Since I was off (still sick) Mr Shuck and I ventured over to the Alhadef Grill, a restaurant run by the Culinary Arts students at South Seattle Community College. (Great deal, by the way. $20 for upscale lunch for both of us.) Afterwards, we stopped by Bernie’s Pastry Shop, which is run by the Pastry Arts students. We will be returning!
Bernie's Pastry Shop- Click to enlarge.
Selection #1: Not exactly a cupcake, unless you consider it a cheese cupcake. Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake.
Pumpkin Spice Cheese Cake- Click to enlarge
When I opened the container (compostble plastic from Cedar Grove), the scent of pumpkin pie was amazing and the pastry was incredibly cute with the marzipan pumpkin sitting atop. I’m not sure what the straw was made from…it didn’t have a distinctive flavor, but added a bit of texture to the creamy cheesecake. Nutmeg was very apparent, but not overwhelming. Rating: ♥♥♥♥.
Selection #2: Pumpkin Cupcake layered with marshmallow and marscapone cheese, topped with caramel glaze and fleur de sel, and filled (we realized later) with caramel. (Yes, we had a pumpkin extravaganza!)
Pumpkin Cupcake- Click to enlarge
After my experience yesterday with Cupcake Royale’s bitter, overly burnt tasting caramel, I was a bit hesitant to try the caramel on top of this cupcake. The marshmallow layer was a bit rubbery and didn’t “stick” to the other layers, so the cupcake fell apart when I cut into it; this revealed the caramel center.
Click for a better view of the caramel filling
Because the cupcake broke in half, I ended up essentially having 2 different cupcakes: Pumpkin with salted caramel and marshmallow AND pumpkin with marscapone and caramel. Both were delicious. The caramel in this cupcake did not have the burnt flavor of Cupcake Royale’s icing. The salt was AMAZING on the top of the cupcake and was such a contrast to the sweetness of the marshmallow and caramel. As for the bottom of the cupcake: the marscapone was creamy and light and worked well with the caramel, pumpkin and spices. This cupcake just bounced Trophy’s Strawberry Lemonade off the top 5 list. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Mr Shuck has added this to his top 3 cupcakes, joining my Mocha Truffle cupcake and Cupcake Jones’ What’s Up Doc (carrot). And surprisingly just suggested that we return to the pastry shop on Friday to see what they have!
Extra special info: Our total pastry bill: $4.75. What a bargain!
The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection 