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A Piece of Cake
Categories: Food Bakeries Food Street Vendors Bakeries, Street Vendors
1204 Pajaro StSalinas, CA 93901
(831) 682-2683
- Price Range:
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$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
19 reviews for A Piece of Cake
19 reviews in English
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Review from Denise S.
Monterey, CA
4/18/2012
Snickerdoodle Cupcake. Enough said.
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Review from Sally T.
Monterey, CA
5/23/2012
It's taken me a long time to visit A Piece of Cake Salinas for the first time. I remember seeing the decorated truck around town many times, but have remained hesitant.
On my break today, I got a sweet tooth and decide to give this place a try. Plenty of parking this afternoon. (I now understand why) I entered and was greeted halfheartedly by a young person. The flow of the shop is a little out of sorts. There is very little eye catching decor, and sadly no mood music. While another young person was assisting another clueless consumer, I looked at the pastry case with an open mind.,,,,,,,,
The flavors that are offered aren't too far out of the ordinary. Vanilla, chocolate, red velvet, carrot are the usual suspects. I was intrigued by the pistachio, Nerds, and Boston cream. After a quick glance I made my decision. I walked out of there with my cupcakes and a punch card for frequent buyers. Great idea for those who really feel the need to buy multiple cupcakes.
After making the trek back to my dwelling I sat down with a watering mouth with my fork in hand. I took a few snapshots with my camera to post pics on Instagram later :)
I took a deep breath and went for it! My anticipation and excitement was thwarted by the fact that my poor plastic fork nearly broke while trying to cut through the cake! The texture was dry and hard. A clear sign of being over baked and stale. The frosting wasn't exactly Swiss buttercream either. I've had frosting out of a jar that ranks better than their wallpaper paste.
Much to my dismay, I sent them to their final resting place in the outside garbage can without even having a taste. Truth be told I've made plenty of cupcakes from scratch over the years, but when you want to satisfy a craving and need a quick fix, going out and buying a cupcake should take care of it.
I love supporting local and small business. My hopes for this business is that it takes the criticism as a stepping stone to improve the quality of their product. Perhaps later down the line I might revisit this small cozy little shop, but until then it looks like I will be creating my own for a little while.
Best of luck to the owners and new customers. -
Review from Debby F.
Monterey, CA
4/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Let me preface this by saying I make a REALLY good chocolate cupcake recipe of my own, from scratch. I've gotten LOTS of compliments on them, and even I have a hard time resisting them myself (and I'm not usually a huge fan of chocolate cake). I'm a baker, myself, and a moist cake is something that I strive to achieve. As far as frostings go, I make all of mine from scratch...from Swiss Buttercream to meringue to traditional buttercream. I KNOW and appreciate a good frosting. For that reason, it is rare for me to buy cupcakes, since I can make them myself. However, I was craving a little something "sweet" and happened to pass by this new bakery. I've tried a few of the cupcakes when I saw the truck park nearby-- several months ago. The location is terrific, and I was excited for them that they scored that former restaurant location.
This has been a really tough review for me to write, for several reasons. #1, I'm a big supporter of small businesses, and I really want to see this one succeed. The good is that it appears clean-- big plus. The young girl was really friendly. There was a kiddie cupcake party going on (great idea, I thought to myself). From here it goes down a few notches, and I almost feel guilty writing my critique. I don't know the owner, personally, but I do know who she is. So, if you're reading this, please know that my review is written with only the best of intentions-- if we learn to listen to helpful criticism, then we can become even better. So, here goes:
I was unimpressed with the cupcake flavors. I'm sorry. I bought a filled birthday cupcake, because I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, as I mentioned earlier. (The individual plastic takeout cupcake container is cute, but I would imagine it's costly.) The cupcake was a yellow cake, with a bit of a dense texture. It was borderline dry, as in a bit too overbaked. The frosting was cloyingly sweet. If it was made with pure butter, I would be surprised. To me, it had that half butter, half shortening flavor. I had to scrape off half the frosting to get through the rest of the cupcake. Such a bitter disappointment. I felt the same way with the S'mores Cupcakes I bought a few months ago. They just weren't memorable.
I was once a small business owner, and my suggestion is that it could be useful to run a contest and ask patrons for flavor suggestions. Also, know your competition. While Monterey is, to some folks, the other side of the world-- Mrs. Delish's cupcakes wins for flavor originality and best frosting. Hands down. Her cupcakes are bigger, and cost $3.00 each. I don't bicker about the price, because one bite into her caramel filled cupcake makes the sin of fat and calories worth the indulgence.
It is said that cupcakes are a thing of the past, but I disagree. People will always love a really good cupcake. It's a small piece of cake that satisfies that sweet tooth. I sincerely hope that this bakery listens to the reviews and perfects the cake recipes to deliver moistness.
With more creative cupcakes, I would pay more than $2.00, as long as you wow me with something like peanut butter filled chocolate cupcakes with homemade fudge sauce (which is featured on my own food blog) and I'm coming back for more.
I wish these nice people all the best. I will come back and try a couple of other flavors, in time. I am so rooting for them to make it. It's a tough economy, I know. -
Review from Rachael B.
Salinas, CA
3/21/2012
I visited Piece of Cake in hopes of satisfying my craving for a good homemade cupcake. First of all, they had only 3 or 4 flavors to choose from. So I decided to play it safe and got chocolate chocolate. The cupcake itself was just OK, however I may be hard to please because I've had delicious homemade cupcakes (made by my Mom) my whole life. The chocolate frosting lacked flavor and was almost greasy tasting. Next time I'll try one with cream cheese frosting (LLOOOVVVEE cream cheese frosting!). I also ordered a strawberry slushy, which lacked the strawberry flavor... It was really like blended ice with pink food coloring.
Overall I would say that I would return, but I would just try a different flavor. The staff was really friendly, and were willing to give me a new slushy, with no questions asked. I would love this place to make it, and I'm totally down for supporting local businesses. -
Review from Dick A.
Salinas, CA
5/23/2012
Day old or overcooked cupcakes. Not very good.
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Review from Colleen T.
Monterey, CA
3/10/2012
I tried to like this place, I really did...
I was so excited when A Piece of Cake opened their cupcake truck last year. As a cupcake-lover who seeks out cupcakeries everywhere I go, I was thrilled to finally have one in Salinas. About a week after the truck opened, I tracked them down and bought four cupcakes to test out with my coworkers. Suffice it to say, we were sorely unimpressed. The cupcakes were dry, the frosting overly sweet and the flavors were so far off it was almost comical - the red velvet was brown with only a tiny bit of red in the very center of the cake; the coconut could easily have been a vanilla cake if it weren't for the long strands of coconut in it; and the carrot cake might as well have been a regular spice cake, because it certainly didn't appear to have any carrot in it.
Still, despite my bad experience with the cupcakes, the truck seemed to be doing well - well enough that they recently opened a storefront. So, hoping that we'd just hit them on a bad day, my coworkers and I decided to try them again this past Friday afternoon.
First, the positive: the decoration of the store is cute, if somewhat unoriginal. The ladies working the register were polite, although more interested in talking with each other (there were four staff members when I went in, and I was the only customer) than in engaging in any kind of conversation with me. The display case was stocked with a full array of the advertised flavors for the day, which is always a positive, and the cupcakes do look nice.
Unfortunately, those things are not anywhere near enough to save this cupcake experience. Once again, I purchased four cupcakes - chocolate, shamrock, white russian, and sugar cookie. Once again, they failed the test taste miserably. The frosting on the white russian was so disgustingly sweet that it was barely edible. One coworker described that particular flavor as tasting like dishwater. All four cupcakes were a strange texture - they weren't moist, but at the same time, the weren't entirely dry either - they were, in the words of another coworker, "kind of furry." Not one of the cupcakes met our expectations. Quite frankly, I would rather have had grocery store cupcakes.
To sum it up in the words of one of my coworkers - "let's NEVER go to this place again." -
Review from Luz E.
Salinas, CA
3/18/2012
While chasing the cupcake-truck around Salinas has become a cute gimmick for a lot of people in town, I was glad to see they finally got a storefront.
We went in earlier this week and I was excited to hear that they served BOBA, which meant they probably had more drinks than Fluff. Already a plus.
My green-tea slushy with boba was surprisingly good.
My friend hated his lychee, juicy boba tea (too thick/sweet).
As far as cupcakes go, I thought they were good, fine.
The store seems a bit unfinished but fine.
The only thing I really miss is the sealed plastic lids that usually go on boba drinks. They have regular plastic lids, I think half the fun is piercing the drink, I don't know why...but it is what it is..
They now serve Acme coffee, which is another huge plus.
Overall, I think this little cupcake place is getting there. -
Review from Aryan O.
3/7/2012 2 Check-ins Here
The food truck is nice to have but not sold on having an actual store, maybe it's just me but I like the exclusiveness of having a food truck because you never know what they'll carry and when they will run out. I went to the store the other day and not much of a selection, even though they barely opened you would think they would have more displayed. Hopefully they can get more recipes down in cupcakes.
We'll see how far they can go with this one. -
Review from Eddie W.
I was hoping for a more spectacular review to commemorate my 250th review but unfortunately budget constraints have made it quite hard for me to treat myself to a nice place. For my 300th, that will all change!
On our walk to breakfast we happened to stumble upon A Piece of Cake food truck. I have never heard of them before but figure it was worth a try. Everything is relatively priced well. They offer a small variety of cupcakes starting at $2.50 each.
They have some day old ones that go for $1.50.
We tried the
Birthday Surprise: it had a light fluffy filling center that tasted mostly of sugar. The cake itself was moist enough but lacked anything interesting
Oreo Cupcake: it was reminiscent of an oreo, more emphasize on chocolate flavor, frosting was super sweet
Peanut Butter Cupcake: didn't try but it looked good
Overall Thoughts
The cupcake trend is lost on me -
Review from Cecilia M.
Salinas, CA
4/18/2012 1 Check-in Here
I like these cupcakes and glad they opened a store front. I haven't had a flavor from here that I didn't like.
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Review from Nic Q.
Salinas, CA
3/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
Cupcakes and service is so much better then Fluff! Love it!
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Review from Julian L.
Salinas, CA
10/17/2011
Please ignore the review below, it's a bunch of bullsugar.
The a Piece of Cake truck is great. I've tried several of they're flavors and theyre all amazing. Quick and easy way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
I've received nothing but positive feedback from the people I recommended the truck to.
Red-Velvet and Mint-Chocolate are my favorite. -
Review from Jess Y.
Marina, CA
2/26/2012
Came to the grand opening. Was not greeted and yes I understand that they are swamped. Cupcakes looked old might have been baked a couple days in advance. When I bought a birthday bundt and pB cupcake both were super dry. Not moist and overly sweet. Prices were so so. It was the grand opening and they didn't have any cupcakes to try. Not even bites to try to see if you liked the flavoring or not. That would have been better. I spent $6.00 in which I ended up dumping $5.50 worth since all I did was take a fork and eat a bite. I doubt I will come back again.
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Review from Veronica G.
Salinas, CA
2/11/2012
What happened??? Your cupcakes have shrunk! I had some delicious cupcakes in the past and recently bought some, not only were they smaller but they were dry & too sweet =(. Will try again & hope that I get some of the yummy, moist cupcakes I've had in the past.
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Review from sarah w.
Salinas, CA
12/1/2011
I was very excited to try the cupcakes from A Piece of Cake's cupcake truck. After liking them on facebook, I was able to track them down on a day they were in my neighborhood. My husband and I have tried quite a few of their flavors, twix, red velvet, pumpkin, to name a few, and we were pleased overall with their taste, texture, and presentation. We've visited the truck quite a few times since our initial tasting, and the cupcakes have been pretty consistant and to our liking. They could have nicer customer service, though, as I've rarely been greeted with a smile or kind hello. If they trained their staff to be super friendly, welcoming and upbeat, they could be well on their way to a 5 star rating!
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Review from Garianne D.
Salinas, CA
9/27/2011
Ok here I go, So I had written a review a few weeks ago after a bad experience. I then decided to delete it and give this truck another chance.
I can see from and normal persons eye why they would like this truck and it's not so good cupcakes but I am a cupcake connoisseur. So a cute looking trunk and a good idea do nothing for me. Ok the 1st time I went to the trunk the lady was not friendly, the truck needed to be clean and the cupcakes were DRY I was chocking eating the one of them! The cake portion was tiny with an over welling about of frosting. The 2nd time ,my bf picked me some up when I was having a bad day took one bite of the root beer one threw it away and sent him to Safeway there gourmet cupcakes make this truck look like a joke (and they are 50 cents cheaper) and he said the lady was very rude to him!
3rd time, I was driving home and I saw the truck parked by my house. It was the end of the day so I was like ok ill get one I stopped and waited than the owner very rudely was like " This is a private party ugh" need less to say I was pissed off!!
Also her Facebook posts are rude! She post how much she sells. Bragging about the money she makes and she now won't sell unless you buy a half dozen or more. Last but not least she copy's a lot of her flavors
from another way better cupcake girl. This truck is a joke. -
Review from Kelli M.
Gilroy, CA
1/6/2012
I love the cupcake truck and her cupcakes! I love it when she stops by the Quadrangle building as that's where I work. I am excited for her to open her new location and think it's a great idea. My favorite flavors are snickerdoodle and salted chocolate carmel. Whoever said you have to buy a dozen or more is wrong. She has changed her prices though. At first they were $2.50, then they went down to $2 and now they are back up to $2.50. Personally I think $2 is a better deal but I understand....she's running a business. Some flavors are better than others and the frosting is really sweet (but I like sweet) so it works for me. There are not many business in Salinas that I like, but this one I do!! Try it out.....
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Review from Amy M.
Salinas, CA
8/31/2011
Super friendly, awesome cupcakes and a sparkling truck! My boys adore trips to find the cupcake truck.
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Review from Nadia M.
Watsonville, CA
10/26/2011
Yum Yum!!!! The cupcakes were so delicious. I had the peanut butter chocolate and mint-chocolate. I purchased four cupcakes and the girl selling them was extremely sweet. I'm really surprised by one of the comments. I don't live in Salinas but I wish my town had a cupcake truck. Thanks for the delicious treats.
