Saint Cupcake Galore

For a short while a few years ago, food writers proclaimed cupcakes the hip pastry of the moment. That fad has passed, but excellent cupcakes remain a Holy Grail for many Roadfood enthusiasts with major sweet tooths. In fact, Jane considers herself quite the authority on cupcakes, having grown up with some of the best on the East Side of Manhattan and ordering every decent looking cupcake she spots when we travel. And so it was no small matter when, after tasting Saint Cupcakes’ toasted coconut cream cupcake and red velvet cupcake, she declared them to be the best cupcakes she has ever eaten, anywhere.

While I’m no cupcake fanatic, I like all sweet, baked coffee companions, and I decided that my moist, tender, hot-fudge-topped chocolate cupcake was one of the best breakfast pastries in Portland.

Yes, this is cupcake heaven. Available in normal size or as half-size dots, these circular lovelies are homey more than fancy; each of the ones we have tasted has made us exclaim that it is the Platonic ideal of its flavor, as the frosting – cream cheese on red velvet, for instance – is nothing short of perfection.

Naturally, lots of business is take-out by the dozen; but there are tables for indulging here, along with good coffee and cold milk by the carton.

Note: There are three other St. Cupcakes in Portland.