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*singing to the tune of "Moon River* "Reeeeeeeed Velvet! Piiiineapple Pound-caaake! Tried boooth of them today...so gooooood!"
Ok, enough of that. My first "Brown Betty" experience was last January, when a friend of mine had a pineapple pound cake at her birthday party. Not sure how, but I was the designated cake cutter, and that thing almost broke my arm! *smile* Each slice felt like a pound of buttery, pineappley goodness!
So fast forward to today, when I stopped in with a hankering for a red velvet cupcake. I couldn't decide between the red velvet and the pineapple poundcake cupcakes, so I decided to get one of each. The store is cute, and, I don't know, it just looks like it should be named after a Miss Brown Betty (I know one, btw, and she's fabulous).
The red velvet cupcake was chocolatey and moist, and the cream cheese icing complimented it perfectly. I think I've found my new favorite. The pineapple poundcake cupcake was also really good, and it tasted exactly how a pineapple cupcake should taste - no artificial pineapple flavor, but a moist cupcake with a baked in pineapple taste.
I'm gonna be honest, this place is gonna be a problem for me because I get my nails done a few doors down. My willpower WILL prevail! *stomps foot* But, for the times that it doesn't, I'm glad to know that Brown Betty is there to help!
I've been wanting to try these cupcakes for a long time. My one coworker said that their red velvet cupcakes were the best he's ever had so that definitely intrigued me.
We finally made it on Saturday. The cupcakes are $3 a piece and are slightly bigger than a normal homemade cupcake. They had a pretty good variety including their new sweet potato cupcake.
I ordered the red velvet and Jeff ordered their pineapple cupcake. Both of us, thought they were just okay. The cream cheese icing on my cupcake was perfect, but the flavor of the actual cake didn't leave me craving more. Jeff's pineapple cupcake had a nice flavor, but again, it was nice, but not great.
Are we becoming cupcake snobs??
After my first tantalizing taste of BB at their Rittenhouse satellite location, I had to make a trip to the mother ship in NoLibs. So many more choices!
Brown Betty, how do I love thy cupcakes? Let me count the ways (in order of preference):
1. Lemon curd-filled vanilla pound cake with lemon/vanilla buttercream: Holy wow. Want lemon meringue pie in cupcake form? THIS IS IT. So good my teeth hurt. You must try it.
2. Almond pound cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and toasted almond slivers: simply divine! The almond flavor was subtle and tempting, although I might love it even more if it were a touch more almondy. When in doubt, add marzipan, I say. Still, BB's chocolate buttercream on top mos def rules.
4. Chocolate-on-Chocolate: Nomnomnomnom. What? Yeah. I got nothing. These are heaven, and they did a beautiful job of making the fudgy frosting look like an elegant rose.
Slightly lesser delights:
4. Strawberry-on-strawberry: Very good, but it didn't reach out and strangle my tongue. Not strawberryish enough. They need to figure out how to jam that crazy S-berry flavor in the buttercream like Naked does.
5. Red velvet: I am not an RV fanatic, but this came closer to good than any other I've had (probably because it had more cocoa than most).
6. Pineapple: My least favorite selection from BB to date. It lacked the fresh-fruity brightness of citrus flavor I expected, and instead tasted of cloyingly sweet candied pineapple, bits of which appeared to be studded throughout the batter. Nice idea, but I hope they re-conceive this one.
Life is good (and yes, I work out).
A friend and I dropped in on Brown Betty' birthday (also my friend's birthday) for free cupcakes! How nice is that? My chocolate-on-chocolate cupcake was superb: moist cake and creamy, not-too-sweet frosting. Yay!
Happy 1st Birthday, Betty!
OMG!!
For the last eight years I have been deeply comitted to my national/international search for the best cupcakes known to Man. THE SEARCH IS O-V-E-R!! These hunking pieces of heaven have won, hands down. Magnolia--Move Over. Georgetown Cupcakes--Get out of town. Cake Love--Cry me a River. You're not even close.
These are the real deal. Perfect crumb, soft, moist, dense and really pleasing to the mouth. The frosting is to DIE FOR! Yes, it's sweet. But that is the point. I simply love these things.
I live in Indianapolis, but I'm from DC. I spend a great deal of time in California, Chicago and all over the south. I have yet to find anything that compares.
When I come home for the holidays, I will be taking the train to Philly for the sole purpose of picking up some cupcakes and a cheesecake. These things freeze very well and will keep me in cupcake heaven for a few weeks.
By the way, the negative reviews on here should be taken with a grain of salt. Some just don't like this style of cupcake. Some are just obviously on a crack high.
These cupcakes are worth every penny, and if you think $3 is too much for HUGE cupcakes made of the best stuff on earth (real butter, vanilla, sour cream, sugar, pineapple, coconut, cocoa), you can buy some Ho-Hos at the 7-11.
I have found bliss, and it's name is the Brown Betty cupcake.
Ok before I begin I must inform you I Love Dessert. Now I'll begin ..... I craved a Brown Betty red velvet cupcake so bad I drove from South Philly to Northern Liberties for 1 cupcake. Yes just 1. I ran down the street , pulled on the door and imagine my surprise when the door was locked. I saw a lady at the counter and she hollered "I have to deliver a cake. I closed the store early. " I couldn't believe it, they had no one to man the store while a cake was being delivered and I needed, yes needed, that cupcake. Needless to say that left a bad non red velvet taste in my mouth.
So is this the best cupcake I ever had ... No. Is it a very good cupcake ... Yes but only if you like cold cake, which I do. All of the cupcakes are refrigerated so most people, not me of course, but most people have to let the cupcake thaw out. Darn you lady for not opening that door. Lol.
I've tried almost all of the trendy cupcake shops in NYC. I've had some really good cupcakes. Brown Betty's cupcakes are as good and in some cases better than what I've had in New York.
Too often gourmet cupcakes are all frosting and no cake. If you try the cake by itself it is pretty average. Brown Betty makes a moist and flavorful cupcake and enhances it with frosting. Not too little and not too much. The cake and the frosting complement each other perfectly and create a delicious dessert.
Now if only Philly could open a pizza place that makes a pie that rivals the best of NYC...
Can i say "Meh" and not have people go all psycho on me? I'm a baker and my daughters and girlfriend all agree that i can make a better cup cake.
My take on "Brown Betty's": overpriced for "OK" cupcakes.
Also color me unimpressed by their "Cake Book". Sure, fondant always looks pretty, but the one pic of the cake that had only a butter cream or frosting of some kind had rough edges and shoddy border work. I can appreciate the concept, just found the right niche for NoLibs peeps that think its hip to pay $3 for a so-so cup cake......
Imagine my excitement when my favorite Philly couple showed up on my doorstep with get-well cupcakes. I must say I now believe in the healing power of cupcakes, especially ones from Brown Betty.
Honestly, this place wasn't even on my list of places to try because I've been so satisfied with Flying Monkey. But Brown Betty's cakes are a little better and definitely a bit different in style. These cupcakes have a less oily crumb, I feel like the cake could stand on its own better than Flying Monkey's. Also, although the frosting is sweeter, the cake-to-frosting ratio ensures they are not too sweet and are suited to an adult's palate.
These cupcakes are quite large. I was determined to eat all four of mine before Chad got home and ended up consuming not even a quarter of each. Here's what I had:
Red velvet - excellent and I'm super picky about this type of cake. I could actually taste the cocoa in it, which I was very happy about because red velvet is too often just a vehicle for cream cheese frosting. The cake wasn't too red, which I was grateful for because I try to avoid food coloring.
Pineapple - really good if you love pineapple and dislike artificial flavors. I can honestly describe this cupcake as juicy, in a good way.
Chocolate - I could not believe how much I loved this cupcake. It tasted like it came out of my mother's kitchen! This cake proved to me they bake with love.
Sour cream - the surprise favorite. I'm a big fan of yogurt cakes, but I would never have selected a sour cream cupcake on my own. I was impressed with its flavor and moistness, they are definitely using good quality ingredients. Even Bug enjoyed a little of this cake, she showed her appreciation with atomic kitty farts the rest of the night.
I was very, very impressed with my cupcakes. I'll definitely be stopping by to try the strawberry, lemon and almond flavors.
I've been to Brown Betty's several times and they are a great bakery. Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of all their cupcakes. The red velvet was a little bit of a disappointment to me...it was just OK. My favorite so far is their Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcake...it is soooo delicous! The Lemon Meringue one is also good. I've gone back to them to make a couple of special orders, including a graduation cake (chocolate fudge cake with zebra print fondont and a huge hot pink fondont bow) and a large batch of sugar cookies with writing on it (used as party favors). What really keeps me coming back is the people and the service at Brown Bettys. Everyone there is very helpful and nice and I feel so comfortable going in there. Give it a try!
These are not merely cupcakes -- they are mini desserts. They aren't light or small, and they tend to sit heavily in your stomach afterward, but it's nearly impossible not to overindulge.
The coconut cupcakes with cream cheese icing are indescribable. I'm not crazy about chocolate cake in general, but the chocolate cupcakes with thick chocolate icing are ridiculously rich and sweet, and really hard to stop eating (but I've never been able to finish a whole one).
People say they are best served at room temp, but I like them straight out of the fridge, when you can really bite into them.
Their choco chip and walnut cookie was really tasty, too, considering cupcakes are their specialty.
Oh my.
If you are in need of an old fashioned sugar-rush then head on down and see the lovely ladies at Brown Betty.
They'll hook you up with a cupcake that is worth every penny -- all 300 of 'em.
BB majors in cakes so check out their printed menu if you have an approaching occasion. It is a known fact that if you bring a Brown Betty cake to a dinner party everyone will fall in love with you.
In the meantime, some tips for on-the-go dessert enjoyment...
The cupcakes are best after they have been warmed to room temperature -- don't eat them right away or you won't enjoy the full flavor. (It took me several trips to actually take this advice.)
If staff isn't frantically busy and you ask nicely and they just might do it for you.
The chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting topped with coconut is hands down my favorite.
Keep an eye out for platters of free samples!
I've come here several times to order cakes, and the lovely ladies of Brown Betty are always accommodating and creative.
And what do they put in there to achieve such brilliant flavor and consistency? Somehow the cakes manage to be even more delicious the next day, with some magical ingredient that continues to sweeten like a ripening fruit.
I love this place. It is in Northern Liberties...
I have had cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery (famous sex and the city bakery).....Brown Betty's do not even compare-- Brown Betty's are so so much better! They are so delicious. Great flavors....strawberry, carrot cake, lemon..I could go on. The only thing....price is a little steap at $3.00 each...but are so good!
My husband bought a lemon pound cake back from a trip to Philly and not only was this cake HUGE it was DELICIOUS!!! As close to my grandma's lemon pound cake as I've come from a bakery! Plan to go back anytime we're in/near Philly.
cupcakes are dense and delicious. we went with them cold, not taking the baker's advice to nuke it in the microwave to give it a room temperature feel. i think the coldness added to it's density. the red velvet was super smooth and the lemon curd was sweet with perfect acidity balance.
we got stuck in a monsoon and got drenched on the way back. fun. northern liberties is so yuppie weird. it feels like a part of exurbia plopped in the city. too modern cool. but we'll take brown betty dessert boutique. wish you were in west philly instead.
Delicious cupcakes, delicious birthday cakes... what else do you need? Brown Betty has made me a very happy person on several occasions. They have been my bakery of choice for special occasions... the cakes always put a smile on everyone's face. Need a last minute gift for a friend? How about a box of almond pound cake, red velvet, and chocolate cupcakes? I recently had them make a double layer birthday cake and it came out great - I had to pay a little extra for some decorating (some nice flowers around the side and a note), but it was well worth the $50 it took to feed 15 people, and still have some left. Sweet!
Ok so I will admit that I am a bit obsessed with cupcakes, but I am also really picky with cupcakes. I dislike flying monkey's and Metropolitan's cupcakes and couldn't find a decent cupcake in the city until I found brown betty.
The shop is adorable, decked out in antique furniture and big plates of samples of cupcakes. Behind the copious cupcake display, kitchen aid mixers are whirling away making the city's best.
The pound cake is dense and holds up nicely to the beautiful icing. The icing is not the sickening sweet like the above mentioned. You can tell that they use a good ratio of confectionery sugar to butter and/or cream cheese.
My favorites?
1.) Pineapple
2.) Red Velvet (which sells out early)
3.)Sour Cream pound cake
4.) Almond(with vanilla icing)
At three dollars a pop it is an affordable treat to make anyone's day!
I think Betty's are my favorite cupcakes in Philly so far, and Lord knows I've had many. They're dense, big, and enjoy a perfect frosting to cake ratio. I haven't tried the other desserts here. I once bought an apple betty but was too sick to eat it. I gave it to a friend who raved about it. The cookies are also rumored to be amazing. Try the chocolate frosted strawberry cupcake. Send me hate mail for setting you up with your new addiction. And be sure to leave your cupcakes out of the fridge for a bit before you eat them. They're not as good when they're cold.
We tried a few cupcakes and a cookie from here just to try out a local business. It's overpriced but definitely a delicious treat. We didn't do any research we just stumbled in after a dinner at Hikari and gave them a fair chance. Try them.
I was so addicted to this place I would come once a week, leaving with a box of four cupcakes. The cute hip guys new my name, knew my daughter- we called it the cupcake store and it was such a happy time in our lives.
Then we would go late in the day to pick up cupcakes for a dinner party and the choices would be limited and I stopped seeing the friendly boys behind the counter that new us. We still came back though not as often, and well I have to say that it just is not the same. The cupcakes are quite delicious but the staff (owners) do not make us feel loved. Cupcakes yummy - staff (blah)
best red velvet w cream cheese frosting EVERRRRRRRRRRR
3 Words: Red Velvet Cupcakes! It doesn't get more "yummo" than this. I've tried their other cupcake flavors too, and they are also quite tasty. The cookies are just OK-nothing special. I'm only mad because they raised the price of their cupcakes to $3!! They use to be $2.50 and for some reason that 50cent mark-up just seems like a lot for a cupcake. I know the price of food is going up, but come on! I want my $2.50 cupcakes back! Oh well--I'll still be paying them a visit when I'm craving that special cupcakey goodness
Holy freakin' crap! I'd been told Brown Betty was delicious, but for some reason I brushed off the enthusiasm and thought, 'ehh, it's probably pretty good but not THAT great.' I assumed it was just cool because it's in a hip Northern Liberties location. I wholly admit that I was completely wrong.
Delicious cake, not too sweet. light in texture. Thick creamy frosting. Oh, yeah!
The room itself has just two tables and a comfy sofa. You can get a beverage or coffee, but it's not really an eat-in kind of place. I imagine many brides and party planners sit here with the staff to go through their catalog and choose a cake.
They were working on a gorgeous polka dot fondant decorated cake when I stopped in. The samples on display were impressive, too.
If you want to impress your guests with both beauty AND deliciousness, and you can afford to splurge, see Brown Betty Dessert Boutique. I think the prices are completely fair and on par with the flavor and effort that go into these desserts.
They also have cupcakes, cookies, rice pudding, and, of course, apple brown betty if you're only entertaining yourself and a friend.
If it weren't for Yelp, I wouldn't have discovered the delectable dessert shop that is Brown Betty Dessert Boutique. I've been a Yelp lurker for quite some time, using it when I need to know where the best of the best is in the city, and as I was looking for a dessert shop to make a memorable cake for my 25th birthday party, I stumbled upon the reviews for Brown Betty.
I'm originally a Southern girl, so I was excited to discover (via their sleek website) that Brown Betty's dessert repertoire consisted of sweets I'd usually indulged in at many a church social or family picnic growing up. I ventured down there one evening with hopes of tasting a few cupcakes and talking to someone about ordering a cake. The interior is cozy (read: matchbox), neatly decorated, and comfy kind of like my Granny's kitchen. It was about 45 minutes from closing time, so the cake decorator wasn't there. Instead, I spoke with another employee. I told her the theme for my party (A Dime Becomes a Quarter), and that I wanted quarters of some kind on the cake. She took my number and informed me that the cake decorator would be calling me the very next day to let me know if my idea was viable. I bought 2 cupcakes before I left: red velvet and pineapple pound cake, both deliciously topped with cream cheese icing (my favorite). The red velvet was too cocoa-y, but the pineapple pound cake cupcake left me wanting more.
Now, down to the reason Brown Betty didn't receive a full 5 stars from me. They never called me back. I called them back a week later, only to be informed by the same employee I spoke with before (NOT the decorator) that the decorator wasn't sure if she could do the design I wanted and would get back to me before the week was over. The end of the week came and went, and there was still no word from the decorator. I called Brown Betty back as soon as they opened on a Sunday, and (thank goodness!) the owner (Linda) answered the phone. I told her my story and about the runaround I'd been getting from her employees. She was not at all pleased and came up with a solution to decorator's dilemma in all of 2 seconds (chocolate coins instead of icing coins, duh!). She quickly took my order, told me the price, and called me back like 15 minutes later to apologize again and confirm that I knew I had to purchase the chocolate quarters and bring them to the shop.
At the end of it all, the cake came out beautifully. It was sinfully sweet, dense just like pound cake should be, and the chunks of pineapple (because that's the flavor I went with) interspersed throughout the cake were a burst of juicy sweetness. And much to my surprise, the piping on the cake was chocolate, to match the chocolate quarters they had used. Out of all the fun that was had at my party, the cake was definitely the highlight.
If you haven't already noticed, I luuuuves me some cupcakes, and the savory darlings at Brown Betty DELIVER!
I mean, what more could you want than:
Tasty frosting (thanks for the hint of lemon in the vanilla & the chocolate is pretty fantastic)
fresh tasty cake! (NOT to be confused with TastyKake--ugh gross)
large but not overwhelming
2 bucks
If they double the amount of frosting, I will give them the last star.
love it. love it.
I love to take the 15 trolley down to Northern Liberties and then get a cupcake on a rainy day. But if you buy them its very important to let them get to room temp. This is very important!!!!
Plus I love all the samples around the store....yummm
If you love cupcakes, you will love Brown Betty. My favorites are the red velvet and the chocolate cupcakes. And they are very very large cupcakes. The shop is cute and the service decent. It can be difficult to preorder or specialty order in my experience but that doesn't stop me from going back!
AMAZING!!!!!!!! much better than magnolia's in ny! so glad i didn't live near the shop or i would be huge!
Beside an awesome shop along Liberties Walk, Brown Betty Dessert Boutique serves unique and delicious baked goods. They offer a number of unique, gourmet-leaning, cakes, but the best part of the "dessert boutique" -- a term the owner claims to have coined -- is its "soul baking" (my term), or what they frequently call on the Food Network "comfort food" (Rachel Ray's term).
Try items like the apple brown betty, a mixture of apple pie and, umm, bread pudding. Or take home classics like peach cobbler or betty's buttermilk pound cake. You'll pay gourmet prices, but the products will impress even the most epicurean of tastes buds. Trust me.
I give this place 3 3/4ish to 4 stars if and that is a big if u don't get a stale cupcake. I have gotten stale cupcakes on a couple of occasions. I love sweets but must admit not a huge cupcake fan but i will crave a brown betty cupcake now and then. besides the staleness another deduction was their red velvet cc. Red velvet is my favorite type of cc but betty's red didn't rank very high against the many red velvets i have sampled in my illustrious fatassness career. there pineapple and lemon are fanfriggingtastic though and the chocolate and vanilla are alot better than the duncan hines that your momma made ya. the cookies are pretty good but i prefer tartes for that type of teeth rottening
I am not a sweets fan at all, but when I stumbled upon this place and had the red velvet cupcake, I admit to defeat. It was the right texture, moisture, and sweetness. I haven't had the other flavors, but from the decorations and the quality of the presentation...I'd have to give it 5 stars. I live in New York, where Magnolia is over rated and over hyped by Sex And The City. Some may dispute that Crumbs is better than Magnolia, but in my opinion - Brown Betty tops them all! I hope more people discover this hidden treasure in Northern Liberties because it's definitely worth the trip!
I've been to Brown Betty a few times and I love their cupcakes. I've tried at least 5 or 6 different ones and I'm partial to the pineapple, and the black velvet, although I've yet to try one I didn't like. They had samples out the other day of a white cupcake with some kind of coconut cream cheese icing which was amazing! Sadly, they used up all the cupcakes for samples, so I couldn't get a whole one. I guess I'll just have to go back.
I have been so excited to go here for so long after hearing all the hype. Keep in mind that I am a baker myself so I may have slightly higher standards of baked goods than most. The cakes themselves were extremely dense and tasted mostly of sour cream. They remind me of the one time that I made cupcakes and forgot to put the baking powder in, not good. The frosting was alright, but you could make the same thing yourself very easily following the recipe on the box of domino sugar. Definitely not worth the 2.50 per cupcake.
Having a cake craving one day, i decided to hike up to nolibs to try this place my coworker had been raving about. I got a cupcake, and it was really quite good even though it had cream cheese frosting, which I usually intensely dislike (I had forgotten to ask, dammit). It might have been the best cupcake ever had it been a buttercream frosting. However, I also got the apple cobbler, or whatever they call it there - it was absolutely amazing! So if you're a fan of the place, be sure to branch out and try the non-cupcake stuff too!
Being from a more traditional Philly mold of sweets coming from pastry shops or bakeries, it's hard for me to come to terms with the words "dessert" and "boutique" co-existing.
It wasn't hard, however, to get used to the taste of the generous stack of large cookies friends of mine brought to a recent party.
Chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin - all winners. Flat and wide and huge size - also a winner. For all natives who remember, I equate the taste as being as good as the old Koffmeyer's Cookies on HeadHouse Square.
Delicious, an utter delight.
Why was I walking late one evening in the waaay neo-German-style strasse of Northern Liberties to find two ladies whipping up a fabulous red velvet yum yum?! Was I loosing my mind or did they truly know what they were doing with this very southern dessert? Why here? Why in such a secret location? Can only those who happen to accidenlty bump into this or who live in the new condos there enjoy the delightful delicacies at this dicalicious dessert depot? I know where my next birthday cake better be coming from...Hint,hint. Knudge, knudge. Wink, wink...Jean's Road Trip is worth the treck...PROMISE!!! And it's between $35 and $50 per whole dainty discus. My next favorite is the clevely titled " Company's Coming". But will I really share it ?
omg...if you like cupcakes, you must pay this place a visit
the cupcakes they have here are absolutely divine
their cupcakes have a few different cake varieties: pound cake, red velvet, buttermilk, regular cake
all of which have different icing combinations to make for the most delicious cupcake treats that ive had...maybe ever
the only reason i dont give them 5 stars, is cupcakes is about the only single serving size treat they offer
they have cookies, but theyre not nearly as special or diverse as the cupckaes
they sell cakes too, but its all made to order stuff for special occasions
but this place is definitely worth a visit for a cupcake dessert if your in the northern liberties area
I'd heard so many negatives about this place having desserts that were too sweet that I feared I'd be disappointed when I visited. Upon first visit I thought to self duh you like too sweet :) And that perhaps it's the fact that not every household has been blessed to have such goodness to know good dessert when they taste it.
With that said I love brown betty, every inch of it. I'd wanted to visit nolibs in general for the day and decided to give BBDB a call to find out what bus route would give me access to the store if they new. I'd spoken with one of the store owners who was extremely helpful in my locating the place. When I got there I was surprised by how small it was, I was under the impression that it was a bit larger with more space for seating, that however didn't stop me from taking my place on their lovely couch with my delicious cup cake, I actually am forgetting the exact name of the one I got I do recall it tasty, my daughter opted for the chocolate which also was tasty. My only disappointment taste wise was the sweet potato pot (believe that's the name) that I took home. Yet I still give them a 5 star because I'd had so much sweet potato prior to buying it that I think I just could not take another bite of it oppose to it not being good, constantly asking myself why would I chose that to take home when I'd eaten so much sweet potato already, that one is still a mystery.
The decor was beautiful, the service excellent, namely the same owner that I'd spoken to over the phone who did not present herself as owner I simply recognized her via the press. And lastly love the website if you get an opportunity to check out nothing else, peep the website.
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