- Insider’s team of taste-testers tried five different brands of vanilla cupcakes to see which one we’d buy for our next party.
- We tested the cakes on texture of sponge and frosting, vanilla flavor, and overall presentation.
- Cupcakes from Whole Foods’ bakery and the brand Rubicon Bakers were popular for their visual appeal.
- Target’s mini vanilla cupcakes were the group’s favorite for their moist cake and perfectly sweet frosting.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Cupcakes are the perfect dessert to celebrate birthdays and holidays – or to make anyone’s day at work or school.
Many store brands offer their own take on a classic white-cake cupcake with vanilla frosting. So Insider’s taste-testers tried a variety of cupcakes found at popular grocery stores, testing each sweet treat on its cake and frosting texture and overall taste.
We tried cupcakes from Target’s Market Pantry brand, the Whole Foods bakery, Trader Joe’s, Treasure Mills, and Rubicon Bakers. The latter two are found in stores across the US.
Read to find out which cupcakes you should bring to your next celebration.
First, we tried Target's mini cupcakes, which had a balanced, sweet frosting and a fluffy cake texture.
Target's Market Pantry brand mini cupcakes had an airy, moist cake with creamy, melt-in-your-mouth frosting.
"It's light and moist," one tester said of the cake texture.
Our taste-testers also described the cupcake's flavor as "not too sweet," saying that the vanilla flavor was strong but pleasant.
Price: $3.49 for a dozen mini cupcakes at time of purchase.
The Market Pantry cupcakes can be found at Target stores.
Next up were the Treasure Mills vanilla cupcakes from Whole Foods, which looked the part, but we weren't sold on the frosting's texture.
One tester compared the frosting texture to toothpaste, while another simply said the frosting was "rock-hard." The cake texture was also not the most fluffy and moist of the bunch.
Granted, the cupcakes are allergen-friendly, so that's an important factor to keep in mind.
The saving grace was that the tiny desserts had an elegant appearance, with a simple swirl of frosting and white sugar sprinkles.
Price: $5.99 for a dozen mini cupcakes at Whole Foods.
The brand's site says its products are sold at Whole Foods, Jewel Osco, Wegmans, Fairway, and other grocery chains.
Taste-testers were then delighted with the sugary, sweet flavor of Trader Joe's mini vanilla cupcakes.
Our taste-testers were a fan of the sweet vanilla flavor of Trader Joe's mini cupcakes, which happened to be gluten-free.
Some had qualms about the texture of the cake and frosting; both were described as grainy.
"The texture is all wrong, but the taste is all right," said one taste-tester.
As a whole, the sweet frosting and strong vanilla presence - plus the simple but pretty icing design - made this cupcake a strong contender.
Price: $3.99 for a dozen mini cupcakes at time of purchase.
These mini cupcakes can be found at Trader Joe's stores.
We then bit into vanilla cupcakes from Whole Foods' bakery, which were beautifully decorated but had a divisive frosting consistency.
While these cupcakes were the most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch, taste-testers agreed that the frosting seemed more like whipped cream than a traditional cupcake topping, and that the sponge lacked moisture.
"The cake tastes more like a muffin than cake," said one taste-tester.
Another cupcake-tester described the frosting as "fluffy and soft," saying it had a nice, sweet taste, but they agreed it was not necessarily the thick frosting that tops most cupcakes.
Overall, our team enjoyed the flavors, but the dry cake texture and whipped frosting left the group divided.
Price: $2 for each cupcake at the time of purchase.
Finally, we indulged in the Rubicon Bakers vanilla cupcakes, which had visual appeal, but overall lacked a distinct vanilla flavor.
What the Rubicon Bakers cupcake lacked in vanilla flavor, it made up for with its fluffy cake texture and thick-but-soft dollop of frosting.
"There's not a strong vanilla presence, but the texture's nice. The icing makes it more moist," said one taste-tester.
We thought the flavor resembled a sugar cookie more than a traditional vanilla cupcake, but for people who enjoy a subtle vanilla flavor, this cupcake would be a great option.
Price: $5.99 for box of four cupcakes at Whole Foods.
Find Rubicon Bakers cupcakes at Whole Foods, Target, Sprouts Farmers Market, Earth Fare, Lucky's Market, and other grocery chains.
After trying all the cupcakes, the taste-testers agreed Target's mini vanilla cupcakes took the top spot for their sweet (but not too sweet) taste and fluffy cake texture.
Taste-testers enjoyed the melt-in-your-mouth element of the frosting on the Target mini cupcakes.
"The frosting is really creamy, which is nice," said a taste-tester.
Following closely behind the Target treats was Trader Joe's take on the vanilla cupcake, which had a strong, sweet flavor.
We thought every cupcake brought something different to the table — despite each having white cake and vanilla frosting.
While Target won our hearts with its delectable vanilla cupcakes, each brand's rendition was sweet in its own way, depending on your preference with cake texture, frosting consistency, and vanilla flavor.
Read more:
- We tried 5 different hot dog brands and the winner was a classic
- We tested the cookie recipes on Nestle, Hershey's, and Ghirardelli chocolate chip packages, and Ghirardelli's was our favorite
- I tried the classic glazed doughnut from Dunkin' and Krispy Kreme, and the winner comes down to texture
- We tried vanilla milkshakes from 5 fast food restaurants and the winner was clear