I highly recommend this cupcake. With moist, milk-chocolate cake; smooth, creamy caramel frosting; and a topping of coconut slivers and chopped pecans, this was a pretty accurate take on German chocolate cake. Rich but not too sweet, it was just the right balance of all the ingredients. I would definitely try this again down the road, after I've had the chance to try more new HDs and repeat some of my dearest favorites.
I was expecting the HD to be my only cupcake of the day, until I got an awesome surprise in the afternoon -- a Facebook message from a fellow CrossFitter, Josh Becker, letting me know he had gone to St. Louis and was bringing me a cannoli cupcake from Jilly's. I was so excited! I had been drooling over that cupcake for a couple of weeks, since Jilly's posted it on Facebook as one of its May cupcakes.
This one was just as amazing as it looked. The mini-cannoli on top was divine, and my favorite part of the cupcake, which was chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting trimmed in chocolate ganache and sprinkled with mini chocolate chips, was the ricotta filling that mimicked that of the filling inside the cannoli garnish. This creation, like many of Jilly's selections, is a good candidate for splitting with a friend or at least eating in two sittings. I split it with my niece, who also loved it.
But that wasn't all. Josh had bought quite a few cupcakes while at Jilly's and was generous enough to insist that I take not even two, but three! I was beside myself to say the least. One was similar to a favorite of mine from Jilly's -- the Reese's Chunkage with vanilla cake (the one I've tried had chocolate cake). But the most unusual and unexpected of the three was the Chicken and Waffles. Yep, you read that right. Another May specialty, the Chicken and Waffles is made of vanilla-corn cake and is topped with maple buttercream frosting, a chunk of oven-fried chicken, a wedge of Belgian waffle and maple drizzle.
I decided the best strategy to trying this trio would be to tuck away the Reese's for later, since it would freeze the best, and try the chicken cupcake fresh.
My photo doesn't do justice to the craftsmanship of the Chicken and Waffles cupcake. It was quite a thing of beauty before I took off the chicken and waffle to eat separately. Yep, there was no way I was taking a mouthful of cake, frosting AND chicken. (I did eat the chicken and waffle together, and the chicken on its own was surprisingly tasty, considering that it wasn't heated.)
I could only manage a small portion of the cake and frosting, as I was sampling it in the same sitting as the cannoli. But the frosting was extremely sweet -- too sweet for my taste. I can handle maple syrup on pancakes, waffles or French toast, but I'm not a fan of it as part of a cupcake. I loved the vanilla-corn cake, though. It was a lighter, smoother and less dense version of cornbread and easy to eat plain.
Jilly's cupcakes tend to be the culinary equivalent of Donald Trump -- filthy rich and best in small doses. The ingredients are the highest quality and undoubtedly please the pickiest of palates. I've liked or loved most of the Jilly's varieties I've tried, but sometimes I wish they came just a little smaller.
Thanks again, Josh, for your generosity with the sweet treats!
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