So, I haven’t been baking lately for various reasons. I have been able to eat, though. Yesterday, we ventured out to Pabla Indian Cuisine to try out their vegetarian buffet and afterward stopped by Common Ground Coffee and Cupcakes, just a few blocks away, for a cupcake (or two).
We were so stuffed from lunch that we got the cupcakes to go, but the shop seemed like it would be a pleasant place to stay awhile: free wi-fi, coffee, toys for the kiddies.
Common Ground interior
Common Ground Cupcakes: click to enlarge
It was a little warm out, so I was excited that my cupcakes (Strawberry Fondue and S’mores) made it home intact. I dug into the strawberry cupcake first. It was cute. I liked the fact that the strawberry stem was piped on using icing. I don’t like inedible objects on cupcakes. The cake was moist and packed with strawberry flavor. The icing was fine, but I didn’t discern a specific taste to it. I later learned from the website that it was supposed to be a strawberry butter cream. It wasn’t pink, so if it had strawberry flavor, it was artificial. It wasn’t overly sweet and it was nice and fluffy. My rating: ♥♥ 1/2. I’d be willing to pay for this again if I were in the area. I’d be more likely to try something new though…
The second cupcake was okay. The chocolate cake was moist, but the icing again had no distinct flavor. The website says “marshmallow/graham cracker” for butter cream flavor, but I’m not sure if they meant garnished with a graham cracker. After having amazing S’mores cupcakes from Trophy and New York Cupcakes, this was a bit of a disappointment. My rating: ♥♥. I’d eat this again, but I wouldn’t pay for it.
The two cupcakes that I had from Common Ground were good, but not spectacular. I’d be willing to try them again. I wish that their website contained a little more information. It didn’t really draw me to their store. I like a little more description of flavors available. That gets me intrigued about a specific flavor and ready to go and seek it out.
