Tag Archives: Rocky Road

Kupcakes & Co. Always Doing New Things

Posted on by
4

Kupcakes&Co_NewBoutique
(New limited time Boutique Cupcakes, including: Banana’s Foster, Rocky Road, and Moose Tracks.)

We visit and review Kupcakes & Co. a lot and one of the reasons is because they are always doing new things, adding new flavors, and increasing their offerings of baked goods. For example, their cheddr chive biscuits aret a brilliant idea! I recently stopped in to grab one as I was passing by in the morning because hadn’t eaten breakfast yet.

Kupcakes&Co_Biscuit

They open early and have been offering coffee and homemade biscotti for some time, but (tough as it may be) I might not have stopped in on this particular morning if I wasn’t able get something savory (because I was already on my way to pick up a dozen cupcakes…shocking, I know).

Kupcakes & Co. is what I would have already described as the best in a boutique cupcake experience. We’ve shown you pictures of their cute storefront, talked about how wonderful the customer service is, and shown you many photos of their beautiful cupcakes. And now they are taking it to the next level…They are opening a Boutique Celebration room, and I got the scoop and a sneak peek!

Kupcakes&Co_BoutiqueCelebrationRoom
(Photo courtesy of Kupcakes & Co.)

The new space, adjacent to their storefront, will be available for parties of up to 24-30 guests. For now, they will focusing on adult events, such as bridal showers, but I suspect it will only be a matter of time before they host a cupcake party for a lucky little girl.

The Boutique Celebration room will be unveiled during a Grand Re-Opening event, on Saturday, June 8th from 10am-3pm. The party room will be fully decorated with all of the trimmings you’d expect (The owner, Michelle, also revealed to me that they have plans for a custom mural to be painted by a local artist). Of course you can’t have a Grand Re-Opening without cupcakes, so Kupcakes & Co. will be serving up free samples, new dessert items and will also have prizes and giveaways. The Crusaders will definitely be stopping by!

Some of the treats you might be able to sample are their new line of Boutique Cupcakes. We’ve been trying to review all of their Boutique Cupcakes, because they bring the ultimate in cupcake indulgence and are only offered for a limited time. We missed the last round, which was a pie theme (Key Lime, Coconut Cream, and Boston Cream), but couldn’t miss the latest: Banana’s Foster, Rocky Road, and Moose Tracks.

Banana’s Foster

Kupcakes&Co_BananasFoster

I was expecting the Banana’s Foster cupcake to be my least favorite of the three, based strictly on appearance, but I should have known better. You can’t judge a book (or cupcake) by its cover, right? While it’s still a pretty cupcake, it didn’t seem to have the thrills (i.e. toppings) that the others had. Man, was I wrong! The banana cake was so moist and full of flavor, and the homemade caramel filling took the level of moistness up even higher. Paired with a light meringue frosting (love!), this cupcake had the perfect amount of sweetness.

Rocky Road

Kupcakes&Co_RockyRoad

Rocky Road is hands down, my favorite ice cream flavor. While I was really excited about this cupcake, all in all it was my least favorite of the three because it was the most “expected.” The signature fluffy, moist chocolate cake was baked with walnuts and filled with marshmallow cream that oozed into the cake. That part was really amazing. The cupcake was then piled high with chocolate buttercream. I had to pull out a fork to eat this cupcake. If you love milk chocolate frosting, then this cupcake is made for you. It’s very rich, so keep a glass of milk nearby!

Moose Tracks

Kupcakes&Co_MooseTracks

As soon as I heard the description of this cupcake, I knew it would be my husband’s favorite. It’s a vanilla cake stuffed with homemade fudge and a peanut butter cup and topped with chocolate peanut butter buttercream. If that’s not enough, it’s then also topped with another bit of fudge and a mini peanut butter cup. The fudge…oh the fudge! It’s like someone said, “I really love peanut butter chocolate fudge, and I’m going to add cake to that.” The cake was pretty much just a (delicious) vessel for the fudge. Even the frosting tasted like peanut butter chocolate fudge. My only note is that I didn’t detect the peanut butter cup on the inside, so maybe it melted in the baking process or my husband had it in his half? But really, it was still so amazing that I didn’t say to myself, “Hey, where’s the peanut butter cup?!”

Dark Chocolate Ganache Preakness Cupcake

Kupcakes&Co_PreaknessCupcake

This Dark Chocolate Ganache cupcake is on Kupcakes & Co. regular rotating menu, but they like to dress it up for special occasions. This particular one was for Preakness, but you can also see these pretty flowers on their Mother’s Day cupcakes and more. I had never tried the Dark Chocolate Ganache cupcake before, but being a big fan of dark chocolate, I’ve had my eye on it. As simple as it may have seemed (underneath the flower and sprinkles), especially compared to the Boutique Cupcakes, it wasn’t simple at all. The ganache was rich and cocoa-y without the extra sweetness of milk chocolate buttercream. And the chocolate cake, always moist and light, is perfect on its own.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Kupcakes & Co. yet, their Grand Re-Opening would be the perfect opportunity. Check out their website or Facebook page for more info, and maybe I’ll see you there!

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

Advertisement

Memorial Day Crusade to Smith Island

Posted on by
1

Memorial Day weekend is a holiday to remember the men and women who served and died for our country. Most people get that Monday off and enjoy having the extra down time. For the past few years I’ve spent my Memorial Day weekend with my friend Kevin and his wonderful family (our significant others also joined us). This year I knew there would be a cupcake crusade mixed in between the fishing, beaching, tanning, eating, and drinking. While in Ocean City at the end of April for the OC Half Marathon, I researched the Smith Island Cake Company and knew I HAD to get there over the long Memorial Day weekend. Luckily for me, I only had to trek to the Ocean City Outlets, as there is a store front located right over the Rt 50 bridge on the mainland.

I adore their traditional layer cake and was very excited to try their cupcakes. Little did I know they also have coffee, tea, etc… so while at the shop I picked up a chai latte and a free sample of their traditional layer cake. Both were divine. The staff were friendly and the shop was very contemporary and clean. Now onto the cupcakes!

Coconut

If the texture of coconut isn’t something you like, this cupcake isn’t for you. The cake is on the dryer side, and is chock full of shredded coconut. The icing was light and fluffy, but lacked in flavor and oddly tasted more like whipped cream than true buttercream icing. The cupcake looked so yummy that it was a bit of a let down overall.

Lemon

The lovely lemon flavor of this cupcake makes it stand out among the rest. The moist cake and lemon curd filling (let’s face it, you all know I love curd!) create a sweet but tart treat. The icing was light and fluffy, but wasn’t lacking in flavor. Overall this was my favorite cupcake of the bunch.

Strawberry

Macerated strawberries are fantastic on top of just about anything (for example, short cake, pound cake, angle food cake, etc), and was great as a filling in this delicate cupcake. The moist, airy cake was simple, while the icing was the same light fluffy icing that was found on most of the cupcake options. Sometimes fruit flavors can be too sweet, because there is too much sugar added to the already sweet fruit, but this cupcake was a great balance of sweetness. I’d definitely eat this one again and think it would be a good base for my next baking experiment! (I’m thinking a basil/strawberry spin!)

Sundae

An ice cream themed cupcake? It was too good to be true… and sadly it was. The cake was moist, but flavorless and I really missed the caramel flavor completely, which I found odd as it was supposed to be “injected” with caramel. The chocolate icing on the other hand was fantastic. Not too sweet, very smooth, and creamy, this icing and filling saved this cupcake from being totally boring, with a cherry on top.

Chocolate Peanut Butter

This delectable cupcake was filled with creamy peanut butter and topped with the same creamy chocolate icing I described above. The cake was a little on the dry side, but with all the filling and icing I barely noticed. I would order this cupcake again and eat it while I drank a cup of coffee.

Rocky Road

Another ice cream themed cupcake?! This one, like the other was a bit of a disappointment. While the cake was moist, and the chocolate icing was good, there was not enough marshmallow fluff or flavor to create that true “rocky road” experience and the almonds slices weren’t crunchy.

While I love Smith Island Cakes traditional layer cake and will gladly pay $4.50 a SLICE, I am not sure I would go back for another half dozen cupcakes. The cake was a little too inconsistent and something seemed to be lacking in almost every cupcake. I did love the chocolate icing, but I’d rather buy it in a tub to spread on my own cupcakes. Overall I am just grateful to Kevin and his parents for the wonderful weekend, and for sharing in my cupcake crusade!

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