I was excited when I got my Trader Joe’s newsletter this month and saw that they were having holiday cupcakes. The first Trader Joes we visited did not have them in stock. (They did, however, have vegetarian corn dogs! YUM!) I went by another Trader Joes the next day in search of more corn dogs and found the cupcakes instead.
The cupcakes were described in the holiday guide as chocolate sprinkled with sea salt, black & white topped with a Snocap® and chocolate with caramel butter cream. The box cost $6.99, which I thought was reasonable for 9 mini cupcakes. My review: BLEH! All 3 flavors had the same chocolate cake base which was dry. The icing had butter listed as an ingredient, but it tasted like shortening and sugar and all 3 flavors tasted the same. I didn’t get any salt taste from the salted chocolate nor any caramel taste in the other one. I wouldn’t go out of my way for these….
The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection 
5 thoughts on “Divine Nine from Trader Joes”
Emily M
I think it depends on when you buy them – if they’re REALLY fresh (I just bought some today, the 11th, dated the 14th), then the cake is very, very moist. However, in my experience TJ’s baked goods tend to go stale pretty fast, so we’re attempting to eat them all tonight :o)
Nancy Westgate
I agree about them being blech. The cake was stale even though we ate the cupcakes a few days before the sell-by date, and it tasted like it was made from run-of-the-mill boxed cake mix. The frosting wasn’t bad but wasn’t very flavorful. You can get much better desserts at TJs for your 7 bucks.
Joe M
Could not disagree with you more…we bought some yesterday (11/23) in Charleston & they were fresh & out of this world…delicious cupcakes.
Sylvia Berry
I have purchased several boxes; they were moist and delicious and the right
size. I thought thee icing was buttery and could detect the sea salt in the
chocolate icing. My only complaint is that they are seasonal and not available
year round.
Elle Thomas
I agree with Sylvia. I bought several and froze them. Just ran out. Even defrosted the cake was still moist! Loved the Chocolate Sea Salt and the Caramel. Could have left behind the Black and White though. Maybe next year they can add a vanilla/fruit cupcake in the mix!