Tag Archives: peanut butter chocolate

Everyone Wins with La Casa de Sweets!

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NoKidHungry_CupcakesALL

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.

NoKidHungry_Cookies

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.

NoKidHungry_SaltedCaramelChocolate

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.

NoKidHungry_LemonMascarpone

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.

NoKidHungry_PeanutButterChocolate

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)

A Baker with a Heart in PA

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Everyone knows the story of the Tin Man and his yearning to “only have a heart.” Luckily for him, the Wonderful Wizard had everything under control in the land of Oz. While Evans City is in Pennsylvania and not Oz, it seems the Tin Man has landed there and has his heart set on baking.

TinManSweetsSign

Tin Man Sweets is an adorable bakery in that little town, just north of Pittsburgh. Named the number 2 cupcake in Pittsburgh, I knew they deserved a visit. My Nona’s 81st birthday in March was the perfect excuse to head up that way to hang out and eat cupcakes. The shop is full of baked goods; pies, muffins, donuts, bread, even gluten free options, but I only went home with 3 cupcakes to taste.

Vanilla Vanilla
TinVanilla

Standard flavors aren’t always my thing as I prefer more exciting combinations, but this cupcake was a vanilla masterpiece. The perfectly moist cake and smooth frosting were both bursting with vanilla flavor. My only issue with this cupcake was that it was gone in too few bites.

Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
TinChocPB

All three of the Crusaders like flavor combinations with peanut butter, and this cupcake wouldn’t disappoint any of us. Chocolate cake, so often, seems to be dryer and too sweet. Not the case with this cupcake, it was simply sweet enough, moist, and very rich. The peanut butter frosting was smooth and creamy with a punch of peanut flavor.

Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
TinBananPB

Wow was I glad that I saved this cupcake to eat last. The banana cake was light and moist, unlike most which are dense and muffiny, and had true ripe banana flavor. Paired with the same smooth peanut butter frosting, the flavor combination is one of my new favorites! I liked this cupcake so much that I might have to try and make my own version of this cupcake for my next baking experiment!

TinManSweetsTrio
(My Tin Man “trio,” with my favorite in front!)

With a heart of gold, this bakery was worth the trip out to Evans City. Moist cake, smooth frostings, and great flavor combinations made Tin Man Sweets cupcakes the perfect dessert for a visit with Nona. The next time I make the trip up that way I plan on stopping in and trying some of Tin Man’s other sweet offerings, as well as bringing back some cupcakes for Crusaders Jenn and Stacy to try!

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

Well deserved “Crumbs”

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A couple of weekends ago I ran my very first full marathon! Running through Washington DC I tried to remember not too push too much and to enjoy the historic sites we were passing along the course. It obviously worked, because 26.2 miles later, I had completed the Marine Corps Marathon and I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I’ve mentioned in the past how much fun it is to receive the medal at the end, and at this marathon’s end, a Marine placed the medal around my neck and saluted me. WOW.

While running for just under 5.5 hours, I thought about a lot of different things and dessert kept popping up. I knew how I wanted to celebrate finishing the marathon—with cupcakes! After going back to my friend’s apartment in Arlington, to clean up and rest a bit (A very special thanks to my friend Kevin and his roommate for letting me stay overnight, a stone’s throw from the starting line) I hopped on my phone and searched for cupcake places close by that were still open on a Sunday night. My inner Crusader told me someone HAD to be open—sure enough Crumbs in Clarendon, VA didn’t let me down!

I stopped in and the very helpful staff helped me pick out a couple of celebratory cupcakes (and I picked up a Chai Latte for the ride home).

Mudslide

This cupcake looked and smelled amazing. Chocolate chips, Oreo pieces, Baileys icing, and chocolate cake… yeah, I couldn’t think of anything better either. This cupcake was moist and flavorful, and tasted a bit like the drink it was named after, but mostly just tasted chocolatey. I’m not always a fan of chocolate chips on top, they can add an odd texture for me, but with this cupcake they worked.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

This cupcake looked like the yin to the Mudslide cupcakes yang… but carried its own flavor profile. The peanut butter icing was perfect in taste and texture, the chocolate icing was the same, and the chocolate cake was rich and not too sweet. With this cupcake, the peanut butter chips added that extra hint of peanut flavor, which otherwise might have been overpowered by all the chocolate.

I also got two of their “Thanksgiving Special” flavors. You’ll get to read about those cupcakes in a future post! (Sneak peak – they are Pumpkin and Apple Cobbler.)

I learned two things that weekend: 1. Running a marathon is crazy… and I might just be crazy enough to do it again (and again). 2. Always listen to your inner Crusader, because there WILL be a cupcake shop close by, that is open. And hopefully it will be as good as Crumbs was!

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

Guest Review | Crusadin’ in Cali, at Frosted Robin

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Friend and Healthy Crusader Rebecca always has cupcakes on her mind. (Who doesn’t?) And the Crusaders are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and followers thinking of us, because even on a work trip to California, Rebecca couldn’t help but join in our cupcake crusade. Below is her review of Frosted Robin, located in San Diego. Another Guest Crusader, Julie, has also reviewed Frosted Robin, but we love getting different perspectives. Enjoy!

On a recent trip to San Diego for the Tessitura Network conference, I did a search to find out if there were local cupcakes close by (many thanks to the Crusaders giving me the bug!) and found this beautifully quaint cupcakery down in Seaport Village called “Frosted Robin.”

After perusing the very attractive selection, my coworkers and I selected 6 cupcakes and brought them back to share with some of our Tessitura friends at our final lunch. We sliced each cupcake into 6 bites and passed the morsels around the table so we could enjoy them together. After all, “happiness is only real when shared.” (See Into the Wild if you haven’t already.)

The following are our opinions on the flavors featured in our half dozen.

Cayman Spice – Coconut milk infused cinnamon and nutmeg cake, coconut buttercream icing and cinnamon sugar sprinkle.

This was very enjoyable in flavor, but we found the cake to be a bit dry. We tasted a lot of the cinnamon and nutmeg, but the coconut was missing from the flavor. The frosting was light and very nicely frosted onto the top in a floral pattern (as all of their cupcakes are!)

Red Velvet – Red velvet cake, buttery cream cheese icing

The red velvet was very bright in color but the cake did not have the rich, chocolate taste that it should. Though the cream cheese frosting was enjoyable, the cake overall was pretty bland.

Peanut Butter Chocolate – Chocolate cake, peanut butter frosting, chocolate ganache, peanut butter cup topping

The cupcake packed a big peanut butter flavor and was my personal favorite of the group. The chocolate cake wasn’t as strong as it could have been to stand up to the peanut butter frosting, but this had a nice light texture.

Cookies and Milk – Chocolate-cookie-cake, cookie crumb icing

We were looking forward to this cupcake and it definitely delivered on the overall flavor of cookies and cream but, unfortunately, it was more of the Kellogg’s Cookie Crisp flavor than the “fresh-from-the-oven-at-Grandma’s-house” flavor.

Lemon – Lemon zest cake, zesty icing

I usually like a LOT of lemon flavor in my lemon cake, so I would have liked a more intense flavor. The frosting was light and the extra lemon touch on the top was very nice.

Cherry Cream Cheese – Cherry-vanilla cake, Cream cheese icing and cherry filling

The cream cheese icing was delicious and the cherries were also in the cake, though it really was the cherry on top that tied this cake together perfectly.

I found overall, that they were smaller cupcakes for their price – $3.23/each. The cakes were a bit dry, but the frosting helped to complete each of the flavors. My co-worker Chris also ordered one of their “Robin’s Eggs” cake truffles and found it to be delicious moist cake, wrapped in a chocolate coating.

Special thanks to Rebecca and the Tessitura Tasting Crew!

- Review by Guest Crusader, Rebecca (Baltimore, MD)

Guest Review | Ashley’s College Cupcake Adventure Part 2 | New York Penn Station & Lynchburg College

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Our friend, Ashley, recently graduated from Lynchburg College and spent her entire last semester sending us photos of all the cupcakes she encountered while there. Since her classes kept her busy, she wasn’t able to write up a review for us, but now that she has finished with school she took some time to share her experiences with us. In her first review she shared the cupcakes she tried from one specific location on campus, Brewed Awakening. In this second review, she is sharing two other cupcakes she encountered prior to graduating.

Other than cupcakes from Brewed Awakenings, I snatched up cupcakes whenever I had the chance. The first one I tried was over Christmas break when I took the train home to Rhode Island.  I was excited to find out that I would have to change trains in New York City and had an hour and a half layover in Penn Station. Normally I wouldn’t be happy about a layover but I love New York so I was excited to be able to spend a short amount of time there.  While there, I wanted to get as much of the New York experience as possible so I was sure to have hot dogs for dinner, spend some time outside, and get a cupcake in the train station.  Sadly I didn’t take pictures of the cupcakes behind the glass but I was quick to snatch up my safety option: peanut butter and chocolate.  I was really excited about this cupcake because it was at least twice the size of a normal cupcake, but it was so big that I decided to wait until I arrived at my destination, where I knew I would be staying in a household with five other people eager to help eat it.

Considering the cupcake was shoved into a backpack for hours and then sat in the fridge for another half a day it was still very good! The cake was moist and the peanut butter and chocolate combination was delicious as always. The only complaint I have is the chocolate and peanut butter chips on the frosting. Although they were tasty they were kind of hard and took away from the taste of the frosting. I would have preferred just the Reese’s cup on the top, but that is just my personal taste and texture preference.  Based on this cupcake though, I definitely want to try other cupcakes at Penn Station!

The next non-Brewed Awakenings cupcake that I had was at an end of the year reception at Lynchburg College. It was a simple chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and topped with mini M&Ms.

I was excited when I saw the cupcakes as dessert but at the same time I was not expecting a whole lot because the cafeteria on campus catered the food. Although our cafeteria generally has very delicious cupcakes, I still did not expect much and also was not even sure that they made these themselves. They had clearly travelled a good distance to get to our reception because they weren’t as pretty as some of the other cupcakes I have seen and it was very hard to handle due to all the frosting. After the first bite into the cupcake, though, I was pleasantly surprised. The cupcake was really good! I was afraid that the frosting would be too much at first, however it was a whipped cream base and much lighter than I expected.  The overall cupcake was so good that I actually had another one before I left the reception. They were a pretty big hit and regardless of where they came from they were delicious. I would eat another right now if I could.

My senior year of college was hectic and packed with internship work, thesis writing and applying for a job in South Korea, but my new found interest, cupcakes (thanks to Jenn and Stacy!), made the semester much more enjoyable. Now that I know there are so many different cupcakes out there I definitely can’t wait to try others and look forward to hearing about more from the Crusaders!

- Review by Guest Crusader, Ashley (Lynchburg, VA)

Guest Review | Just Baked | Detroit, Michigan

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Today we have a guest review from an awesome fellow cupcake lover, Karla. Karla recently visited Detroit, Michigan and knew she couldn’t leave until she found out what they had to offer when it came to cupcakes. She was able to stop by Just Baked and has shared her story and photos with us below. Thanks Karla!

While in Detroit, MI I had the pleasure of stopping by Just Baked cupcakery. Since Just Baked is listed as a Top 10 cupcakery in Michigan, I decided to try my luck and visit their downtown location. The shop is located in the historic Dime Building: a neoclassical architectural style building that didn’t look like a place housing fun and sweet treats, but I had faith.

I was immediately taken to a happy place upon entering the shop. The colors, art work, and menu really invite you in.

I was greeted by a friendly member of staff who was able to answer questions I had about the many cupcakes proudly on display. Just Baked has between 25-35 different varieties of cupcakes every day. After the shock of being in cupcake heaven, I decided to get the following three flavors for myself: lemon, peanut butter chocolate, and chocolate fudge.

Lemon Cupcake: My first bite was more cake then frosting and I was happy to find the cake light, moist, and tasting just like a lemon cake should. My second bite was filled with frosting as well as cake and that’s when I made “the face”.  Sadly, I tasted no lemon in the frosting whatsoever. It tasked more like good cake with butter on top. A disappointment. After scraping off the frosting I was able to enjoy just the cake.

Peanut Butter Cupcake: I tried the peanut butter cupcake next and had a similar reaction. I enjoyed the chocolate cake. It was moist and not dense but once again the buttercream was lacking the peanutyness. I felt as if I were eating chocolate cake with colored butter.

Chocolate Fudge: I saved the chocolate fudge cupcake for the next day, determined to try them all. Success! I was happily surprised with my first bite of the chocolate with fudge frosting. The second day cupcake was just as moist and yummy as it could have been the day before. The fudge was perfect, not too heavy and it tasted oh, so good. I enjoyed this cupcake.


(Cupcakes from Just Baked: Bottom Left – Chocolate Fudge; Bottom Right – Lemon; Top Right – Peanut Butter Chocolate)

Overall Just Baked cupcakery offered many things I liked and one major thing I didn’t. With so many cupcake flavors available I would got back and try more, just not any with buttercream. Until next time Detroit!

- Review by Guest Crusader, Karla (Baltimore, MD)

Guest Review | Brewed Awakenings at Lynchburg College | Lynchburg, VA

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We have another new guest reviewer! Our good friend Ashley recently graduated from Lynchburg College and spent her entire last semester sending us photos of all the cupcakes she encountered while there. Since her classes kept her busy, she wasn’t able to write up a review for us while she was there, but now that summer is in full swing she took some time to share her experiences with us! In this first review she chronicles the cupcakes she tried from one specific location on campus. Thanks Ashley!

I must admit that when Jenn, Stacy, and Elisa started talking about cupcakes all the time I never thought that it would escalate to the creation of this awesome blog that I enjoy following so much. Cupcakes really are the perfect sweet for me because they are generally pretty small so they are the perfect size for someone who wants to limit his or her sweets intake (like me). While I am nowhere near the cupcake “expert” that the Crusaders are, I have since started eating cupcakes more frequently and find myself capturing the moment in a photo each time to share with the Crusaders and give them my own personal thumbs up or down.

I recently graduated from Lynchburg College, a small liberal arts college in Lynchburg, Virginia and during my last semester there I often visited Brewed Awakenings, the coffee shop located in the building where I worked. One day, while I waited in line I noticed some amazingly delicious looking cupcakes. My initial thought was, “Brewed has cupcakes now!?” – this is when I knew the cupcake phenomenon had reached Lynchburg and I couldn’t resist buying one to see if they were as good as they looked.

One of my favorite flavor combinations is peanut butter and chocolate, something I share with Crusader Jenn’s husband, so without hesitation I chose their Peanut Butter and Chocolate cupcake.

I took just enough time to take a picture of it before I rushed to work with my cupcake so that I could dig in. Considering this was the first cupcake I got from Brewed Awakenings I was not quite sure what to expect. After the first bite, however, I was completely sold. This cake was so moist and complemented by the peanut butter frosting and topped off perfectly with a piece of a Reese’s Cup, my favorite candy. The flavors blended well and completely satisfied my peanut butter and chocolate addiction.

I am very much a creature of habit, so on each visit to Brewed Awakenings I was tempted to get the peanut butter and chocolate cupcake again, but as the semester progressed I deviated and ended up trying several other cupcakes:

Key Lime:

This cupcake was just as, if not more, moist than the peanut butter and chocolate cupcake. I was originally not sure what to think about key lime because I have not had much of it in the past, but the woman working behind the counter insisted it was delicious so I took her word for it. She was certainly correct! The cake was moist and had the perfect amount of lime mixed in with it and the frosting was delicious with specks of lime sprinkled on top of it. Yet again I was completely sold! I would definitely recommend that, if you have yet to do so, you try a key lime cupcake next time you see one!

S’mores:

I love s’mores so words cannot express how completely excited I was about this cupcake.

Just looking at this cupcake my mouth started watering. The frosting with the graham cracker sprinkled on top of it with the mini marshmallows looked so delicious.  Maybe it was the mental build up, maybe it was the fact that the past cupcakes were so good, or maybe it was a mixture of the two but I was sadly disappointed by this cupcake. The frosting and everything on it tasted fine and made the cupcake edible but the cake portion of the cupcake was very dry and resembled corn bread texture (which was surprising based on how moist the past cupcakes were). This was very disappointing especially because I am not a big fan of the texture of corn bread. Perhaps if the cake portion of the cupcake was a little better it could be a totally different cupcake, but I definitely need to try a good s’more cupcake sometime to alter my current opinion on them.

Peppermint Patty:

Following my disappointment from the s’more cupcake I was a little nervous but I dug in anyway. I was relieved when the cake was more moist than the s’more cupcake, although not as moist as the peanut butter and key lime cupcakes. This cupcake was exactly like a peppermint patty with the chocolate covering and the peppermint filling frosting. The flavors all blended really well together and made for a very nice redemption cupcake. The only minor complaint that I have about it is that it was extremely sweet; however, in my opinion, peppermint patties are also extremely sweet so I suppose it was very fitting.

Classic Chocolate and Classic Vanilla:

These two are some of the less memorable cupcakes.  They weren’t horrible but they also didn’t stand out to me as fantastic either.

I wish I were able to tell you who brought these cupcakes to Brewed Awakenings; however, every time I asked the workers behind the counter they did not seem to have an answer for me. The closest thing I got to an answer was that they were delivered by a personal baker who only operates from her house and does not have an actual bakery. If I find out any additional information I will be sure to update everyone!

- Review by Guest Crusader, Ashley (Lynchburg, VA)

Partying in Western New York with Cupcakes

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Stacy and I have been traveling together for many years, and each time I’m reminded why she’s my favorite travel partner-in-crime! We always seem to find fun, even when we are least expecting it. This past weekend we trekked up to Hilton, NY for our friend Alli’s daughter, Freya’s, 1st birthday and house warming party. On our way there, we needed to stop for something to eat, and after randomly selecting an exit (Corning, NY to be exact) we ended up smack-dab in front of Walker Cake & Coffeehouse – with a cupcake on the awning!

It was kismet, we were meant to take that stop and run into our first cupcake taste of the trip. (Honestly, it would amaze people if they knew how often things like this happened when Stacy and I were together.)

Walker Cake & Coffeehouse Cupcakes:

“Mega” Size Chocolate Peanut Butter
In Stacy’s own words: “The ganache was thick and set up like the frosting on a chocolate frosted doughnut from DD… So good! The peanut butter frosting was really thick, almost like the peanut butter you would find in a buckeye or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I have mixed feelings on whether that’s appropriate for a frosting, but it was SO GOOD. The cake was dense and crumbly but moist.

Carrot Cake
Unusual in flavor, this carrot cake might be the best carrot cake cupcake I’ve ever eaten. The frosting was not the usual cream cheese, but was a thick and subtly sweet buttercream, a perfect complement to the moist, spicy, and savory cake. This cake was not like any carrot cake I’ve ever had – there was something special about it – neither Stacy nor I could put our finger on what it was, but it really made this cake stand out and shine. I only wish I had gotten in the “mega” size, because this cupcake left me wanting more.

Soon after, we arrived at Freya’s 1st birthday party and enjoyed watching her play, spending time with our friends, relaxing with a beer, and eating the delicious cupcakes that Alli made for the party. They were a chocolate stout beer cake with a cream cheese frosting. YUM! They tasted as good as they looked, in fact, I couldn’t resist eating just one.

Stacy researched and found fantastic and fun things for us to do – so after eating a wonderful breakfast the next morning at our B&B, White Farm, we headed over to Avon, NY for a huge flea market. We found some fun items to purchase, walked around for a long while, and worked up an appetite for cupcakes.

Our first cupcake stop of the day was in Penfield, NY called Dollop. They’ve won Cupcake Wars and had an interesting “build-your-own” spin on a cupcakery. After selecting our cake, frosting, filling, and toppings we were ready to order, and eat!


“Peach Cobbler” (Vanilla Cake, Peach Filling, Cream Cheese Frosting, and topped with White Chocolate Chips)
So good! Loved the cream cheese frosting even if it was a bit runny. Vanilla cake was a great texture and the filling was perfect.

“Caramel Apple Pie” (Vanilla Cake, Apple Pie Filling, Caramel Frosting, and topped with Graham Crackers and Caramel Sauce)
This cupcake was just as good as the Peach Cobbler. The caramel drizzle was a great addition because the caramel frosting was very subtle. The star of this cupcake was really the filling though!

“Caramel S’mores” (Chocolate Cake, Marshmallow Filling, Caramel Frosting, and topped with Graham Crackers and Marshmallows)
Really worth the wait! The cake was moist and had great texture, the fluff filling was basically melted into the cake, but had great flavor, the icing was subtle in caramel flavor, and the graham cracker and marshmallow topping made this the perfect combination.

“Cinnamon Apple Pie” (Vanilla Cake, Apple Pie Filling, Cream Cheese Frosting, and topped with Cinnamon)
Yummy vanilla cake with very flavorful apple pie filling, cream cheese frosting and cinnamon sprinkled on top = delicious. All of the components of this cupcake were shinning stars, I couldn’t pick my favorite part, I just want to order another one.

Stacy and I agreed that the pricing at Dollop was a bit more than expected for that size cupcake:

Cake & Frosting: $2.50
Filling: $.25
Topping: $.50
**You can earn a free filling with your first Foursquare Check-in

However, after tasting the cupcakes, neither of us minded spending almost $4 for each one.

After Dollop, we headed to Pittsford, NY to visit Dolce Cupcakery. This adorable shop was in an old barn and was so cute; inside was really lovely, with adorable photos of kids eating cupcakes on the walls. What a slice of heaven that whole area is, situated right on the canal we decided to eat lunch there too, but back to the cupcakes:

Blueberry Pancake
This cupcake was a slight disappointment as the frosting seemed to be made with a large amount of shortening, which we weren’t fans of. It made the frosting lack depth of flavor and left your mouth coated in a greasy film. The cake had really great flavor and seemed to be a blend of blueberry cake and brown sugar cake. While the flavor was good, it was very dense, more like a muffin.

Peanut Butter Chocolate
The cake was a bit heavy, but that is the only negative thing I have to say about this cupcake. The frosting was very flavorful, thick, and unlike the Blueberry Pancake cupcake didn’t seem to have any shortening in it, thank goodness. The cake had a peanut butter cup baked into it, which is always fun and adds another level of texture. Maybe it was the frosting that made me love this cupcake so much, maybe it was the chocolate flavor of the cake, either way, I scraped the plate clean.

It was a fantastic weekend, full of friends, food, drinks, and cupcakes. Stacy and I are so lucky to be able to travel all around and spend time doing things we both love. I can’t wait to see what our next trip will be, and I wonder what we’ll randomly run into next time!

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

Florida Fun, Relaxation, and Treats! Simply Cupcakes of Naples

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After a week of sweet reviews from our recent trip to Florida, we have finally arrived at our last one, Simply Cupcakes of Naples. Before heading to Florida I would often stalk visit Simply Cupcakes’ Facebook page admiring all their cupcake photos, so I knew we had to stop in to sample their oversized cupcakes.

When we arrived at Simply Cupcakes the owners and staff were in the middle of a meeting, but that didn’t keep them from taking a break to show us all the flavors and talk a little bit about the company. We learned that the company was started in 2006 by selling cupcakes at a local farmers market and now there are many locations throughout Florida and the United States. We also learned that Simply Cupcakes offers a program to help bakers start up a Simply Cupcakes online company. It’s not a normal franchise opportunity, but rather, they go over things like legal requirements for at home baking, calculating your costs, marketing yourself, and even provide recipes. It’s everything you need to start up your own Simply Cupcakes!

After learning so much about Simply Cupcakes, we were ready to get some cupcakes! I immediately knew two of the flavors I would be getting: Funky Monkey and Key Lime (their signature flavor). When Simple Cupcakes posted about Funky Monkey on their Facebook page I couldn’t help but comment, and they happily told me they would make sure that flavor was there for us to try!

The remaining cupcakes we decided on were Carrot Cake, Red Velvet (for Crusader Elisa), Hint of Mint, and Raspberry Almond. We found out that they predominantly use an Italian meringue buttercream for their frosting which gives each cupcake a lightness that is greatly appreciated in the hot Florida air.

Funky Monkey:

The Funky Monkey cupcake was everything I dreamed it would be. Banana cake, chocolate ganache, peanut butter filling and a strongly flavored, yet light and airy, whipped peanut butter frosting. Crusader Jenn and I both agree that this is one of our all time favorite cupcakes.

Key Lime:

Made with a key lime curd filling, this cupcake was another crowd pleaser. Any one who has ever tasted a regular lime vs a key lime knows that the key lime packs more flavor and more tartness than the regular lime. It’s no wonder that this is the signature cupcake of a Florida cupcakery.

Carrot Cake:

I wish I could say that I tried this nicely decorated cupcake, but we purchased this for my Nana (one of the most wonderful grandmothers ever!). She loves carrot cake so when we saw that Simply Cupcakes had that option, we quickly added it to our growing list of flavors we would be purchasing that day.

Red Velvet:

This Red Velvet is another that I didn’t have a chance to try since it was for Crusader Elisa. I have to admit though, that with its tasteful, yet simple, decorations it traveled quite well from Fort Myers to Baltimore in my cupcake container.

Hint of Mint:

After reading the notes for this cupcake that Crusader Jenn took (yes, we often take actual notes…) I had to laugh because she wrote: “Stacy grunted twice: ‘ganache… mmmmm…’” I sure do enjoy my cupcakes. ;) At first I thought the frosting could have used more mint flavor, but looking back it was the perfect amount for sitting by the pool on a warm day. I think if it had been any stronger it may have made the cupcake feel much heavier, which is not what you want on a hot day.

Raspberry Almond:

This cupcake was a great way to finish our tasting with. It had a fluffy almond flavored cake, raspberry preserves smeared on top, and was finished with a soft Italian meringue buttercream and almond shavings. It was light and refreshing. Another perfect treat when relaxing by the water.

I’ve always looked forward to visiting my family in Florida. I spent countless summers there growing up and it really is like a second home to me. Now that we have discovered some amazing cupcake places it will make our visits there even “sweeter.”

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

Weekend Cupcake: The Baltimore Area Cupcake Hobbyist

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When a reader recommended Weekend Cupcake, I knew I had to check them out. We love getting suggestions on new cupcakes to try, so I immediate headed to their Facebook Page to scope them out. After browsing through their photos of tasty looking cupcakes and reading all the rave reviews on their timeline, I contacted them to find out where they are located and if they would be willing to put together a tasting dozen for us to sample. The creator of Weekend Cupcake, Mark, emailed me back right away and said he would be thrilled to do that for us!

Throughout our correspondences I learned that Mark refers to himself as a “Cupcake Hobbyist” and his goal is to “deliver affordable, tasty and gourmet cupcakes to customers so they have an enjoyable event.” Weekend Cupcake was looking better and better and I began counting down the days until it was time to pick up their cupcakes.

We decided on a tasting dozen that consisted of 4 different flavors. I knew 2 flavors would be Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Dark Chocolate Caramel Toffee Bar, the other 2 would be a surprise. After about a month or so of waiting, it was finally time to get my cupcakes. When Mark arrived at our agreed upon meet up location he took time to talk a bit and go over the cupcake flavors with me.

In addition to the 2 flavors I already knew about, Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Dark Chocolate Caramel Toffee Bar, there was also Chocolate Chocolate and Chocolate Peanut Butter. Knowing that I would never be able to finish all 12 on my own, I headed over to my sister’s house where she, Crusader Jenn, and I split them up (Crusader Elisa was unfortunately out of town that weekend). After my nieces went down for their naps, we dove in!

I started with the Dark Chocolate Caramel Toffee Bar pictured above. Ohhh.Emmm.Gee. The moist yellow cake was infused with toffee pieces and filled with a dark chocolate ganache. Then, the cupcake was topped (as you can see) with caramel, toffee, chocolate, and a Rolo candy piece. If I recall correctly, I mumbled many praises with a mouth full of cupcake.

Crusader Jenn decided to start with the classic Chocolate Chocolate cupcake. At first we thought it might have been topped with sea salt, but it turned out to be large sugar crystals, which kept this cupcake sweet and added a nice crunch. On its own, the cake was moist and light, however, probably could have been a little richer in flavor. But the frosting… WOW. So rich and creamy that it was a full on chocolate explosion. In fact, the frosting was so decadent that the light chocolate cake probably created a better overall cupcake experience.

My big sister, Alissa, choose the Peanut Butter Chocolate to sample first. She doesn’t join us on all our cupcake adventures, but she has been on enough to know a good cupcake when she tastes one, and this cupcake had her smiling from ear to ear. The big surprise was that this cupcake had a full size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup baked inside the cake! Peanut Butter Chocolate is a favorite flavor for my husband so (being the wonderful wife that I am…) I shared with him. We both really enjoyed it and I think it may actually be one of the best Peanut Butter Chocolate’s he’s ever tried.

The last cupcake left was the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This cupcakes is the perfect summer treat! It was light and moist with a pineapple ring and a maraschino cherry baked in the bottom.

Weekend Cupcake really did make my weekend! Crusader Jenn and I liked them so much that we are actually thinking of ordering some for our big 30th birthday coming up. His prices are very reasonable and his cupcakes are scrumptious. That’s a winning combination in my book.

If you would like to find out more about Weekend Cupcake visit their Facebook Page or email Mark at weekendcupcake@gmail.com.

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