A Specialty kind of day

A late-morning excursion to the Wabash area was the perfect opportunity to stop and check out Specialty Cakes' selection of cupcakes on this chilly, rainy Saturday. I had stopped there a couple times recently only to find them closed, and I hadn't had any for a while, so I was happy to walk in and find several varieties of cupcakes I hadn't yet tried.

Hanging out in the display case were five choices: Lemon cake with vanilla frosting, chocolate with vanilla frosting, carrot, yellow with chocolate frosting and white with vanilla frosting. Since I had already tried the chocolate with vanilla, I skipped that one and had them box up one each of the other four.

Of the five, I noticed that the yellow cake with chocolate frosting was the only one left on its platter. Hmmm, that one must be really popular, I thought.

Back at home with the cupcakes, I was faced with the decision of which to try today. Since I had logged my morning workout, I figured, why not? The lemon was calling out to me, so I tucked into that one right away.

I'm really starting to change my mind about lemon. It was never one of my favorite cake flavors until I started this cupcake-tasting journey. I've had some I've loved, though. Specialty's was one of them. I could tell as soon as I picked it up to unwrap it that it was fresh. The cake was perfectly moist and light, and the lemon flavor was subtle, just the way I like it. The vanilla frosting was Specialty's usual outstanding wedding buttercream -- thick but not too rich, with a delicate flavor. The gold edible glitter lightly sprinkled over the top was a nice touch.

For my second sample, I was torn between the carrot and the yellow with chocolate frosting. The more I looked at the yellow-chocolate, though, the more I started to think that it might not be as fresh as the lemon. I picked it up and started to peel the lining and sure enough -- the paper didn't want to separate from the cake. That's a sign of dry, stale cake that I've picked up on throughout my tasting. Fresh, moist cake tends to fall away from the lining and doesn't take much effort to remove. It's those stubborn linings you have to look out for. As I struggled to free the yellow cake, I realized why it had been the only one of its kind left in the display case -- it had probably been there at least since the day before.

Sure enough, the cake was stale. The frosting wasn't bad, but it reminded me of the type you'd buy at the grocery store in a can. It had a bit of a fudgy quality as well. I regret not being able to try this one fresh. I'd give it another chance if I knew it had been baked the same day.