Everyone Wins with La Casa de Sweets!

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

This year the Crusaders were unable to host a Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry like we did last year. However we still wanted to help out Jackie, from La Casa de Sweets reach her goal. When she posted the menu for her pre-order bake sale, we couldn’t resist. First, a dozen cupcakes were only $20. Wow! Secondly, the flavors sounded amazing. I decided to throw a dozen cookies on top of my order, because those also sounded too good to pass up.

I’m so glad I followed my instincts with these cookies. All of them were chewy! I’ve told Jackie before that it seems like magic when a baker makes a cookie that stays chewy for days. The Peanut Butter Oatmeal was gluten-free and I never would have guessed it. Neither did my daughter or husband who gobbled them up. The Fudgy Brownie cookies had a thin crunchy exterior, but were very soft on the inside and just melted in my mouth. And the Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies, which I first tried when Jackie donated a couple dozen to our Passionately Pink Bake Sale, were the most perfect chocolate chip cookies you could imagine.

La Casa de Sweets’ cupcakes can all be summed up by a quote from my husband after trying the Chocolate Salted Caramel, “La Casa de Yum.” The chocolate cake was moist and even with a generous drizzle of caramel, the cupcake wasn’t overly sweet. For me, it was a harmonious balance of flavors.

Have I mentioned before that I LOVE lemon cupcakes? I’m sure I have, but if not, well…I LOVE lemon cupcakes. And La Casa de Sweets’ version sits at a high ranking. The cake on the Lemon Mascarpone cupcake was on the dense side, but not dry. I found the lemon flavor to be refreshing (not artificial), not overly sweet, and perfectly tart.

I have a secret about the last cupcake, Chocolate Peanut Butter: I didn’t tell my husband that it was egg and dairy free. He still doesn’t know (well, maybe now he does). Chocolate and peanut butter combinations are his favorite, so I wanted to get an unbiased review from him. All I got was a bunch of caveman like sounds, that resemble, “MmmHmmm.” With that, I’d have to say he was completely satisfied. The chocolate peanut butter cake was more moist than the Chocolate Salted Caramel, which was hard to believe. The cupcake was rich, decadent, and bursting with flavor, even though from its appearance it seemed like a simple cake with just a glaze on top.

Even though I felt like I was the winner, with these cupcakes and cookies as my prize, La Casa de Sweets met their goal, raising over $1,000 in one week for No Kid Hungry, through bake sale purchases and donations. That’s amazing!

It isn’t too late to donate. If you’d like to help out, please visit La Casa de Sweets’ donation page. Thanks!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Baking Adventure: Bourbon Black Forest Cupcakes

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

I’m not usually a big fan of Black Forest cake. I like fresh cherries, but can’t seem to get into anything else that has cherries in it, or a cherry flavor. That was until Guest Crusader Beth, from Sweetness Follows, gave me a jar of her Bourbon Cherry Jam. As soon as I tried it, I knew I wanted to use it in a cupcake (you may remember we used her Raspberry Chambord Jam in Chocolate Raspberry Chambord cupcakes).

(Sweetness Follows jams are available on Etsy in seasonal flavors.)

I had un-frosted chocolate cupcakes in my freezer, waiting to be turned into something good. After thawing, I filled them with the delicious jam. Since I didn’t have to bake or cook anything, the first two steps made these the easiest cupcakes I’ve ever made.

The first two steps being so simple, I decided that I needed to do something to challenge myself…this is called a “Baking Adventure” after all. So, instead of picking up a tub of Cool Whip or can of whipped topping, I decided to make my own.

I’ll be honest, I was scared. I watch Food Network, I know making whipped cream can make or break a dessert (I’ve seen it happen on Chopped). The cream may never set properly or you can over whip it. There’s such a fine balance to making it successful.

Well my fear was for nothing, because my whipped topping was PERFECT. I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com for Black Forest Cake, which included the frosting. I only made a half batch, so I used 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream, but instead of the small amount of confectioner’s sugar, I slowly added in about 1/2 cup so that it would be stiffer (hoping I wouldn’t mess it up!). The recipe didn’t tell me how long to whip it with an mixer, only to do it until it formed stiff peaks. I opted to pull out my hand mixer, thinking that I might over whip it with my standing mixer.

In the end I was really please with how the frosting piped, yet was still super airy (just like what you’d expect from the aerosol can stuff). The cupcakes were pretty good and not overly sweet, thanks to the liquor infused jam and light frosting. What I really loved was how simple they were and I learned not to be afraid of making my own whipped cream! I need to get my hands on more Sweetness Follows jams, since they are so good in cupcakes!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Fenwick Bakery: A True Baltimore Bakery

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Stacy

Opening Day at Camden Yards is not an event to be taken lightly in Baltimore City. If you happen to be stuck at work (like me), don’t expect emails in your inbox or the phone to ring, it just won’t happen—or at least not often.

This past Friday was Opening Day and even the local bakeries get into the spirit. Fenwick Bakery never misses a chance to celebrate our city’s sporting events, so on Friday they converted their Fedora (a cupcake baked without a liner, flipped upside down, and then covered in a chocolate shell whose shape mimics its namesake) into an Orioles’ Rally Cap:

FenwickBakery1
(Photo from Fenwick Bakery’s Facebook Page. No harm or infringement intended.)

Fenwick Bakery is a true Baltimore bakery, even if it isn’t located within city limits. According to them, their “love story” began when the two original owners married in 1913 and opened a bakery shortly after (originally named Uebersax Bakery). A century later, it has only had three different owners and still uses original recipes.

When you first walk in, you are immediately struck by the smell of fresh doughnuts. If that’s not enough to put a smile on your face, the two displays filled with baked goods that make up most of their small storefront surely will. But don’t expect any fancy decor or over the top greetings. Fenwick Bakery is a no-frills bakery that only promises to produce fresh, tasty treats. The women behind the counter won’t greet you with an over-the-top smile and perky “hello,” but they will ask you what they can get for you and put your order together quickly. If you are lucky, you might even get called “hon” or “babe.”

Unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to pick up their recent Orioles’ Rally Cap Fedoras, but it did remind us that we have been bad bloggers and haven’t shared ANY of the treats we’ve enjoyed from Fenwick Bakery, including the Fedora.

(Their classic Fedora and a Black Bottom cupcake we tried on our first visit)

When we tried the Fedora it had the perfect, rich, moist chocolate cake. The Black Bottom cupcake was the same, and might have been the best Black Bottom I’ve ever eaten.

On our first visit they didn’t have any regular cupcakes, but it wasn’t long after that I decided I NEEDED to try their doughnuts. While there, I saw they had made special Ravens cupcakes for the playoff games (yes that was about 3 months ago…did I mention I’ve been a bad blogger?).

Words can’t describe how unbelievably amazing their doughnuts are. They don’t have a ton of flashy flavors like Dunkin Donuts or Fractured Prune, but they are melt in your mouth amazing.

After having a great experience with the Fedora, Black Bottoms, and doughnuts, I had high expectations for their cupcakes. Unfortunately, they didn’t live up to my hopes. The cake was dry and the frosting tasted different than that of the oh-so-wonderful frosting on their doughnuts. I was bummed.

I don’t think I’d get their cupcakes again (never say “never” though, right?), but this down-to-earth bakery still has a lot to offer. And there is no way I can stay away from those crazy-good doughnuts for very long.

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Stacy (Baltimore, MD)

A Baking Adventure: Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

I don’t think I need to explain the awesomeness of Cadbury Creme Eggs, right? There’s something about them that causes excitement for their return every spring. So it seems only natural for the cupcake-lover in us to desire a merge between these wonderful morsels and cupcakes.

Because of this desire, there are A LOT of Cadbury Creme Egg cupcake recipes on the internet, but when I saw one from Pizzazzerie (one of my favorite blogs) it really stood out to me. I shared it with Guest Crusader Jen because teal is her favorite color and she loves Cadbury Creme Eggs more than anyone I know. She was visiting me the following weekend and quickly requested that we make them while she was here. So we did!

After looking at Pizzazzerie’s recipe, Jen and I decided to make a few modifications. While I would have loved follow the chocolate cake (from scratch) recipe, we decided to use a boxed mix, adding in a pack of pudding for extra moisture. It turns out that this was a really smart choice because I managed to forget the eggs in our batter! Thirty seconds after placing the cupcakes in the oven, we had to pull them out, fish out the chocolates, dump the batter back into the bowl, just to mix in eggs and start all over again. Can you imagine how much I would have messed up a scratch recipe? It was not my night to bake!

Another small change we made was using mini Cadbury Creme Eggs instead of the full-size ones. The full-size chocolate eggs would have been better in the end, but it would definitely be more costly. The mini eggs sunk to the bottom and melted more than it seems the full-size do. One tip a friend gave me is to freeze the candy first and then it doesn’t melt as much during the baking process.

I did make my own frosting, using Pizzazzerie’s recipe. Instead of almond extract I substituted pure orange extract, since Jen isn’t keen on almond flavor. I like almond, so I’m sure that would be an amazing complement to the Cadbury Creme Eggs, however the orange gave the frosting a hint of citrus flavor that went perfectly with the chocolate. I’ve only ever used fresh oranges for flavor, so I was concerned about overpowering the cupcake with citrus. For that reason, I only used 1/2 a tablespoon of extract. In the end, Pizzazzerie’s recipe yielded the perfect consistency for piping frosting (and also had a great flavor before adding the extract). It will now be my go-to buttercream recipe.

Jen and I of course kept the teal color, since that was one of the elements that originally attracted us (and it matched the Easter cupcake liners perfectly). The piped frosting created a “nest-like” look around the chocolate egg, which I loved. Once done, I couldn’t help but think that these might be the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever made! Well…maybe the teacup cupcakes were a close contender…

We hope you are able to indulge in some fun cupcakes this weekend. Have a Happy Easter!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Ready to Pop! Push Pops

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

Not that this will surprise anyone, but I love baby showers. And bridal showers. An excuse to celebrate with food, games, gifts, and a room full of women? Sign me up! A friend of mine, Lyndsey, is expecting a baby girl soon, so that means that I recently got to attend her shower. But it wasn’t just any shower…it was hosted by her sister, Guest Crusader Jessica, of Poundcake Press. Jessica is a very talented designer who loves cupcakes as much as the rest of us. I knew this party would be great, including all the fine details that don’t go unnoticed by a party lover.

(Party signage designed by Poundcake Press. Visit their Etsy shop to see more great invitations and stationery.)

Jessica came up with a great theme and coordinated the food, decorations, and signage into one cohesive look. The pink cake was amazing, with four pink layers and sprinkles that looked liked glass beads. But the real star (other than the momma-to-be, of course!) were the push pops. I’ve been wanting to try cake push pops, so imagine my excitement to see them at the party. I should have known, since the theme was “Pop!” Duh! I grabbed one right away, with permission from the host, and I’m glad I did because they went FAST.

(Cake push pops lined up in DIY stands.)

The push pops were chocolate-chocolate with colorful sprinkles. I love that the containers are so easily available to us DIY party lovers now. I think the best part of a cake push pop is the experience. They are fun and nostalgic, reminding me of the ice cream push pops I used to eat as a kid. And with the stands that Jessica made, they added that extra “Pop!” to the dessert table.

(Push pops make eating cake so easy and mess free!)

I was honored to be a part of the celebration and happy to indulge in all the treats. Lyndsey, who will be an amazing momma, and Jessica, who will help her little niece become the perfect little cupcake lover, are wonderful ladies to be around. They laugh easily and often, and it’s contagious, so anytime I get to see them is always a great day. Throw in some sweet treats and I’d call it a perfect day!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Artifact Coffee: Lunch with Coffee and Cupcakes

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Stacy

I would venture to say that I love coffee just as much as cupcakes. The variety alone gets me excited: espresso, cappuccino, latte, macchiato, cream, sugar, the list goes on. With all the options and flavors I could go weeks without repeating the same order.

I’ve recently decided that Artifact Coffee, located in Hampden (Baltimore, MD), may have the best coffee ever. Not only is their coffee superb, but they have created an atmosphere that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. Mismatched antique tables, chairs, and displays surround you and even the baristas are adorned in clothing from the past. In addition to amazing coffee, Crusader Elisa and I recently discovered that they sell chocolate cupcakes.

Elisa and I were doing our best to be “good” so we split one cupcake and each had two small (but glorious) bites. Chocolate cupcakes aren’t always my favorite because I find that the cake is often not rich enough, or the frosting is too sweet and more like milk chocolate, but Artifact chocolate cupcake is perfection: rich, moist, dark, and completely decadent.

Another thing to love about this cupcake was that the liner looked and felt like a coffee filter. I have no idea where they got these, but they fit so well with the antique and coffee theme found throughout Artifact.

Artifact’s coffee is so wonderful that they’ve already sealed the deal on me as a repeat customer, but knowing that on future visits I might be able to combine two of my favorite things puts a big smile on my face.

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader Stacy (Baltimore, MD)

Elisa’s “From Scratch” Baking Experiment: Savory Chocolate & Bacon Cupcakes

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Crusader Elisa

Bacon could be its own food group. (In my humble, bacon loving opinion.) My love of bacon is no joke. If there is bacon in the ingredient list, count me in. You’ll also find me at bacon related events like the recent Charm City Bacon & Bourbon Wars or the Mixology 101–The ABC’s: Alcohol, Bacon, Cocktails event a while back. This delicious cured pork product can be found in or on just about everything, even cupcakes. So you can see where my mind went when brainstorming my next savory cupcake idea. Why not bake with ingredients you love for Valentine’s day?

With bacon as the key ingredient, I knew chocolate was my next step and I found a great recipe for Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes on 52 Kitchen Adventures. Adapted from Joy of Baking’s chocolate cupcake recipe, this recipe intrigued me with its use of rendered bacon fat in place of some of the butter. After doing a bit more research I found out that you can easily substitute bacon fat for butter in ANY baking recipe as the sub ratio is 1:1. Who knew!

Now, one might think that in order to obtain rendered bacon fat for this recipe, you would have to cook the bacon for the recipe and then wait for that fat to cool. Not the case when you are a true bacon lover and always (and I mean always) have bacon fat in your fridge. Lucky for me I had just enough for this recipe and proceeded with making the batter while the pound of fried bacon strips cooled. Once the batter is mixed, you then add the crumbled bacon. No skimping on bacon flavor with this recipe, with both rendered bacon fat and real bacon crumbles right in the batter. I knew this cupcake was bound for greatness. (Side Note: I ran out of refined sugar and had to use 1tbsp of brown sugar to make up the difference, that substitution didn’t seem to matter, but I wanted to note it.)

With all that savory meat product in the cake, I wanted to make sure the filling and frosting had a sweet balance. So I decided to make the tried and true Chocolate Fudge filling I used in last years Chocolate Blackberry Syrah cupcake. This would add an extra punch of chocolate as well as a smooth texture. The frosting was inspired by the new Crown Royal Maple, because what kind of chocolate bacon cupcake would this be without a little whisky? Making buttercream frosting from scratch comes so naturally to me now that I just measure the butter and liquid (in this case the whisky) and add confectioners sugar until it is as sweet as I like.

Once everything came together, taking that first bite was nerve racking. I wanted so much for this cupcake to taste as fantastic as it looked…

And success! My love of bacon (and chocolate, but mostly bacon) didn’t fail me. Not only did this cupcake taste like a delicious mix of cured pork and smooth chocolate, but it was moist, fluffy and full of flavor. The Crown Royal Maple frosting was subtle, but paired well with the cake and filling. The bits of bacon in the cake were great and didn’t end up being chewy like you might imagine. The crunchy bacon bits on top added the perfect fried bacon texture. My co-workers and friends all seemed to like it as well, noting that they couldn’t believe how much bacon flavor they tasted and they really loved the fudge filling (that filling is always a winner).

The only advice I would give about baking these cupcakes is be careful when baking the cake as the baking time is listed as 15-18 minutes, but mine were done right at 15- any longer and they would have been overdone. Otherwise, get out there, buy some bacon and have at it, I promise these will not disappoint any bacon lover.

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Elisa (Baltimore, MD)

What’s NYC Fashion Week Without Cupcakes?

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

“Every year the women of New York leave the past behind and look forward to the future…this is known as Fashion Week.”
~Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

Something you may not know about me is that I am not the only talented (and modest) designer in the family. Of course there’s my twin, Crusader Stacy, but while she and I stick with graphic arts, my brother-in-law is a very talented fashion designer. The gene for visual art skipped my husband and went straight to his younger brother, David. David has been producing his own line of men’s accessories, called David Hart & Co., and has been doing very well with it, but this year was his time to really shine, presenting his first full line of menswear at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.

(David Hart’s Fall/Winter 2013 Menswear Collection, presented at New York City’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.)

I was honored to be invited to the presentation and very excited about having a reason to spend the day in NYC. Unlike what Carrie Bradshaw would do, I took the bus to the city, made my way around via the subway, and loved every minute of it! The best part of taking the subway was that I could stop at one of my favorite NYC bakeries, Little Cupcake Bakeshop, for a cupcake on my way to the New Museum, where David’s fashion show would be. Even better, was that I was able to meet up with my good friend and Guest Crusader, Jen!

(Quick photo-op with Guest Crusader Jen after our cupcake date.)

Having first tried Little Cupcake Bakeshop on a spur-of-the-moment cupcake crawl last fall, I knew that I could go in and get a great cupcake and warm cappuccino, which I was in desperate need of. While it was difficult, I was good and just ordered one cupcake: the Dreaming Princess.

This cupcake has an almond cake with raspberry jam spread on top, then covered in almond buttercream and topped with meringue frosting and toasted almonds. Jen and I both agreed that it was amazing. Perfect balance of flavors and sweetness with moist cake and a wonderful meringue.

Jen selected one cupcake to eat there, the Brooklyn Blackout, and took two home, the Peanut Butter and Jelly (which I assured her was one of Crusader Stacy’s favorites) and the Vanilla.

The Brooklyn Blackout was chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate which they spruced up for Valentine’s Day with some heart shaped sprinkles. Jen allowed me to have a bite and wow! It had so much chocolate flavor without being overly sweet. Just thinking about it makes me want one right now (and I just ate a cupcake…hey, you can’t write about cupcakes and not get hungry!).

Unfortunately Jen thought the Vanilla cupcake was just, “Eh,” and kind of boring. I guess they can’t all be winners. I’d be curious to get Stacy’s take on it since she’s becoming somewhat of a vanilla cupcake connoisseur.

Although it was a quick day trip, it was great to spend time with family and friends, eat some cupcakes, and have some new experiences. David’s presentation was my first fashion show, and while I’m far from being a fashionista, it was a lot of fun to feel cool, like Carrie, for a day! After all, we owe a lot to Sex and the City for bringing cupcake lovers out of hiding. So really, what would Fashion Week be without cupcakes?

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Winter Cupcake Craze: The Cupcakes You Haven’t Seen

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

You may have noticed, but we’ve been eating a lot of cupcakes this winter. Okay, we eat a lot of cupcakes all the time…but there is something about the winter and wanting rich comfort foods, versus light and refreshing flavors in the spring and summer. We’ve already reviewed a lot of winter flavors for you, like Chocolate Peppermint from La Cakerie and Sweet Hearts Patisserie, Eggnog from Vanilla Pastry Studio and PamCakes, Apple Cinnamon from Dessert Affairs, and we can’t forget the seasonal minis Crusader Stacy tried from Disney’s Epcot.

Aside from all these cupcakes we’ve consumed throughout winter, we’ve neglected to share with you some of the other new flavors we’ve tried from the bakeries we visit (very) frequently. Some are more seasonal flavors, others are flavors to satisfy you on a cold night. All were delicious.

Kupcakes & Co.: Cinnabon Cupcake and Reindeer Cake Pop

This year, Kupcakes & Co. had the same seasonal flavors as last winter. While we had our share of those again this year, I was also able to try a new flavor: Cinnabon. With their rotating menu and huge flavor selection, you might see flavors you haven’t tried before depending on the day you stop in. I really loved the Cinnabon cupcake, but I’m a sucker for a good spiced cake. Kupcakes & Co.’s cream cheese frosting can be too sweet for me sometimes (not that it stops me), but the cinnamon from the cake and the crumble topping balanced it perfectly.

While I was in there one day, the owner Michelle succumbed to Leah’s cuteness and gave her one of their reindeer cake pops. It was so well done that I had to snap photos before Leah devoured it. Kupcakes & Co. has added custom cake pops to their menu, so for each holiday you can stop in and find something creative and cute. They also had Santa hat cake pops, and now for Valentine’s Day, they have roses.

Snickerdoodles Bakery and Coffee House: Sugar Cookie, Eggnog, Nutella, and Éclair Cupcake

(Top left to right: Sugar Cookie and Eggnog cupcakes. Bottom left to right: Nutella and Éclair cupcakes.)

Snickerdoodles has been added to the list of bakeries that are household names. My husband will randomly say (on the few cupcake-less nights we have), “I wish we had some Snickerdoodles.” I also now have my big sister hooked. The Sugar Cookie and Eggnog cupcakes were special holiday flavors, and they totally lived up to their name. The cake in the Sugar Cookie cupcake had actual bits of sugar cookie in it and everything about it really tasted like a sugar cookie. I was very surprised, having expected it to just taste like a vanilla cupcake. The Éclair and Nutella cupcakes are regulars that are rotated. Yes, that’s a mini éclair on top (like the mini cannoli on their Cannoli cupcake). The Éclair cupcake could have used more pastry filling for my taste, but I’m addicted to that stuff. The Nutella cupcake was lacking in hazelnut flavor, but was still a decadent, delightful treat.

Starry Night Bakery and Coffeehouse: German Chocolate, Peanut Butter Lovers, and Sunday Morning Breakfast Cupcakes

(Top left: Starry Night’s new logo. Top right: German Chocolate Cake cupcake. Bottom left to right: Peanut Butter Lovers and Sunday Morning Breakfast cupcakes.)

You all already know how much we like Starry Night’s Quirky Cupcakes, and with all the love they receive from their customers, they keep adding to the line of flavors. I really like German Chocolate cake, mostly because of that coconut topping stuff, so I’m also a fan of it in cupcake form. Paired with Starry Night’s rich chocolate ganache frosting, it was heaven. The Sunday Morning Breakfast cupcake had maple frosting, topped with a caramel drizzle and chocolate chips. My notes for this and the Peanut Butter Lovers cupcake was, “Mmmmmm,” and that’s it. There may have been wine involved in this cupcake tasting…

IcedGems: Winter Wonderland Cupcake

Crusader Elisa picked this IcedGems seasonal cupcake up to try, while the rest of us drooled with envy. Here’s what she had to say about it:

This cupcake was just as its title described, a winter wonderland treat! The vanilla cake had white chocolate chips and dried cranberries in it and was perfectly moist and not too dense, which can be hard to achieve when dried fruit is added to cake. The frosting was a delicious orange buttercream that paired well with the cake flavors. Honestly, I was a little skeptical about how “Winter Wonderland” this cupcake would taste, but there was something about the way the cranberry and orange flavors mixed with the vanilla cake and white chocolate chips that made the flavors come together and create a very wintertime/really good fruit cake flavor. The adorable little white chocolate topper and dried cranberries were great decorations, and added to the wintertime feel. It was a really great cupcake for anyone who likes fruit flavors paired together and I hope to see it again next winter.

We hope that you’ve consumed some great cupcakes this winter, like we have. If you haven’t, it’s still not too late to get out there and make us Crusaders proud!

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Kupcakes & Co. New Boutique Cupcakes

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Crusader Jenn

Kupcakes & Co., which was recently listed in our Top 5 on Best Friends For Frosting’s blog, has started offering a line of “Boutique Cupcakes.” They are the same wonderful cupcake, taken up several notches with toppings, fillings, special frostings, and then more toppings. While their daily cupcakes are $2.50 each, the Boutique line of cupcakes are $3.50 each and only available on Fridays and Saturdays. For now they have three flavors: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Raspberry Drizzle, and Chocolate Pecan Turtle; and we’ve tried them all!

Chocoloate Chip Cookie Dough

Kupcakes & Co. started teasing us with their new boutique cupcakes, dropping hints here and there on their Facebook page, with photos of some of the ingredients, fillings, and frostings. As soon as I saw the chocolate chips in one of their posts, I knew there would be a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcake, and I had to have it. This really was the cupcake that brought me in on the day the Boutique line was released.

As an avid cookie dough lover, going so far as to make a small batch just to eat the dough, you can probably imagine my excitement when I first bit into this cupcake to realize that everything about it tasted EXACTLY like chocolate chip cookie dough. My exact thought was, “This is unreal! It’s like magic!” The frosting is already perfect and packs tons of chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, and then they take it to the next level with the cookie dough filling (which is actually baked in but maintains a doughy quality…I’m telling you, it is magical). I’ve been dreaming about this cupcake ever since.

White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Raspberry Drizzle

This cupcake is a vanilla cake, with a cheesecake center, topped with cream cheese frosting and a raspberry drizzle. I like cheesecake and the cheesecake filling in this cupcake is very good, but it is a very sweet cupcake (I think because of the frosting).

Chocolate Pecan Turtle

The Chocolate Pecan Turtle cupcake has chocolate cake with pecans baked on top, filled with homemade caramel, then topped with chocolate buttercream, more pecans, and drizzled with more of the wonder homemade caramel. It’s beyond decadent and I loved the texture the chunks of pecans added. I’m a big fan of the chocolate candy that inspired this cupcake, and now I’m a big fan of the cupcake as well.

You can sense the thought and time that Kupcakes & Co. has spent on creating these special cupcakes. The next time you are in their area (on a Friday or Saturday), I recommend stopping in and indulging in one of these Boutique treats. Which do you think you’d choose?

- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)

Cupcake Crusaders

We won't rest, until we've tried them all.

Tag Archives: Chocolate

Everyone Wins with La Casa de Sweets!

Baking Adventure: Bourbon Black Forest Cupcakes

Fenwick Bakery: A True Baltimore Bakery

A Baking Adventure: Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Ready to Pop! Push Pops

Artifact Coffee: Lunch with Coffee and Cupcakes

Elisa’s “From Scratch” Baking Experiment: Savory Chocolate & Bacon Cupcakes

What’s NYC Fashion Week Without Cupcakes?

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