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This is a guest post from fellow cupcake addict Stacy of Cupcake Crusaders. Every Tuesday for the month of November, check out Stacy’s guest posts as she names her top five favorite cupcake shops in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Visit Cupcake Crusaders every Tuesday in November to see my top five picks for favorite cupcakeries in the Kansas City suburbs!

Roland Park Bagel Co. is a corner bagel shop located on Coldspring Avenue in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It primarily serves bagels (obviously), coffee, sandwiches and paninis, but it also has cupcakes! I was really surprised to see them on Baltimore magazine’s top 10 list for cupcakes and knew the other crusaders and I had to try them.

{Roland Park Bagel Co. is located at 500 W. Cold Spring Lane in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

After I saw them on the list, Crusader Elisa and I decided to organize a “cupcake night” at my house, but unfortunately Crusader Jenn couldn’t join us (we did save some leftovers for her though). We decided to get cupcakes from three locations, one being Roland Park Bagel Co. The shop doesn’t have an online cupcake menu, though; instead it has about eight rotating daily flavors.

{Roland Park Bagel Co. has a wide selection of cupcakes and other sweets. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

On my first visit, some of the cupcakes didn’t have labels, and the person who helped me didn’t seem to know which flavors were which, so I got what I thought was a cookies and cream cupcake and a black bottom with caramel frosting cupcake.

{Chocolate Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting and a Salted Caramel Cupcake from Roland Park Bagel Co. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

The cookies and cream was actually some kind of chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese frosting and the black bottom with caramel frosting had a hint of saltiness (which we love with our caramel). Even though the employee behind the counter didn’t know the cupcakes too well, they were excellent, which is why we had to include them in our top five favorites for the city of Baltimore. The cake was rich and fluffy and both frostings were creamy and flavorful. I also love that they are the only place in Baltimore proper that uses parchment paper instead of cupcake wrappers. I think it’s kind of neat and sets them apart.

{Pumpkin Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Cookies and Cream Cupcake from Roland Park Bagel Co. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

Besides not always having a strong knowledge of what the flavors of the day are, sometimes the staff can be less than cordial. They aren’t rude, but they don’t go out of their way to make you smile, either. These reasons, combined with their sub-par packaging (see below) are why Roland Park Bagel Co. isn’t higher on our list. If the staff would share a smile or two, and if they invested in proper cupcake carryout containers, Roland Park Bagel would easily place higher on our list.

{Frosting fail. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

It’s hard to recommend a cupcake (if we had to pick one or two) because the shop does rotate flavors on a daily basis, but if you are ever there, I would say to get one with cream cheese frosting. The shop has really perfected its recipe for this, and it is a definite must-have. On my most recent visit, I selected the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. The pumpkin cake had plenty of pumpkin flavor, but was a little on the dry side, which is not common for Roland Bagel Co. cake, but the frosting was mouth-watering delicious. It definitely was the star of the cupcake.

{Pumpkin Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Roland Park Bagel Co. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

I would also recommend anything with chocolate cake from Roland Park Bagel Co. For a bagel bakery, its chocolate cake manages to be right up there with the best cupcakeries in the city of Baltimore. I also got the real cookies and cream cupcake on my most-recent trip (not the one they claimed was cookies and cream during my first visit). The frosting evoked an Oreo cookie, just like I expect from a cookies and cream cupcake, and the chocolate cake was decadently rich and wonderful, even two days after purchasing it.

{Cookies and Cream Cupcake from Roland Park Bagel Co. Photo Courtesy Cupcake Crusaders}

If you are ever in the Baltimore area and are craving some bagels, paninis (which are also really good) and cupcakes, Roland Park Bagel Co. is your one-stop shop for them all. The shop has a nice area to sit and enjoy your fare, or you can take everything to go. Just watch out if you get your cupcakes to go because they might not be as pretty as they were when you ordered them — but they will still taste great, you can count on that!

Have you ever visited Roland Park Bagel Co.? Do you prefer to get cupcakes from “proper cupcakeries,” or will you chance it on one-stop shops like this one? Tell me your thoughts in the comments section — and tell me any recommendations for more delicious East Coast cupcakeries!

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