Peppermint Swirl

Going back to work Friday after a week off was a letdown, so I decided to stop at Cafe Moxo and pick up a cupcake to look foward to on Saturday. There were a few that I hadn't tried, but Peppermint Swirl had been calling out to me.

Recalling the Moxo freezer debacle of the previous two weeks, I decided to risk overnight refrigeration. The results were better, but the cupcake didn't blow me away, so I'm going to try to stick with eating Moxo cupcakes on the same day I buy them.

That said, the Peppermint Swirl was chocolate cake with peppermint-flavored frosting and a hard-candy mint garnish. For the first time, I felt like a cupcake had too much frosting. The problem might have been the large, extremely rich brownie I devoured earlier in the day -- maybe I reached my sugar quota before I consumed the cupcake. But the Peppermint Swirl didn't wow me. I suspect if I tried it again at another time, I would like it better. Sometimes I need to be in the mood for a particular flavor to truly enjoy it. The frosting had a suble peppermint flavor -- maybe too subtle. And the cake, which was still a little firm from being refrigerated, wasn't overly moist.

I'm ready to get back to trying the Moxo cupcakes fresh. They've been so much better that way. It's too bad they won't freeze well because it would be so much more convenient to buy several at a time -- especially with winter's cold and snowy weather coming soon.

Oh well -- the cupcake connoisseur in me will just have to make it work!