In the past few years, Americans have abandoned their kitchens and hit popular cupcake shops to satisfy their pastry cravings.

In Palo Alto, two such shops have opened in the past couple of months and are within just two minutes of each othe: Sprinkle’s and Kara’s. While there are many similarities between these hotspots, their differences can help you decide which place to stop by the next time you want a cupcake and are too lazy to make them yourself.

Kara’s Cupcakes is located in Town and Country Shopping Center and has two other shops in San Francisco. The cupcakes are made with local, organic ingredients and the company prides itself on the fact that every ingredient comes from less than 100 miles from San Francisco. The decor is very feminine, with pink walls and a simple menu. Customers may choose from a total of 14 flavors including Karrot, Raspberry Dazzle, Chocolate Velvet and Sweet Vanilla. Kara’s offers mini cupcakes for $2 each and regular or filled cupcakes for $3.25 each. I tried both the vanilla flavor and Raspberry Dazzle. The vanilla frosting was extremely sweet and creamy while the cake tasted more like flavored bread, which was not too sweet. The raspberry cupcake’s frosting didn’t have a strong flavor, but it was sttill sweet. The chocolate cake under the raspberry topping tasted awkwardly chalky and similar to wheat, a result of a failed attempt in making a healful cupcake. Not only are these cupcakes as expensive as those offered at Sprinkles, they are noticeably smaller and not as tasty.

While Kara’s Cupcakes attempts to bring back memories of childhood, Sprinkles turns buying cupcakes into a hip trend for children and adults alike. Sprinkles is famous for importing expensive and fine ingredients like vanilla from Germany and chocolate sprinkles from France. Originally located in Beverly Hills, Sprinkles’ cupcakes have been a celebrity hit and a designer treat. Sprinkles has locations in Newport Beach, Dallas, Scottsdale and now Palo Alto in Stanford Mall. It will soon open in more locations in other major cities in the U.S. and even Tokyo.

The decor is chic and funk, with colored circles decorating the bar. Customers have about ten flavors to choose from every day; a total of twenty flavors are rotated. Their classic flavors are Black and White, Chocolate Marshmallow, Cinnamon Sugar, Dark Chocolate, Red Velvet and Vanilla. Some of their more exotic flavors include Lemon Coconut and Pumpkin.

All of their cupcakes are regular-sized and are $3.25 each. I sampled a vanilla cupcake as well as a strawberry one. The strawberry topping had a strong flavor and tasted like thick yogurt. The cake underneath it was not too sweet or too plain but was a little too hard for a cupcake that is supposedly fresh. The vanilla cupcake, on the other hand, was much more paletable. While the frosting was just as sweet as that of Kara’s, it had more flavor and the sprinkles gave it a fun texture. The cake underneath it tasted much more like a real cake than Kara’s did and was neither too sticky nor crumbly.

The only major problem that comes with buying a cupcake from Sprinkles rather than from Kara’s is the absurdly long line. Not only do customers line up outside the store just to order, but they line up to pay for their cupcake and then once again to receive their treat. I probably waited about forty minutes in total just to buy a snack.

Cupcakes from either of the locations are overpriced and not any tastier than homemade ones. But, for a special occasion or an occasional treat, Sprinkles is definitely the better option.