Cupcake Royale Makes My List of Top Ice Creams in Seattle

Welcome to Cupcake Royale!

A look inside the store, where you'll find coffee, cupcakes, ice cream, and more.

Confections at the counter.

A nice assortment of cookies.

Babycakes. Small, so you can eat more!

The popular Red Velvet cupcakes. Cupcakes are added, frosting and all, during the extraction process of the ice cream-making.

Red Velvet ice cream on top with Bananza below, which has bursts of roasted banana flavor, caramel, rum, and chewy chunks of chocolate brownie. I got this in—what else?—a Red Velvet cone.

The ice cream menu.

Can't get enough ice cream? Get pints to go.

Sit in the cafe, or take your cone to the sidewalk.

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Serious Eats just published my list of favorite frozen treats in Seattle. Just after compiling the list, Food & Wine Magazine unveiled its 25 “Best Ice Creams Spots in the U.S.” Two local picks made it into the list by Food & Wine, but not mine.

I applauded Food & Wine’s choice of Mora Iced Creamery and only excluded it as one of my favorites because it’s on Bainbridge Island, and not in Seattle. (Incidentally, a couple of years ago I named Mallard Ice Cream in Bellingham as one of the great ice cream shops in the state for a USA Today article.) Food & Wine’s other local pick was Molly Moon’s. While I admire Molly Moon’s success, I prefer places with homemade bases, and I find MM’s ice cream to be a little too sweet.

Some may be surprised that I chose to include Cupcake Royale, brand new to the world of ice cream. As I reflected on my month of ice cream bingeing, I recalled Cupcake Royale as just plain fun–with quality to back it up. No surprise, since founder and owner Jody Hall consulted with the fabulous Salt & Straw in Portland in developing her ice cream recipes.

Hall recently opened her sixth cupcake bakery at 108 Pine Street in downtown Seattle, and combined it with an ice creamery for double the fun. As with the cupcakes, the ice cream is made with local, seasonal, and natural ingredients. And lest you think the cupcakes and ice cream are separate products, the menu contains a signature line of Cupcakes ‘n’ Cream ice cream (such as Dance Party with Holly Hobbie), plus a number of bakeshop-inspired flavors (like Whiskey Maple Bacon Crack). For a closer look, check out the slideshow above.