Cupcake Central

Friendly and helpful servers. Brilliant selection and consistently delish standard ones (red velvet. Salted caramel). I love this place!

Though cupcakes are on their way out, it’s still nice to have one now and then, especially as post-​Christmas shopping fuel.
The cupcakes at Cupcake Central are consistently moist and delicious. Flavours rotate every day, though staples like red velvet are available everyday. At the counter there is even a weekly calendar so that you can plan your week around flavour availability. I recommend visiting on a salted caramel day! No matter when you go, though, there are always really good flavours, Most come in minis as well, so you can try a few.
Although you’re in the heart of the Melbourne Central eating area, Cupcake Central do have their own seating area, which is decorated with just enough retro kitsch to make you smile and let you forget that you’re in a crowded mall.

1 star for the prettiness of the cupcakes here. They looked so soft, light fluffy and scrumptious.
Such a pity that all my expectations fell on the ground like the stale crumbs of the cupcake I bought. I know cupcakes are so 2009 but really it’s a simple little thing to make well. Freshness is a key ingredient here my friends.
As a dedicated dessert lover I was disappointed with the cupcake and general service levels.

So here I am early for a movie and to meet someone so what to do? Well I could shop or wander or … I could eat a beautifully moist delicious cupcake!
I am not a huge cupcake lover not am I usually a fan of chain stores but this place does an epically moist red velvet cupcake and one of the best chocolate malt milkshakes around. Important to note that they are consistent, Melbourne Central store is just as awesome as my local highpoint store! However this store doesn’t have salted caramel as a daily regular which made me a little sad but my red velvet cupcake more than made up for this!
So if you have a free ten minutes riding solo before a movie I recommend hanging here!

Don’t tell my husband, but I’ve been here three times this week. And YES it’s part of my diet. My ‘be happy today’ diet.
I love these guys for two major reasons. 1: everyone who’s ever served me here (at least five different staff) have been lovely, quirky, friendly and helpful; and 2: they have a daily gluten free and vegan cupcake, and sometimes even two GF/​V options. AND, they make them IN DIFFERENT FLAVOURS. At no more cost. With all the cute decorations of normal cupcakes!
If you don’t understand why I’m so excited about this, well, you’re probably not a glutard. I am so sick of limited gluten free options in life in general, that when I can eat an apple crumble cupcake that is just. delicious, then the next day a decadent chocolate avocado cupcake (don’t knock it til you devour it) and then a cookies’n’cream cupcake with a cookie on top… it’s just BLISS.
Not to mention they come out on gorgeous little wooden boards, and can be enjoyed in the spacious area in Melbourne Central between Cupcake Central and Plantation (sorry guys, I like to share the love, so I get my coffee across the way. Have to admit, I haven’t even tried the coffee at CC.)
Thanks for the great work guys, and seriously, keep the GF cupcakes coming.

The best red velvet cupcake in Melbourne. Moist, red and delicious. Leaves me bouncing off the walls.
Run.

It is MoMo & Coco’s good opinion that the most reliable outlets for classical cupcakes in Melbourne are Little Cupcakes and Babycakes, and for full-​bodied seasonal creations, Sugadeaux. These outlets may not offer as extensive a flavour range as Cupcake Central, but one may be assured of consistency — always moist flavoursome cupcake-​bases, with a balanced cake-​to-​icing ratio, where the latter is not merely sugary, oily or buttery, and always tenderly packaged in individual boxes. Unfortunately, MoMo & Coco cannot bestow the same all-​round commendation to Cupcake Central. MoMo & Coco do indeed rate as quite exceptional, their red velvet and chocolate-​based cupcakes, and the evident effort exerted into formulating seasonal flavours. However, having such an extensive flavour range comes at great expense, with Cupcake Central’s vanilla-​based cupcakes and a few of its seasonal creations being rather lacklustre, carelessly-​executed morsels, the epitome of why many people cannot justify spending money on cupcakes and prefer instead to home-​bake. Moreover, one’s disappointment is compounded by the fact that Cupcake Central seems to have forgotten that eating-​out is about the whole experience, not just the food alone: paper-​bagging cupcakes and surcharging for a box is akin to a restaurant that does away with plates and cutlery. By having such a presentation policy, Cupcake Central has melded into its foodcourt setting, treating its cupcakes as paper-​bagged fast-​food rather than lovingly-​packaged creations, therefore depriving its paying customers (vis-​à-​vis PR-​friendly entities) the true joy and beauty of cupcakes. Overall, notwithstanding MoMo & Coco’s love for their red velvet and chocolate-​based cupcakes and their seasonal creativity, it’s an utter shame that a minimum spend must be reached before adequate packaging is provided. It’s a shame that we can no longer share Cupcake Central cupcakes with family and friends, mortified as they were with undignified squashed cupcakes.

It’s official: cupcakes have exploded. I mean this figuratively, so don’t expect fluffy deliciousness to fly at your face. It makes sense, the cupcake fad. They’re such an easy treat — easy to hold, bite-​size, flavourful, and they have a sense to them reminiscent of childhood.
So where can you go to get one of these delights? The Melbourne CBD streets are absolutely littered with stores, but most them are chains. I haven’t eaten at them all, but I find the Cupcake Bakery to offer a different kind of presentation and taste. Firstly, you get to see them make it, which always appeases me. In addition to that sanitary fact, the cupcakes come in bite-​size or regular so they’re suitable for all appetites and self-​disciplines. I also find these little cakes to be more decorative than others, and with take-​away boxes they can be transformed into a last minute office birthday surprise.

Now I know why the cops were always asking for reinforcements from central in the 30s pulps. It’s because they love sweet cupcakes. And these cupcakes are pretty sweet. I don’t know how they do it, but the Cupcake Central cupcakes seem to remain moist long after they should have dried out.
More than that, they’ve got the branding down pat. As long as they offer flavours like cherry pistachio and lemon & mandarin, you know that Melbourne folk will keep eating them up.
The thing that impresses me the most, however, is that they recognise the number one law of commerce: make it easy for people to give you their money. In addition to the normal-​sized cupcakes, they offer itsy-​bitsy sized cakes along with a range of drinks.