Pumpkin Spice and everything nice? Um, not exactly ...

Hump Day Wednesday dawned sunny but cold, and it seemed the only thing to look forward to, as I dragged myself out of bed, was the cupcake to come. The week's selection? Cafe Moxo's Pumpkin Spice.

Let me start by saying that Pumpkin Spice had big shoes to fill. Heavenly Delight's Pumpkin cupcake was outstanding when I tried it at the end of August. With cake so moist it stuck to my fingers and luscious cream-cheese frosting, HD's Pumpkin ranked among my favorite cupcakes.

I was eager to try my first fresh Moxo cupcake in a few weeks. I had frozen and refrigerated several with less-than-desirable results -- namely, changes in frosting texture.

The frosting was not an issue for Pumpkin Spice. Though it wasn't piled as generously high as on other Moxo cupcakes, it was smooth and creamy, yet light. And very flavorful.

The cake, too, had flavor on its side -- it was spicy (true to its name) and bold. The problem? Dry! Since Pumpkin Spice is the only flavor Moxo doesn't list on its cupcake menu, therefore there is no description, I have no way of knowing if they're aiming for a denser, more crumbly coffee-cake consistency. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it just came across as dry. I've realized, over the past several months of cupcake sampling, that moistness is a crucial quality to me in cake, and I tend to judge harshly. What's bone-dry to me might be perfectly acceptable to someone else. But my feeling upon eating the Pumpkin Spice was that it would have benefited from more frosting -- or, even better, some type of filling -- for hydration.

On a side note, I've made a contact with Tracy, the owner of TLCuppycakes, a bakery she runs out of her licensed kitchen in Petersburg. After I emailed her to find out if she has a shop that's open to the public (she doesn't), she offered to meet me when she's in Springfield for a delivery or special event and let me buy individual cupcakes if I wished. Did I wish? Heck yeah! My first cupcake rendezvous with her will be tomorrow. She's bringing me an Ultimate Hot Cocoa cupcake and -- guess what? -- a Pumpkin Cream Cheese. There are more than two dozen  mouth-watering flavors listed on her website, so I'm looking foward to this new endeavor. Check out TLCuppycakes' fabulous list of flavors at http://www.tlcuppycakes.com/Flavor-Menu-and-Ordering.html.