christmas to send me one of these? (Don’t forget Red Velvet is my favorite! :D)
Haha I don’t know how I missed this comment. Hmm maybe birthday? But you’ll need to send me a separate private address so you don’t have to share them with those 2 boys in your house 😉
Wow…it seems that 99% of the reviews here are identical to my experience, and I didn’t have them shipped. In November 2019 my family moved from New Orleans to Fort Wayne, IN. I’m a baker who’s been whipping up homemade, from scratch, cakes and desserts for people all over the South (MS-home state, AL, GA, FL, LA) since 2006. It’s always been a “side job” of mine as I have 2 degrees and worked in corporate America for the longest. Moving to the Midwest for my husband’s promotion has allowed me to be a stay-at-home Mom and really focus on building my business. So of course I searched for local competition soon after arriving. I DID NOT KNOW that Wicked Good Cupcakes had a food truck…and the ONLY ONE IN THE COUNTRY was in Fort Wayne, Indiana! What luck…I thought at first. Then I happened to pass by their truck one afternoon and stopped to get 3 jars. I picked up Red Velvet (because that’s my best seller), Carrot Cake (because that’s my second best seller), and Salted Caramel (because my husband likes this flavor). No. No. No. No. This was not the greatness we were expecting. You see, my husband believes he’s a homemade cake connoisseur since meeting me in 2016. Lol! I can definitely distinguish between the taste and texture of a cake mix and homemade cakes. Soo when I tasted the Salted Caramel and the texture seemed off, I looked at the ingredient list. First ingredient…Cake Mix. My husband also said it was bland and super sweet. I agree. The Carrot Cake has an unusual flavor to it and was very dark in color. The Red Velvet wasn’t really red, and didn’t taste like authentic Red Velvet. Not sure about the cream cheese icing in the two, either. Gratefully, they were only $6 each at the food truck. I would have paid more (pricing has been different/higher on the website each time I’ve looked over the last few years). I start at $8 for my jars and they go down to $7 for larger quantities. So price wouldn’t have been an issue…I wanted to try them!!!! But to get super sweet icing with bland cake in jars THAT WERE NOT FILLED TO THE TOP was not what I was expecting. I pack my jars full so much so that I have to use my “special tool” to stuff the cake into the jars before putting the lids on. So if I were to narrow my review down to a few sentences…”I bought them on June 30, 2020. My husband and I took 1-2 bites each of each jar but my 2 year old wouldn’t even eat them and she’s around my cakes EVERYDAY! It’s July 23rd…and the jars still have the remaining cake from that day left in them. I just wanted to keep the jars as reminders that “I’m Shark Tank Worthy”, you know – for motivation to keep my business going. But I put them on a shelf and forgot about them. Coming across these reviews reminded me that I need to throw the cake out and empty the jars! Follow me as I grow on Facebook or Instagram: Tameka’s Cakes & Desserts, @tamekascakes! I’d love to give any of you a better experience with Mason Jar Cakes, too! I also ship Mini Sour Cream Pound Cakes and Cookies! Order by Sunday and I ship every Monday & Tuesday, Nationwide! Come see what a Southern Girl’s homemade cakes, icing, and fillngs are about! Website and Etsy are on the way!
Yummmmmmy!! these look awesome. I thought you made them at first. Where did you get them? I need!!
Yes, you NEED them! I can relate 🙂 You can purchase them online here!
No, I haven’t tried Wicked Good Cupcakes, but I will tell you….after that review I
really WANT and NEED to try them. What a great gift idea. As usual, a great,
entertaining DELICIOUS blog!!!!!
Thanks! I highly recommend them, of course!