Peanut butter paradise

This morning's trip to the farmers market was fruitless in the sense that I found it lacking Heavenly Delight's stand. I had been anticipating cupcakes all week after going sweets-less for three straight days, so when I got to the end of the three-block row of stands and found no giant Heavenly banner proclaiming the presence of my favorite treat, the increasingly boiling temperature felt that much more like hell.

Fortunately, I had a back-up plan. At home in the freezer was an HD Reese's Peanut Butter cupcake from a couple weeks ago, and on the daily menu at nearby Cafe Moxo was that eatery's Peanut Butter cupcake. The time had come for another of my side-by-side cupcake comparisons. (Slow HD weeks are always good for these extracurricular cupcake activities.)

 Left: Heavenly Delight's Reese's Peanut Butter. 

Right: Cafe Moxo's Peanut Butter

This was my favorite side-by-side comparison to date. Peanut butter is high on my list of irresistible cupcake flavors, and I had tried both of these at least twice prior to today -- never together, though. The first thing I noticed, alternating bites, was that the salty peanut flavor stood out in Moxo's peanut buttercream frosting, compared to the more dominant sweetness of HD's. No right or wrong here -- both were rich and creamy with luscious flavor. I can't say I liked one more than the other, although I did appreciate the emphasis on peanuts in Moxo's. 

And now, moving on to the cake: Both were chocolate, but one was much better. Moxo's was quite dry compared to HD's, which incorporated bits of peanut butter. My history with these two places has shown me that moist cupcakes are about as common at HD as dry or stale cupcakes are at Moxo. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been disappointed with the texture of an HD cupcake. That doesn't mean I love all of their varieties, but not many HD cupcakes, whether I've cared for the flavor or not, have disappointed me in the category of technical quality. That said, I've had Moxo's Peanut Butter when the cake was fresh and moist, and I could find no flaws. The quality of Moxo's cupcakes tends to vary depending on the day, which is why I've retried several flavors. I've found HD's quality to be consistently good.

I also liked each cupcake's garnishes -- the mini Reese's Pieces on HD's and the peanuts and drizzle of chocolate syrup topping Moxo's. Each establishment took a different approach with its peanut butter cupcake, and I can appreciate both. In the end, though, quality counts, and since Moxo's cake wasn't as moist this time as it has been in the past, I have to base my judgment on today's tasting. Therefore, I give HD the prize in this cupcake battle royale.