Tasty Tuesday/Cupcake Chronicles: Happy Day

 (*Sorry this post is late - better late than never, right?  I thought I published this yesterday, but as it turns out, I only saved it. XP  Apparently I'm still recovering from the massive brain cell massacre I suffered in Sororityland.)

Oh, Happy Day!
(Oh, Happy Day...)
Oh, Happy Daaay!!!
(Oh Happy Day...)

As promised, I have lots to tell you about Spanish cupcakes!


I was  beyond delighted to come across this charming little bakery/mini-mini-mini-café in the trendy district of Malasaña one day, while I was trying to find a shortcut from my apartment to Calle de Fuencarral (one of the main shopping streets in Madrid).  I had no idea that there were cupcakes here in Spain!   So of course, I couldn't resist going in and sampling what they had to offer.

red velvet cupcake

The bakery was very tiny and kitschy, kind of reminiscent of the 50s in the States.  It was stocked full with all kinds of Americana - cupcakes, of course, along with cake mixes, Betty Crocker products, etc.  It's really cute and charmingly decorated.  There's only one miniscule table and two seats in there, but most people grab their goodies from here and go.   My first visit here, I chose a red velvet cupcake.

I can never resist red velvet.  There's just something so decadent about them.  Happy Day even has whole red velvet cakes, which you can buy slices of.  Their cupcakes in general are not the most elegant - lots of food colouring in their meager icings, slathered on like I would at home (as opposed to piped on nicely) with some kind of decoration on the top.  Red velvet had a berry candy.

The flavour was pretty good.  I couldn't really taste any cocoa, but the cupcake was nice and moist, which to me is really important.  The icing, however, didn't taste like cream cheese icing at all - there wasn't much flavour to it besides sweetness, although it could have been vanilla.  The size of the cupcake was also decent - kind of a bit smaller than what I'd make at home, but that's because I greedily pile on a ton of batter when I make mine.  A cupcake here costs 2 € - pretty fair, I think.

The next time I went, I really wanted to get my favourite - white or yellow cake with chocolate icing.  I asked if a certain one that looked about right was vanilla with chocolate frosting, and the lady said yes, so I went for it.  Sadly, it turned out to be orange-flavoured, which was a huge disappointment because I had my heart set on my fave!  It would have been perfect for my orange-chocolate-combo fan mom, though.

carrot cupcake

Then the last time I went, I tried again to get my favourite.  I ended up with this pretty creation with a flower on it, pictured above.  After the saleslady assured me that this was indeed vanilla and chocolate, I went outside...and this turned out to be carrot cake with a caramel/dulce de leche-type frosting.  I was SO bummed, I can't even tell you.

It was moist but me, I'm not a really a fan of carrot cake.  It seems to be a novelty here though, and people seem to like it, but it's just not my cup of tea.  So I was really, really sad to not have the cupcake I set my heart on twice.

So the verdict of Happy Day cupcake is: ***

The bakery is adorable, the price and size and value are decent, but the misleading service really bummed me out - and the cupcakes themselves, while okay, were really nothing to write home about.

Happy Day
C/ Espiritu Santo, 11
28004 Madrid
Spain