The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection

Tag: chocolate

• Amy Winehouse Cupcake @ The Sugar Cube, Portland, OR

  Posted at 8:49 pm by MLea

  May 9th

  First, I have to say that I really like the Portland food cart thing.  I especially love the pod of food carts located at Skidmore and N Mississippi.  It’s a vegetarian’s dream!  We had a delicious tofu curry at the Ruby Dragon.  There was also a falafel cart, vegetarian sushi, pizza, and others that I don’t remember.  We had amazing non-meat choices in that parking lot.

  

  The Sugar Cube Logo

  The first day when we went to The Sugar Cube, they had 2 cupcakes available.  The Amy Winehouse, which I chose, and The Highway to Heaven, a buttermilk chocolate cake filled with salted caramel and dipped in chocolate ganache.  I wish I had chosen the Highway to Heaven since the Amy Winehouse was available the next day as well.  Then I could have tried both cupcakes!

  

  Amy Winehouse cupcake from the Sugar Cube: click to enlarge

  The Amy Winehouse is described on the menu as a “Boozy yellow cake, infused with copious amounts of brandy, a hint of orange zest and then dipped in sexy bittersweet chocolate ganache.”  It’s garnished with a “coke straw” and some powdered “sugar”.  I thought that it was really good.  The cake was moist and and definitely boozy.  There were vanilla bean flecks evident.  The chocolate ganache was nice as well.   It was a regular home baked size cupcake that appeared to have been baked in the cart.  We also had the Fizzy Lifting Drink made from freshly grated ginger, plum vinegar and ginger ale.  It was very refreshing.

  I would definitely go back to the Sugar Cube.  I really want to try the Highway to Heaven cupcake.  I liked the Amy Winehouse, but I probably wouldn’t get it again.  Rating: ♥♥.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged amy winehouse, chocolate, rum

• Divine Bites in Vancouver, Wa.

  Posted at 9:23 am by MLea

  May 8th

  Divine Bites is a little cupcake stand located within Divine Consign, a furniture consignment store on Main St in Vancouver, Washington.  I have no photos because I deleted them with the photos from Hello, Cupcake.

  We got to the shop right before closing, so only had a couple of choices.  I decided on “Lip Licking Lemon” and “Elegant Marshmallow”.

  

  The lemon cupcake was filled with lemon curd, topped with vanilla butter cream, and topped with a Lemon Head.  The butter cream looked like it had flecks of vanilla bean, but lacked vanilla flavor.  Overall the cupcake was moist and lemony.  (I ate the Lemon Head separately since I knew it would distort any other flavors.)

  The Marshmallow cupcake was chocolate with a marshmallow filling topped with a fudgy icing and garnished with tiny little marshmallows (smaller than the ones in instant cocoa).  The cake was a bit dry by itself, a little crumbly, but the entire bite together was yummy!

  I’d go back for more if I were in the Vancouver, Washington area.  The two cupcakes I had were really good.  I’d just make sure I got there way before closing time so there would be more flavor options.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate, Divine Bites, Lemon, marshmallow, Vancouver

• A cupcake from Hello Cupcake in Tacoma, Wa

  Posted at 9:13 am by MLea

  May 7th

  Hello, Cupcake! has a very cute shop tucked in between an arty shop (BKB) and Hot Rod Hot Dogs on Pacific Ave in Tacoma.   They have cute cupcake ornaments, Cakespy artwork, licorice pigs and lots of Hammond’s candies for sale.  They also have cupcakes!

  The flavors available were pretty standard: vanilla/vanilla, chocolate/chocolate with sprinkles, mocha with coffee icing, red velvet, carrot, and vanilla/chocolate (both ways).   I chose the chocolate with vanilla icing which was extremely cute and topped with a little sugar flower.  You’ll have to trust me on this.  I apparently deleted all my photos.  Oops!  (Their website has lots, so check them out.)

  I was worried about the moistness of the cupcake when it started crumbling when I pulled off the liner.  The icing was standard (American, I assume) butter cream: very sweet with not much flavor other than “sugary”.  The cake was dry and not very heavy on chocolate-y-ness.  The combination resulted in a slight bitterness.  I needed a chaser to get the taste out of my mouth.  Darnit!  My soda was dry!

  My rating: ♥.   I might try again if I’m in the area if I were hungry.  I’d probably end up getting a veggie dog next door instead.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate, Hello Cupcake, Tacoma, vanilla

• Saint Cupcake Deluxe in Portland

  Posted at 9:26 pm by MLea

  May 4th

  Saint Cupcake Deluxe was giving away free mini cupcakes so we decided to go there instead of plain old Saint Cupcake.  Also, why go for plain, when you can have deluxe?

  

  St Cupcake Deluxe

  

  Through the window at St Cupcake Deluxe

  The shop was very cute, but tiny.  It is tucked into the alcove of a trendy home decor shop called Noun.  Apparently the cupcakes had just been cleaned out by a frantic mother whose own baking had not turned out as expected.  The “Dots” were larger than my minis, but smaller than a regular size cupcake.   The cupcakes are not made on site, but are brought in from the original Saint Cupcake.  We sampled Coconut, Carrot, and Chocolate with Vanilla icing.

  

  Coconut Dot from St Cupcake Deluxe: click to enlarge

  The coconut was very nice with a cream cheese icing dipped in toasted coconut to balance out the sweetness.

  

  Carrot Dot from St Cupcake Deluxe: click to enlarge

  The carrot cake was moist and delicately spiced, but the icing was a little too sweet (and lacking coconut to help).

  

  Chocolate with Vanilla Icing from St Cupcake Deluxe

  The chocolate cupcake must have been okay as I didn’t make any notes about it.  I do recall the sugar crystals on top being a bit distracting.

  Overall, I think the cupcakes were okay.  If I was in the neighborhood, I’d probably stop by, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick one of these little cakes up.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged Carrot, chocolate, coconut

• H= Half Baked

  Posted at 10:11 pm by MLea

  Mar 31st

  Inspired yesterday by Main Street Cupcakes and educated by the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook that I thumbed through at Costco, I decided that “H” was going to be for “Half Baked” instead of “Hostess”.  Converting a cupcake to another cupcake isn’t that imaginative, right?  Half Baked is a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor that consists of a swirl of chocolate and vanilla ice cream laced with chunks of brownies and chocolate chip cookie dough.  In a word, it’s “YUM!”

  

  Ben and Jerry's Half Baked: Stolen from somewhere....

  For the chocolate and vanilla ice cream, I used Cooks Illustrated recipes for Dark Chocolate Cupcakes and Yellow Cupcakes.  For speed, I used 2 eggs instead of 1 egg and 2 egg yolks.  I didn’t think the yellow color was really necessary and figured there was enough going on in the cupcake that no one would notice the small bit of fat missing.  I scooped vanilla batter in half the cup and chocolate batter in the other half.

  

  Half and Half Batter: click to enlarge

  For the cookie dough filling, I cheated.  Maybe I should have made my own cookie dough, but I didn’t want a huge batch of cookie dough around the house in addition to a couple of pans of cupcakes, so I used frozen Nestle Toll House dough.  (Ok, so I still have half a pack of frozen dough in the freezer…but that’s beside the point.)

  

  Cheater Cookie Dough Filling

  I broke the frozen dough apart (as suggested by the Cake Doctor) and mushed it down into the batter.  It should be used completely frozen so it won’t cook all the way.  Otherwise, you’d end up with a cookie in a cupcake, not dough in a cupcake.

  

  Half and half batter with dough mushed in: Click to enlarge.

  I baked at 350 for 20 minutes and ended up with this:

  

  Hot cupcakes, fresh from the oven: click to enlarge

  After they cooled down a bit, the centers fell and I ended up with this:

  

  Half Baked after cooling: Click to enlarge

  While the cupcakes cooled completely, I made a Chocolate Italian Meringue Butter cream using Warren Brown’s recipe that I found here. My butter might have been closer to melted than room temperature, so I had to let the icing chill for a bit before I could scoop it out.

  Ben and Jerry’s also contains brownie bits.  I cheated again…since I didn’t need a whole pan of brownies… and used frozen brownie dough.

  

  Nestle Toll House Mini Brownie Bites

  I baked a few of the brownie bites, then cut them into little chunks to use as garnish.  If I make these again…and I will… I’ll try to make a brownie crust on the bottom. 

  

  Finished Half Baked Cupcake: Click to enlarge

  Mr Shuck and I both liked these a lot.  He liked the 2 different flavors of cake and thought the icing was silky and creamy and not too sweet.  I think the icing tastes like room temperature chocolate ice cream, if that could exist in a non-liquid form.  I would have liked to have gotten more brownie incorporated, but I think I’d need a baking assistant for that.   “H” is definitely an improvement over “G”.

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged brownies, chocolate, cookie dough, half baked, vanilla

• Royale with Cheese from Cupcake Royale

  Posted at 10:21 am by MLea

  Mar 8th

  I really want to like Cupcake Royale.  I really do!  They use sustainable ingredients, corn based plastics, and soy ink.  The owner is very charitable, according to a Pacific Northwest magazine article.  Apparently, they even hired a pastry consultant to make the cupcakes moister.  I’m just not very fond of Cupcake Royale’s cupcakes….

  

  Royale with Cheese from Cupcake Royale: Click to enlarge

  The chocolate flavor of this cupcake was nice, but the cake was dry.  I ate it immediately after purchase, so Cupcake Royale can’t blame the dryness on my waiting to eat it.  The cream cheese icing was a little light on cream cheese tang.    Rating: ♥♥.  I might eat it again if it were free, but I’d have to be really hungry.  I would not buy again.

  Posted in Cupcake Royale | Tagged chocolate, cream cheese

• Gluten Free from Flying Apron

  Posted at 9:23 pm by MLea

  Feb 15th

  I gave my gluten-free sister a Flying Apron cookbook for her birthday, not realizing that the Flying Apron bakery is in Seattle. In honor of Presidents’ Day, Mr Shuck and I ventured to Fremont to test out their wares. The bakery was fairly large, with several tables and (judging from the number of laptops) WiFi. They seemed to have a wide variety of items to choose from; pretty impressive since they are gluten, dairy, and egg free.
  They had 4 different cupcakes to choose from today. 2 had raspberry jam on them, so I had to pass on those. We ended up with Cardamom/Chai and Chocolate/Chocolate.

  

  Gluten Free Chocolate cupcake from Flying Apron: click to enlarge

  My first taste was of the Chocolate/Chocolate. Ingredients: brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, maple syrup, cocoa, canola oil, dark chocolate, palm oil, vanilla, baking soda and sea salt.

  If I didn’t know this was gluten free/vegan/etc, I would have thought it was just a regular cupcake.  The cake had a bit of an after taste and could have been more chocolate-y, but overall, it was very good.  It was moist, but seemed to break up a bit too easily, I assume due to the lack of gluten.   I would eat this again, but with the Black Bottom at Simply Desserts right across the street, I probably would choose to have some gluten.  Rating: ♥♥

  

  Gluten Free Cardamom Chai from Flying Apron: Click to enlarge.

  The Cardamom Chai smelled AMAZING.  Ingredients: brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, concentrated pineapple, pear and peach juices, canola oil, evaporated cane juice, palm oil, cardamom, cinnamon, chai, vanilla extract, baking soda and sea salt.  I tried to get a photo that would show the speckles of spice in the icing, but it didn’t turn out as true to life as I would have liked. (I was unwilling to go downstairs to retrieve the “cupcake photo studio”.)
  Mr Shuck thought this cupcake deserved 3♥’s.   I felt the flavor was excellent, but the texture was off putting to me. Both the icing and the cake were grainy and mealy.   I didn’t finish my cupcake and wouldn’t get this again.  Rating: ♥.

  Even though I didn’t like one of the cupcakes, I like The Flying Apron.  I think it’s great for those that have dietary restrictions, like my sister.  I love the fact that their menu has all the ingredients listed in case someone has other allergies and that it is largely organic and vegan.  Since I have other choices, I will choose to go elsewhere, but I think it’s a great option for those that can’t just pick up baked goods anywhere.  The chocolate cupcake was good enough to serve to everyone.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged cardamom, Chai, chocolate, gluten free

• Deathcake Royale at Cupcake Royale

  Posted at 6:40 pm by MLea

  Feb 14th

  This has got to be the best cupcake I’ve ever had at Cupcake Royale.    The Cupcake Royale blog described it as a flourless Theo Chocolate cake layer topped with Stumptown Espresso ganache topped with Chocolate Royale cake.  The whole stack is then drenched with more chocolate ganache.   Apparently, Cupcake Royale brought in a pastry consultant to make their cake more moist.  The chocolate cake used in the Deathcake is the new “Moisty-er” recipe, but there was so much chocolate I don’t think I would have noticed if it was dry.

  

  Deathcake Royale description from Cupcake Royale

  

  Deathcake Royale container: Click to enlarge

  
  

  

  Deathcake Royale Interior: click to enlarge

  

  Deathcake Royale: click to enlarge

  
  
  Posted in Cupcake Royale | Tagged chocolate

• Grocery store cupcakes, Part 2

  Posted at 6:04 pm by MLea

  Jan 22nd

  Mr Shuck saw these cupcakes at the Red Apple and thought that even if they didn’t turn out to be tasty, I’d have something to write about.

  

  Fantasia Cupcakes: Click to enlarge

  According to GroceryHeadquarters.com, “It’s hard to find a more comforting food than Best Brands’ new super-decadent Fantasia Cupcakes, available in vanilla bean and rich dark chocolate ganache flavors.” “Fantasia Cupcakes address the trend of having a gourmet meal and a great, portion-controlled dessert,” says Bill Keeney, director national accounts, Best Brands Corp., the Minnetonka, Minn.-based purveyor of cakes, cupcakes, muffins, dough and baking mixes.

  I wasn’t very optimistic, when the fine print described them as “artificially flavored”.

  The icing was alright:  it was rich and creamy with deep chocolate flavor.  The cake was moist and dense, but had an artificial chocolate taste.    I don’t think they were worth the $2.99 that Mr Shuck paid for both of them.  I think he would probably try them again, though…

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged chocolate

• Chocolate Caramel Cashew from Yellow Leaf

  Posted at 6:13 pm by MLea

  Jan 6th

  Mr Shuck surprised me with a cupcake today and supported the pups at the same time.  Yellow Leaf’s Charity Cupcake for January and February is Chocolate Caramel Cashew and $1 of each sale goes to the Seattle Humane Society.

  

  Chocolate Caramel Cashew, top: click to enlarge

  

  Chocolate Caramel Cashew layers: click to enlarge

  
  

  My thoughts:  The cake was much drier than usual for Yellow Leaf.  The chocolate layer was adequate, but the flavor in the other layer was indiscernible.  The icing was just as generic.  The little chocolate covered cashew on top was the highlight of the cake: sweet and salty and crunchy.  My rating: ♥♥ 1/2.  I’d buy it again if at Yellow Leaf, but only because part of the price goes to the Humane Society.   It was miles above their previous “charity cupcakes”.

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

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