The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection

Tag: chocolate

• Back to Eden, Portland OR

  Posted at 7:31 pm by MLea

  Nov 1st

  So, day 2 of our Portland trip started on NE Alberta at the Vita Cafe.  After an extremely filling and mostly delicious breakfast of free range eggs, vegetarian sausage, potatoes and a biscuit (sadly served a little rare), we walked down a few blocks to Back to Eden Bakery.   The shop was very homey and welcoming, with folk art and rustic furniture and displays.  Everything was vegan and they had a nice selection of gluten free items.

  Besides cupcakes, there were some other delights that I would have sampled….

  

  Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

  

  German Chocolate Mini Cakes

  I ended up choosing a hazelnut mocha cupcake and a gluten free chocolate peanut butter cupcake.

  I had higher hopes for the hazelnut mocha cupcake.  It was pretty in a simple way.  I love coffee.  I love hazelnuts (well, I love Nutella, I don’t normally eat a handful of hazelnuts).  Unfortunately, this cupcake tasted like neither.  In fact, the most dominant flavor I sensed was “banana”, but maybe there is something wrong with my taste buds.  Apart from the lack of distinct flavor, the cake was fine.  It wasn’t bone dry.  It was okay.  The icing was a little grainy, but not overly sweet.  There was a nice crunch from the crushed nuts on top.  I’ve thrown away cupcakes that were worse.  I ate my half of it.  Mr Shuck thought it was fine, just a little dry.

  I wasn’t expecting much from the chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  After all, it was vegan AND gluten free!  I was pleasantly surprised though.  I’m not saying that it was an incredible cupcake; it was a decent cupcake.  The icing was peanut buttery and smooth.  The cake was rich and fairly moist.  I liked it overall.  If I decided to give up all animal products, I’d give it another whirl.  Until I go completely vegan, I’d rather have my icing made with  butter or egg whites from some blissfully happy and well treated cows and chickens.  I don’t think that my palate is sophisticated enough that I could detect oil rather than butter in a cake batter.

  My sample size is fairly small, but so far Back to Eden has the best vegan and the best gluten free cupcakes that I’ve tried so far.  Since it’s only 8 blocks away from my favorite breakfast in Portland, I’m likely to return.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged back to eden, chocolate, hazelnut, mocha, peanut butter, portland

• Confetti Cupcakes, Issaquah

  Posted at 5:24 pm by MLea

  Oct 28th

  You’ll forgive me for the lack of information in this post.  We went to the Issaquah Salmon Days festival with our friends, the Chens.  We stopped off at Confetti Cupcakes in downtown Issaquah while we were wandering among the stalls.

  

  Confetti Cupcakes

  There was a nice display outside…

  

  

  Menu board

  Most of the flavors were pretty usual, but they also had Snowball…

  

  and pumpkin spice….

  and whatever this was….Very cute flower on top…

  As I said in an earlier post…I’ve been busy…I didn’t write anything down about these.  I don’t remember much.  The Chens took the pink one and we had the pumpkin spice.   It seems like it was a little underdone, but tasty.  I’ll try to do better in the future.  At least I didn’t delete the photos….

  I think I’m caught up now…

  We’re going to Portland again soon.  I’ll take good notes….

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate, confetti cupcakes, issaquah, pumpkin, raspberry, Snowball

• Divine Bites revisited

  Posted at 5:11 pm by MLea

  Oct 27th

  

  Back in May, we made a little side trip to Divine Bites on the way to Portland.  When we went  south again last month for VegFest, we stopped back in.

  I loaded up with a five pack of minis:  Butterfinger, The King’s Favorite, Nestle Crunch, Peanut Butter Dream, and Orange Cream.

  

  Butterfinger

  The Butterfinger was my favorite: a moist vanilla cake with a tiny bit of chocolate filling topped with vanilla icing coated in crushed up Butterfinger bars.  YUM!

  

  Nestle Crunch

  The other candy bar themed cupcake, the Nestle Crunch, wasn’t as delightful.  The chocolate cake was a little dry and crumbly.

  

  The King's Favorite

  The King’s Favorite is a banana cake with peanut butter icing and a tiny chocolate center.   The peanut butter icing was a little sweet, but the cake was moist and flavorful.

  

  Peanut Butter Dream

  The Peanut Butter dream consisted of a peanut butter cake filled with a bit of chocolate pudding and topped with peanut butter icing.  This one was a little too sweet for me.  It was moist and filled with peanut butter goodness, but also a bit too much sugar.  I’m not exactly sure what the chocolate ball on top was, but it didn’t add anything.

  

  Orange Cream

  The Orange Cream was not good.  The orange flavor in the cake seemed very strong and artificial.  The icing had flecks of vanilla bean in it and was probably good on its own, but I couldn’t get past the overly orange-ness of it all.  This did inspire me for a potential for “O” however.  If I decide on Orange Creamsicle, I’m hoping I can make it seem a little more light and natural.

  If I lived closer to Vancouver, I’d probably be in Divine Consign frequently, looking for household goods and having a little cupcake treat.    For now, I’ll be happy stopping in every now and then on my way to Portland.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged banana, butterfinger, chocolate, Elvis, Nestle Crunch, orange, peanut butter

• Katie’s Cupcakes, Bellingham, WA

  Posted at 5:36 pm by MLea

  Aug 16th

  This was my first trip to Bellingham and I would love to go back.  The downtown area is extremely cute and it would have been nice to walk around and look in the other shops.  However, we were in a hurry.  Mrs Chen, the little Chens, and I were enroute to Vancouver, BC to meet Mr Chen and Mr Shuck, who were riding their bicycles from Seattle to Vancouver, BC as part of Cascade Bicycle Club’s RSVP.

  

  We did take the time to visit Katie’s Cupcakes, one of 2 cupcake stops on this trip.

  I was very optimistic when walking up to the storefront and seeing such a cute window display.  Apparently their logo is by a fellow WordPress blogger, Frantic Pants.and then we walked in and the interior was happy and welcoming

  

  A place for the kiddies to play with lots of natural light...

  

  and colorful children's artwork on the walls...

  

  and cupcake related merchandise to buy...

  

  like T-shirts...

  

  even the bathroom walls were cute...

  There was a comfy chair in the bathroom so moms could nurse babies…or wait on their child to finish up….

  And, of course, there were cupcakes!

  

  Raspberry Truffle and Pina Colada

  

  Black Bottom and Red Velvet

  

  German Chocolate and Carrot Cake

  Also available that day:

  • Very Very Vanilla: white cake topped with vanilla butter cream
  • Classy Cupcake: white cake topped with chocolate butter cream
  • Black and White: chocolate cake topped with vanilla butter cream
  • Chocoholic: chocolate cake with dark chocolate butter cream

  All of the flavors were available in minis (called Maciecakes), so I chose 6

  

  MacieCake assortment

  All of the cakes were extremely moist and the icings were not overly sweet.  I didn’t even get to taste until late that evening and the cupcakes hadn’t suffered a bit.  I ate half of each of them that night and shared the other halves the next day.  All of the cupcake halves were still moist and delicious (although not very attractive as I dropped the box TWICE).

  • German chocolate (top left): This was a light chocolate cake topped with a coconut/nut frosting.  Excellent texture from the coconut and nuts.   I would definitely get this again.
  • Pina Colada (top right): Unfortunately the mini didn’t come with an umbrella!  This lack made it pretty unremarkable to look at.  Pineapple flavored cake topped with white coconut icing.  This bite of cake was just okay.  We had a much tastier Pina Colada cake at PinkaBella.
  • Black Bottom (middle left):  This was an amazing bite!  I must confess that I was unable to leave the other half until the next day.  I was unwilling to share this one!  Rich dark chocolate cake filled with a tiny dab of cheesecake filling, topped with a delicate chocolate butter cream, and garnished with a swirl of cream cheese icing.  Tangy chocolate goodness.  The best Black Bottom cupcake I’ve had.
  • Carrot Cake (middle right): Visible strips of carrot in a soft, lightly spiced cake.  The cream cheese icing was tart and lightly sweet.  No pineapple chunks or raisins!
  • Chocoholic (bottom left): The same dark chocolate cake as the Black Bottom, but topped with a bittersweet chocolate icing that was so dark it was almost black.  This one was also delightful.
  • Very Very Vanilla (bottom right):  I didn’t have a taste of this one, but was told that it was “very good” even the next day.

  If I lived in Bellingham, I’d have a hard time staying away from Katie’s.  I wish they weren’t almost 2 hours away!  I will definitely check them out again if ever I am nearby.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged bellingham, black bottom, Carrot, chocolate, katie's, pina colada, vanilla

• M= Moosetracks

  Posted at 7:59 pm by MLea

  Aug 11th

  For those of you that don’t know, Moose Tracks® is an ice cream by Denali® Flavors.   It is made into various store brand ice creams and other small dairies like Mayfield and Turkey Hill.  Moose Tracks® has a vanilla ice cream base and is accented with peanut butter cups and Moose Tracks® fudge.

  

  Trader Joe's Mini Peanut Butter Cups

  I started off my cup cake interpretation with a standard vanilla cupcake batter.  I creamed together 2 sticks room temperature butter and 2 cups sugar.  I then added 4 eggs and 2 teaspoonfuls of vanilla and mixed well.  In a separate bowl, I mixed 3 cups flour, 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder and a bit of salt.  I added it in thirds to the butter mixture, alternating with 2/3 cup warmed milk.   When the flour was incorporated, I stirred in a box of Trader Joe’s Mini Peanut Butter cups.  I scooped into 24 cupcake liners and baked for around 20 minutes at 350.

  

  Baked up Moosetracks

  While the cakes were cooling, I started the icing.  I thought about using the Drumsticks fudge as an icing, but its too thick to pipe when cool and too thin to pipe when warm… I also thought about using my grandmother’s boiled chocolate icing which I remember as being “fudgy”… but she always poured it onto a sheet cake still in the pan.  I didn’t know how that would pipe either… I ended up using a recipe that I found on Chowhound.  I don’t know who to credit….

  I heated 1 cup of cream with a couple of tablespoonfuls of corn syrup and a pinch of salt.  When it was simmering, I poured it over 20 ounces of chopped chocolate.  (I used a bag of Ghiardelli semi sweet chips that I had on hand and 8 ounces of Callebaut bittersweet).  I mixed this until the chocolate was melted, then added 1 cup of powdered sugar, then 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter a little at a time and blended until smooth.  After it cooled completely in the frig (I was short on time!) I whipped it a bit to make it fluffy.

  

  I ended up with 2 pans in the oven when I baked the cupcakes.  Both pans were the same TYPE of pan (non-stick), but not the same BRAND (one was Wilton and one was CakeMate, I think).  When I initially took the cakes out of the oven, one of the pans seemed to be a little underdone.  When I touched the top to see if it bounced back, it was still wet, so I put that pan back in the oven for an extra 2 minutes.   When Mr Shuck and I ate a cupcake later on that night, mine was still a little raw in the middle.  Mr Shuck’s was fine.  We both thought the cupcakes were good, but the icing was a little sweeter than I like.   The next day at work, I got mixed reviews:  some people thought the cupcakes were “a little dense” and “dry” and others thought they were good.  I think it probably depended on which pan they had come out of.  There is also the possibility that some of my friends are honest and some don’t want to complain about a free cupcake!  I think I might try to get another Wilton pan for consistency.  I also think I need to spend an entire weekend testing vanilla cake recipes.   If anyone out there wants to share…..

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged chocolate, Moosetracks, peanut butter, vanilla

• Salted Caramel from Yellow Leaf

  Posted at 11:12 am by MLea

  Jul 3rd

  I was very excited when Mr Shuck told me he got a present for me last week.  I knew he was downtown and was hoping for a Yellow Leaf cupcake.  I got 2!  One was the Chocolate Joy, an old favorite.  The other was a new flavor for me, Salted Caramel.  Yellow Leaf rarely disappoints me and this cupcake was no exception.

  

  Salted Caramel from Yellow Leaf: click to enlarge

  Moist chocolate cake filled with gooey caramel and topped with a caramel butter cream.  YUM!  My rating: ♥♥♥

  Posted in The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company | Tagged almond, caramel, chocolate, salted

• I loves me some Cupcake Luv

  Posted at 11:00 am by MLea

  Jul 1st

  Over the weekend, we went out to eat lunch at the Georgetown Liquor Company.  Afterward, we headed over to the Georgetown Saturday Market.  My goal: Cupcake Luv.  These cupcakes are sold only at 7 lucky farmer’s markets throughout the Seattle area.   I should have made a note of the flavors available that day.  I chose The Eternal Luv,  described on Cupcake Luv’s website as “our darkest chocolate cake, rich peanut butter ganache center, finished with swirls of creamy peanut butter butter cream and fresh roasted peanuts”.

  

  Cupcake Luv's Eternal Luv: click to enlarge

  This cupcake was not cheap at $5.  However, it was worth it!  The cake was moist and rich and the ganache inside was smooth and silky.  The icing wasn’t overly sweet and had strong peanut flavor.  The chopped nuts on top added crunch and a little salt.  My rating: ♥♥♥♥.  I’d go out of my way to purchase this cupcake again.  I look forward to finding Cupcake Luv again at a farmer’s market near or far.

  
  
  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate, Cupcake Luv, peanut butter

• Junior Mint continued

  Posted at 9:36 pm by MLea

  May 16th

  I wasn’t really thrilled with the Junior Mint cupcakes overall, but others seemed to enjoy it.

  I started out with Cook’s Illustrated’s dark chocolate cupcake recipe.  I think I’m going to try a new chocolate recipe because I think this one turns out a bit dry.   While it was baking, I whipped up the marshmallow filling.  This involved sprinkling a little gelatin over some water, then heating it up, then adding butter and most of a jar of marshmallow cream.  I whipped until smooth, added peppermint extract to taste, then let it chill until thickened, but not completely gelled.  After the cupcakes cooled, I cut a little cone out of the top.

  

  Coning the cupcakes

  I filled the cupcakes using a pastry bag filled with the marshmallow cream.

  

  Filled cupcakes: click to enlarge

  I cut the tip off of the cones so the tops would lay flat and covered them back up.

  

  Topped cupcakes: click to enlarge

  I made a little chocolate ganache by heating 1/2 cup of cream to boiling, then pouring over 5 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate.  I added a tiny bit of peppermint extract for a slight mint flavor, then let it cool.  When the chocolate was cool but still fluid, I spooned it over the cupcakes then smoothed with a knife.

  

  Junior Mint: click to enlarge

  

  Junior Mint Interior: click to enlarge

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged chocolate, Junior Mint

• “J” is for Junior Mint

  Posted at 8:59 pm by MLea

  May 13th

  Junior Mint is in process.  It doesn’t seem to be going that well.  Mini chocolate cupcakes are cooling.   Marshmallow mint filling is chilling in the fridge.   Some dark chocolate ganache is cooling on the counter.  The cake seems a little dry.  I wasn’t sure how much peppermint extract to put in the filling.  My ganache seems a bit grainy.  ARGH!

  Thanks to Millie for bringing me a bag of Bernard Callebaut chocolate chips from the Great White North!  Ingredient donations will always be happily accepted.

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged chocolate, Junior Mint, mint

• Cupcakes Squared, San Diego

  Posted at 8:44 pm by MLea

  May 12th

  So, day three in San Diego took us to Cupcakes Squared.  This shop is located in a strip mall on Voltaire Street.  The shop was pretty small and nothing special.  No cute decor.  There was a cafe table in front of the store for those who wanted to “eat in”.  There was baking equipment visible, so I assume the cupcakes were made on the premises.   While the store itself wasn’t very unique, the cupcakes were, at least in one respect:  They were square!   I’m not sure if they are somehow made in the folded square liners or if they are cut from sheet cakes.

  We chose 3 mini cupcakes for tasting: Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut, Carrot, and Chocolate squared.

  

  Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut from Cupcakes Squared: Click to enlarge

  The Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut cupcake was based on a rich and moist chocolate cake studded with macadamia nuts and coconut.  The crunch of the nuts added nice texture.  The icing was creamy and fluffy and a little salty from the nuts and coconut.  This cake was wonderful, so wonderful that I dug right into the Carrot Cupcake without remembering to take a photo.  Oops!

  I only had a bite of the Carrot cake.  The cake was very moist, but appeared to contain raisins, which I abhor, so I just tasted a little.  The cream cheese icing was creamy and not too sweet.  This cake was garnished with a little grated carrot and crushed walnuts.  Robin from Cupcakes Squared later confirmed that the cake contained currants, not raisins.  I should be more adventurous.

  

  Chocolate Squared from Cupcakes Squared

  The Chocolate Cake on this cupcake was just as moist and flavorful as the chocolate macadamia nut cake.  Chocolate chips added some texture.  The icing was light and creamy but still rich and fudgy.   I was curious about the kind of frosting used since it was lighter than standard butter cream.  Robin confirmed that they use a butter cream made from butter, sugar, cream and flavoring.

  My overall rating for the store:  ♥♥♥♥.   If in San Diego again, I would go out of my way to go back here, especially if it was a day that the Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut as available.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged Carrot, chocolate, coconut, macadamia nut

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