I'll take a real milkshake, please

I'm still working on the frozen stash of Sweet Art cupcakes, and last night I pulled out the Milkshake, which the bakery's website describes as swirled vanilla and chocolate cake topped with malt buttercream, ganache and an old-school cherry.

This wasn't a bad cupcake, although the cake, as typical for Sweet Art, was on the dry side. There just wasn't anything about it that particularly stood out to me as a quality that would make me want another. I didn't pick up on the malt flavoring in the frosting -- in fact, I assumed it simply represented the whipped cream on top of a milkshake. It was definitely a lighter, fluffier frosting. Again, not bad but not my favorite frosting texture. The whole cupcake, frankly, was a little blah. My favorite part was the "old-school" cherry on top. The chocolate ganache was a nice touch, too. Still, I'd skip over this one if I ever went to the shop.

I have one Sweet Art cupcake left to try, so we'll see how it goes. Chances are pretty good I'll try it this weekend. Then I'll be back to Springfield cupcakes -- perhaps Cafe Moxo, which has launched its spring/summer menu. The Moxo bakers have come up with some interesting new choices. Check 'em out here: http://www.cafemoxo.com/docs/Cupcake5-27-11.pdf.

A hot cup of ... cupcake?

I've never been a big coffee drinker. I like the occasional mocha or latte, but you'd never find me pouring a cup straight from the pot. I'm just not a huge fan of the flavor, and I can only handle the bitterness when something else is masking it.

Enter yesterday's cupcake, a coffee-flavored creation from my frozen Sweet Art stock. When I first saw it in the box Camille brought back from St. Louis, I thought it was a cinnamon cupcake. I got my hopes up, as a matter of fact, but it wasn't to be.

The base for this one was white cake and vanilla frosting. Mixed into both parts was ground-up coffee. The frosting, a thick and generously applied buttercream, was far stronger than the cake, and it was somewhat of a battle to eat the whole thing. The cake was on the dry side, like most I've tried from Sweet Art, but I barely noticed because I depended on it so much to offset the overpowering frosting.

Most coffee lovers would probably like this cupcake (dry cake aside). As for me, now that it's gone, I think I'll renew my search for a cinnamon cupcake...

Buttercake-chocolate bliss

This week's cupcake day brought another selection from Sweet Art in St. Louis. It didn't take the Harmony long to thaw in our warm kitchen, and before I knew it, I was biting into a buttery yellow cake topped with luscious, creamy chocolate frosting.

You may recall from my last couple posts that Sweet Art specializes in organic, preservative-free and vegan cupcakes. Two of the three I tried up to this point were dry, but still pretty good. The Harmony was also a bit dry and crumbly, but the rich, buttery flavor of the cake, which Sweet Art calls vanilla butter cake on its menu (http://sweetartstl.com/index2.php), easily made up ground, and if the cake had been moist and gooey like typical butter cake, this cupcake might have found a spot in my all-time favorites. As it was, I wanted a second. The rich, smooth and super-creamy chocolate frosting, which reminded me a little of pudding, was one of the best I've tasted from a bakery so far.

If we ever return to Sweet Art, I'll definitely order seconds.

One bite just isn't enough

Out of the eight cupcakes my husband Camille brought home from St. Louis' Sweet Art on Friday, the only one he wanted for himself was the Come-Hither Carrot. Luckily for me, he let me have a bite before bed Sunday night. I used that bite to make my best evaluation (and afterward, I wished he had brought home two Come-Hither Carrots!)

Of the three Sweet Art cupcakes I've tried so far, the carrot was my favorite. The cake was just as I love carrot cake -- free of nuts, raisins and other nonsense. Just long ribbons of carrot baked into moist cake. Yes, moist. This was the moistest of the Sweet Art cupcakes so far, and it was a pleasant surprise. I had surmised that, because Sweet Art specializes in organic and vegan cupcakes, that they must tend toward dry cake. But this one restored my hope and delighted my taste buds. The cream-cheese frosting, which I'd already sampled on the red velvet, was excellent as well. 

I'm thankful my dear husband shared this one with me. If the tables had been turned, I'm not sure I could have done the same ... :-)

Back again ... already!

OK, I wasn't kidding when I said I wouldn't be able to resist the Sweet Art cupcakes in the freezer for long. (Actually, I went all day Saturday without caving in, so I'm pretty proud of myself!) Anyway, today I chose what I think was the Strawberry Lemonade.

The cake was definitely lemon (possibly the most subtle lemon cake I've tried), and the frosting could have been strawberry or raspberry -- Sweet Art has lemon cake with both of those frosting flavors -- but the website lists strawberry as being on the Friday menu, so that's my assumption. The cake, like the red velvet I tried on Friday night, was dry, and I'm wondering if the way the cupcakes are made contributes to the dryness. Sweet Art's products are all preservative-free and organic. Based on my recent experience with cupcakes from Food Fantasies, which also offers organic (and vegan) cupcakes, I'm guessing that cake made this way might just be dry by nature. Food Fantasies' cupcakes turned me off so much that I won't go back to try more, but so far Sweet Art is considerably better. (While it's a bit dry, I didn't need a chain saw to cut into it like with the Food Fantasies cupcakes.)

The frosting had a pleasing fruit flavor, and while it was a whipped-cream consistency rather than my preferred thicker buttercream, I still liked it. It's lightness actually helped offset the cake's density. Tiny bits of strawberry (I think) were also mixed into the frosting, serving as a reminder of its from-scratch quality. The cherry on top was a nice touch, too.

I'm looking forward to more Sweet Art!

Bittersweet and artsy cupcakes

This past week was the last at the SJ-R for my coworker and fellow cupcake taster, Jayette Bolinski. Saying goodbye is never fun, but she went out in sweet style on Friday by treating the newsroom to several dozen cupcakes from one of our favorite bakers, TL Cuppycakes. The cupcakes Tracy of TL created for Jayette were, of course, newspaper themed, answering the question, "What is black and white and read all over?"

Photo courtesy of TL Cuppycakes

The chocolate cupcakes with thick red-and-white vanilla buttercream frosting and a light, red-dyed filling, were EATEN all over the newsroom. It was my first time trying a simple chocolate-vanilla cupcake from Tracy, and I loved it so much that I ate two. I just couldn't help myself! She's every bit as talented with classic flavors as the more elaborate ones she creates. 

If the two TL cupcakes weren't enough, I arrived home from work Friday night to discover that my husband, Camille, had brought home eight cupcakes from a bakery called Sweet Art in St. Louis, a place that I had heard about but never tried. As it turns out, Sweet Art specializes in baked goods made from scratch, with no preservatives. 

Here's the selection Camille brought back: 

Sweet Art's cupcakes are most definitely artistic and beautifully decorated. Of course, I couldn't resist trying just one right away, so I went for a red velvet, since he had brought back two. (The red velvets are the ones with the heart-shaped candy garnishes.) My first impression upon biting into the red velvet was that the cake was a bit on the dry side, although it had a good flavor. The cream-cheese frosting was at the same time light and creamy, and it was quite delicious. 

After the red velvet, I had to shore up my self-control (or what was left of it) and stash the rest away in the freezer. I'm sure it won't be long before I sneak in for another, though. Let's just say it's inevitable!