I have fallen in love with my fair share of baked goods. Everyone has a favorite local bakery, and the place I’m about to talk about is unquestionably one of my top two favorites in Berkeley. The cupcakes there taste like no cupcake I’ve ever had before. A hidden gem in the Gourmet Ghetto of Shattuck Avenue, Love At First Bite is a quaint shop housed in a small, cozy, hidden plaza. The owner, Patricia Powell, perfects each cupcake flavor and makes them from scratch with premium ingredients, such as Mexican vanillas, Saigon cinnamon and butter, milk and eggs from the local dairies.

Unique names like “Bunny Love” and “Pretty in Pink” always attract me. In Bunny Love’s cream cheese frosting, I could taste the Philadelphia cream cheese that complemented the lighter pineapple-flavored cake with carrot and pecan pieces. Pretty in Pink, the bakery’s famous strawberry cupcake, released an intense aroma of fresh strawberries, which were strongly sweet with a sour hint. The cupcake may be a little too sweet, but the cake part was moist. The frosting was so smooth and lush that it just melted in my mouth.

As one of the best gourmet cupcake shops in Berkeley, Love At First Bite, with its sensually named cupcakes, is one of a kind. There is something for everyone here, from the real cupcake purists who want to indulge in a “Lemon Kiss” or get their hands on a “PB Affair” to all dessert lovers who want to spoil themselves with different types of sweets, such as puddings, cookies and standard cakes. Whether it be Monkey Love (banana cupcakes with vanilla frosting), Hummingbird (banana, pineapple and pecan cake with cream cheese frosting), Razzle Dazzle (vanilla cupcakes with raspberry butter cream) or Lemon Pistachio (lemon cupcakes with pistachio butter cream), these perfectly made cupcakes will always continue to surprise and gratify.

Love At First Bite is located at 1510 Walnut St., Suite G, Berkeley, CA 94709.