St Patty’s day 2021

 

It has been 10 years since I last posted about a St Patrick’s cupcake adventure.  Today I went back to Sprinkles... to the place that started it all.  I haven’t had a St Patty’s day cupcake from Sprinkles in quite a few years.  If I’ve had a St Patty’s day cupcake it would have been from Susie Cakes.  I didn’t not have one last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. LA shut down a year ago and we entered the safer at home order. So I did just that.  A year later I was able to order a cupcake and I decided to go return to Sprinkles.

This year, Sprinkles was promoting an Irish Coffee cupcake.  It actually called Irish Coffee by Writers Tears Whiskey.  The website doesn’t give additional information about the cupcake.  So let’s dive into my initial thoughts.

I took off the logo and cut the cupcake in half. To my surprise it had a filling.  The filling was a marshmallow filling... and I didn’t have an additional flavor to it.  I was curious if the filling was whiskey infused. The answer was no.  Up next I took a small bite out of the cake.  That wasn’t infused with whiskey either.  I had a few more bites and I didn’t get a coffee taste.  It smelled and tasted like chocolate. The cake wasn’t rich... I honestly expected more from the cake and hoping I would have gotten a rich coffee flavor.

We finally move on to the green frosting.  The frosting was definitely sweet, too sweet for my liking. It’s a buttercream frosting and I was able to take the whiskey that was infused. It was not overpowering, I got more of a sugary taste with a hint of whiskey.  I finally took a bite of all three layers: cake, marshmallow filling, and frosting... it was ok... wasn’t extraordinary.  

Now, I glad I was a able to try this new cupcake, but having tried it... I would not run back to a second Irish coffee cupcake.  I guess I’ll have to wait and see what they come up with next year.

Stay tuned for a review of the green velvet cupcake review.  

Cupcake Mojo

Today I come to you from the state of Massachusetts. I am here visiting Jennie and her family. As you know this blog began when Jennie and I would go visit cupcake stores in search of THE best cupcake. Well the cupcake adventures has gone to the other side of the country.

Today we visited Cupcake Mojo in Weymouth, MA. Jennie heard about this new place opening up and we just had to visit it. As we pulled up to the location I noticed this cute car with the store's name and logo. As we entered I knew that we were in for a treat.

First of all the decor is really cute. It has pink and blue decor and this really cute pink pay phone. It was like something you see in the movies.
We were greeted by a nice young girl who told is about the flavors of the day. I ordered a salted caramel cupcake and Jennie ordered the Princess cupcake which is a chocolate cupcake with purple buttercream frosting. Jennie said her cake was good. The frosting was not too sweet and it had sugar sprinkled on top which was a sweet surprise.

My cupcake was the salted caramel cupcake. It was a brown cake with homemade caramel filling, salty caramel buttercream frosting, and caramel drizzle on top. This is like no cupcake I have ever tasted. I normally see the usual flavors like vanilla or chocolate cake with some kind of flavored frosting. This was different... Different in a good way! This was a good homemade cupcake... A gourmet homemade cupcake. I always try the cake first, then the frosting, and finally both together. I have to tell you that the cupcake did not disappoint. Altogether the cupcake had the right balance of salt and sweetness and it makes you want more.

While we were eating our cupcake we met the owner Maureen. Maureen made us feel right at home. She told us about the store, the flavors, and even told us that they were on cupcake wars. (you know I was hooked at that point!) She explained to us that they bake and create new recipes on a daily basis. She doesn't believe in having a refrigerated case because that just takes away the freshness of the cupcake and I agree! Just having the personal attention from the owner is what makes a business successful. You are there right up front to meet the customers and tend to their needs.

All in all I had a pleasant experience at Mojos. Too bad I do not live nearby because because I would love to try their new creations. I think Jennie has to make more trips and keep me updated!
-Sue

Seasonal Favorite

This evening I visited my favorite cupcake bakery... Yes favorite.
Susie Cakes is located in Manhattan Beach and has a other locations in Southern California as well as in the Bay Area.

Every month Susie Cakes has a seasonal cupcake & cake. This month's cupcake is the Banana Chocolate Chip cupcake. First of all I have to tell you that I'm not a huge fan of bananas. I usually stay away from sweets with "bananas." Last year I tried this cupcake for the first time and was amazed. I went today and found that they had this cupcake back. Unfortunately this cupcake is available for a limited time... Very limited, because it's only available till this weekend.

On to the cupcake being featured in this post. The banana chocolate chip cupcake is a vanilla cake. It has banana baked into the cake. You can taste banana in the cake. It is not overpowering at all. You will also find actual chocolate chips inside the cake. All I can say is that every bite comes with a pleasant surprise. The cupcake has a light cream cheese frosting with chocolate sprinkles on top.

If you are in the area I suggest you stop by Susie Cakes and try this cupcake. If you can't make it this weekend don't worry, Susie cakes always has a new seasonal cake and I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed.
-Susan

Battle of the Cupcakes: St. Patty's Day Edition

(Top: Susie Cakes, Bottom: Sprinkles)

Back in March, I had the opportunity to taste cupcakes from Sprinkles and Susie Cakes.  Both stores had seasonal cupcakes for St. Patty's Day.  Sprinkles had Irish Chocolate cupcakes.  They are dark chocolate with a Baileys cream cheese Frosting.  It also has a signature (green) dot on top.  Susie Cakes had St. Patty's Day cupcakes.  The cake itself was chocolate cake with Guiness... yes, Guiness and Bailey's cream cheese frosting.  This cupcake had little, green shamrock sprinkles on top.  The first thing that came to my mind was an Irish Car Bomb.  I knew that this was the going to be the ultimate cupcake war! lol

(Top: Sprinkles, Bottom: Susie Cakes)

My friend Jennie and I had these two cupcakes to celebrate St. Patty's day.  We tasted both cupcakes and compared them.  Sprinkles cupcake was just a chocolate cake... the frosting had a different taste.  They said it had a Bailey's flavor and well... it just tasted like a regular cupcake.  On to Susie Cakes:  They promised Guiness and Bailey's flavors and let me tell you... I could taste it!  The cake was rich and moist.  The frosting had a good amount of flavor and it wasn't over powering.  I was pleasantly surprised!  At the end of the day... they promised a certain flavor and they delivered it!   At the end of  the day I have to give the award to Susie Cakes!   It was definitely a unique flavor... it isn't an everyday cupcake, but it did fit the occasion!  If you're in the LA area I would recommend you try out Susie Cakes seasonal cupcake next March!

(L: Susie Cakes, R: Sprinkles)

Choco Loco

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I've decided to write a post about Sprinkles featured cupcake Choco Loco.  It is a dark chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with an added cinnamon flavor.  When I first read cinnamon frosting I was quite sure what to expect.  I thought it was going to be too sweet and didn't think I would like it.  I've tried their cinnamon cupcake and I honestly didn't like it and I thought it would be the same thing.  Oh but was I wrong!
This cupcake has the perfect about of cinnamon flavor that just made it right.  It actually reminded me of eating a churro.  Something about this combination made it so good.  It was over powering.  Now the frosting itself was creamy.  I don't know if it is because it has been hot that it melted the frosting a bit, but the texture was perfect!  I must say it was a dream eating this.  I like Sprinkles cupcakes, but I have to say this is the best cupcake I've had there in a really long time.  So with that I say kudos Sprinkles!

Let The Cupcake Adventures Begin

So a few years ago I was introduced to a famous cupcake store in Beverly Hills, CA by one of my dear friends.  We would go treat ourselves to a cupcake every once in a while.  Soon after we began hearing of other cupcake stores opening up in the Los Angeles Area.  Every so often we would go to nearby cupcake stores to try out the cupcakes.  This was the beginning of our quest to find the perfect cupcake.  We would try a cupcake and have our own opinion/review of the cupcakes. 
This is how the idea for my cupcake blog began... The Cupcake Adventures.  This blog will keep a record of my cupcake adventures and all reviews are just my personal opinion.
I hope you guys like this blog and continue to read it.  -Sue  =)