hazelnut | The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection

Tag: hazelnut
- 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
- Chocolate Hazelnut from Trophy
  
  Posted at 9:46 pm by MLea
  
  Jan 2nd
  
  Today Mr Shuck and I ventured over to The Bravern in Bellevue and stopped by Trophy. The available flavors for today were: Carrot Walnut, Lemon, Triple Coconut, Chocolate Hazelnut, and Chocolate Peanut Butter. Since I love Nutella®, I picked Chocolate Hazelnut. This was a typical Trophy cupcake. The cake was of adequate quality with a moist texture and a moderate chocolate taste that was neither overpowering nor particularly inspired. The addition of crushed hazelnut gave this cupcake an added crunch that made it more agreeable to my palette than it probably would have been otherwise. The icing was very sweet, as is the case with most cupcakes from Trophy, but here the sweetness was nicely tempered by the aforementioned inclusion of Nutella®. Rating: ♥♥♥ .
  
  Chocolate Hazelnut from Trophy: Click to enlarge
  
  Posted in Trophy Cupcakes | Tagged hazelnut
- Columbia City Bakery
  
  Posted at 6:01 pm by MLea
  
  Oct 24th
  
  On the way home from Ikea, Mr Shuck and I were thinking about cupcakes. I called Yellow Leaf (yes, I do have them in my cell phone) and was intrigued by the Boston Cream that was available today. However, traffic on I-5 was starting to back up, so James suggested we try out the Columbia City Bakery.   So, we ended up avoiding traffic, broadening our cupcake horizons, and trying a new restaurant (Tutta Bella, also in Columbia City).
  
  Our cupcake selections: Hazelnut (for me) and Carrot (for Mr Shuck)
  
  Coffee and cupcakes- click to enlarge
  
  Hazelnut: The icing was good: very ganache-y and reminiscent of Nutella®. The cake, on the other hand….very dry. It had nice hazelnut flavor, but was crumbly. Rating: ♥ and 1/2
  
  Hazelnut from Columbia City Bakery: Click to enlarge.
  
  Carrot: Mr Shuck says, “It was fine.” My little taste was dry: not as dry as the hazelnut cupcake, but still dry.   The cream cheese icing was not very flavorful either. Rating: ♥♥
  
  Carrot Cupcake from Columbia City Bakery- Click to enlarge.
  
  The bakery was very crowded when we went by.   I liked the square cupcakes: different. I also liked their cupcake carriers: upside down plastic cups. I would probably give them another chance…if I’m in the area…which is likely since we LOVED Tutta Bella.
  
  Columbia City cupcake carrier
  
  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged carrot cake, hazelnut
- Nutella® lovers dream?
  
  Posted at 11:03 am by MLea
  
  Sep 4th
  
  So, Mr Shuck had to be downtown yesterday. I took that to mean that God wanted me to go to Yellow Leaf on the way to work. I mean, seriously, we were only a couple (10) blocks away. There was another sign from above when I saw the Hazelnut Cream cupcake. I was thinking, “I hope there’s some Nutella® in that”, as I asked for the cupcake. The chick behind the counter asked if I like Nutella® and informed me that there was indeed filling made from Nutella® inside. YAY!
  
  So, off I went to work. I had packed my camera and my red background napkin just in case a photo studio for cupcakes was needed. Since I was early, I had plenty of time to savor my mid morning snack. My coworkers glanced over to my desk, coveting my cupcake, I’m sure. I did not share. I brought cupcakes for them earlier in the week. This one was all mine
  
  I made a mistake by eating the hazelnut off the top first. This left hazelnut bits stuck in my teeth and may have tainted my impressions. The vanilla cake was delectable (as always). The frosting was lightly flavored, but my underdeveloped palate couldn’t distinguish the flavor. The chocolate glaze on top seemed like it had a smidge of Nutella® in it, but that could have come from the hazelnut crumb in my teeth. There was a good tablespoonful of Nutella® filling inside. My only complaint about this cupcake (and keep in mind that I will eat Nutella® straight out of the jar) was that the “filling” was just a glob of the chocolatey spread. A mouthful of that is like a mouthful of peanut butter. Delicious at the appropriate time, but not velvety enough for the interior of an “upscale” cupcake. I think it would have been better whipped with some cream to give more of a ganache feel.
  
  Hazelnut Cream from Yellow Leaf
  
  as always, you can click the photo to enlarge.
  
  Posted in The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company | Tagged hazelnut, nutella, Yellow Leaf
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