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St. Louis Favorites: Jilly’s Cupcakes

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Let’s talk cupcakes. Not those fresh-from-a-box little morsels you whipped up for the kid’s last birthday. No, real cupcakes.

Cupcakes as big as your head.

Cupcakes with feather light icing.

Cupcakes so tasty they win wars (and end sibling battles too.)

Yep, we’re talking Jilly’s Cupcakes today. Jilly’s Cupcakes have won Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” twice, made St. Louis Magazine’s A list and are tops with any foodie in the city who has tried one.

I recently took the boys to Jilly’s Cupcake A-Go-Go in Des Peres to see what all the fuss is about. I’m not much of a Food Network watcher and I don’t make the drive to U City very often, so I hadn’t actually tried Jilly’s cupcakes, despite all I’ve heard about them.

Editor’s Note: When I wrote this, there was still a second location. It’s closed now! But, you can still get Jilly’s Cupcakes at the Des Peres Schnuck’s, which is nearby.

The Des Peres location is more of an outpost for those of us in West County. They don’t actually bake the treats here, but the cupcakes are delivered fresh from the U City Cupcake Bar every day. You can also get soup and sandwiches–but we were here for the cupcakes.

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If you haven’t been to Jilly’s, the first thing you should know is these are huge, as big as your head cupcakes. They are not cheap. But, oh, are they worth it. The cupcakes start at $3 for plain vanilla or chocolate and quickly leap to $6 for deluxe flavors. I spent $23 on three cupcakes and three milks for me and the boys. A bit much? Maybe. But seeing as we never made it to lunch, I’d say the price was worth it.

(If you do go for lunch, consider splitting a cupcake. They really are that big.)

My little guy can’t stand nuts or anything fruit-like touching his baked goods, so he went for the plain chocolate cupcake. Ryan and I were more adventurous and tried the Turtle Cheesecake and Strawberry Shortcake flavors.  You can check out Jilly’s cupcake menu here–there’s a standard set of flavors they always bake, plus seasonal flavors that come and go.

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The cupcakes were awesome and worth all the hype. Light and fluffy, yet with deep flavors. We had our cupcakes on the patio, but they are served up in extremely portable plastic shells, so we could have taken them to the park or even home without mishap.

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Should you go?

If you’re a mom on a budget, you might want to save Jilly’s for a special treat. At six bucks a pop, the top of the line cupcakes will blow your budget if you try to feed a crowd. You can save a little dough by packing a cooler of beverages, getting your cupcakes to go (like I said, they have really good packaging) then eating them at Des Peres Park just across the street. You can also split the cupcakes between two kids. Younger kids may not appreciate all the complex flavors but they’ll go nuts for the sprinkles and shaved bits of chocolate!

Jilly’s Cupcake Bar A-Go-Go is located at 1131 Colonnade Center in Des Peres, right next to the post office. The original Cupcake Bar is at 8509 Delmar Boulevard in U-City, not quite on The Loop. (You can find Jilly’s Cupcakes at the Des Peres location of Schnucks.)

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