Cookie Dough, Champagne, Strawberry, OMG!

This week was another farmers market missing Heavenly Delight. Knowing it would be in the mid-90s again and the stand likely would be absent, I took advantage of a half personal day off work and made the trip to Petersburg on Monday for some cupcakes from OMGosh Bakery and Desserts. 

My main goal was to pick up OMG's Champagne cupcake, so I called a week in advance to be sure they would be able to make some. They kindly obliged, and I arrived mid-morning Monday to find them part of the offerings in the well-stocked display case. As long as I was there, I figured I might as well stock up, so I bought a Champagne, a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, a Strawberry-Filled and an Oreo. (Not long after I left the store, I realized that I had already tried OMG's Oreo, and I regretted getting it instead of Lemonade, a flavor I hadn't tried.) 

I wanted to wait until Cupcake Wednesday to try them, so I stowed them in the freezer at home. Come Wednesday, I eagerly defrosted them, ready to try that Champagne for which I had longed. As much as I wanted to try that one, though, the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough grabbed me with its cookie-dough frosting (I've attempted eggless "dough" that lacked the flavor of real dough, so I was excited to try OMG's version). 

All I can say is "OMG..." The cookie-dough frosting was nearly perfect (it was a bit heavy on the dark-chocolate chunks, but it was easy enough to eat around those). Even the cake was just about right -- it was soft, moist vanilla with the same overload of chocolate chunks as the frosting, but I was pleased with the freshness in light of previous OMG cupcakes that have been on the drier side. I didn't want to stop eating this one, but I knew I had to so I'd be able to try the others. 

It was time for Champagne. Unsure what to expect but excited to find out, I pushed my fork through the light, fluffy pink frosting with candy pearls and matching pink-dyed cake. I took that first bite ... and encountered a flavor that was OMG in a not-so-good way. This cupcake tasted like Champagne, alright -- extremely dry Champagne. The bitterness overpowered the sweetness. For someone who likes their bubbly dry, this might be the ideal cupcake, but I prefer a sweeter Champagne. Cupcakes, furthermore, are SUPPOSED to be sweet. The frosting seemed to have a touch more sugar than the cake, but any sweetness was offset by the offending presence of shortening. I hate to say that I wasn't able to eat most of this one. I hate wasting cupcakes, but considering how many cupcakes I try, if I don't like it, it's not worth the calories. 

I pushed my Champagne letdown aside and moved on to the Strawberry-Filled. I was already suspicious of this one because the frosting was obviously the same shortening-based substance that had helped bring down the Champagne. One bite confirmed what I already knew, and I pushed the heap of worthless fat and calories off to the side so I could focus on the vanilla cake. The bottom half of the cupcake was a pleasant surprise. Much like the Cookie Dough, the Strawberry-Filled cake was light and moist. And  just like the name implied, a pocket of strawberry jam awaited inside, adding a pleasant fruity flavor to the delicious cake. I was happy to eat this one without that greasy frosting. 

As I said at the beginning, I mistakenly bought the Oreo instead of a fourth new flavor (find my OMG Oreo review at http://extremecupcaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/cupcake-commute.html), and I wished I had chosen the Lemonade instead. Upon later trying the Strawberry-Filled and Champagne, though, I realized that leaving the Lemonade was a blessing in disguise because I had noticed that it had the same type of undesirable icing. Everything happens for a reason, even with cupcakes!

Here's hoping next week brings Heavenly Delight back to the market!!

Cupcake commute

Today was a perfect day for a mini-road trip. It was clear and not too cold, and I was off work for a doctor's appointment. I was craving some cupcakes from OMGosh Bakery in Petersburg, so I decided to hit the open road in the afternoon. 

I was hoping to find the Champagne cupcake I noticed at OMGosh the last time I was there but didn't buy. (Suffice it to say that it got lost in the shuffle of my cupcake sensory overload.) Unfortunately, the Champagne was not among the large crop of cupcakes in the display case today, but the helpful woman behind the counter took my name and number and promised the bakers would call me the next time Champagne shows up on the menu.

Nevertheless, there were plenty of other appealing choices. Since I had driven such a long way, I knew I wanted to buy several to take home. It was a hard decision, but I settled on a Heath, an Oreo and a strawberry cake with buttercream frosting. I wound up eating part of each of them because I wanted to make sure I tried each flavor fresh before freezing the leftovers.

The Heath looked scrumptious, with its toffee bits covering a thick swirl of chocolate frosting. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: OMGosh's chocolate frosting is my favorite of all the chocolate icing I've tasted. It's rich -- but not too rich -- and wonderfully thick. It worked in perfect concert with the Heath bits and the chocolate cake, which harbored tiny pockets of baked-in toffee.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than the Heath, I sank my fork into the strawberry cupcake with buttercream frosting. There were almost equal amounts of cake and frosting in this sweet, Valentine's-themed treat, and it was all I could do not to inhale the whole thing at once. The cake: Moist and light. The frosting: Creamy and buttery with just the slightest hint of strawberry. And the candy conversation heart as a playful finishing touch. I'm going to need to put a lock on the freezer to keep from attacking the rest of this cupcake before my next sweets day.

Finally, to make the day three-for-three, I sampled the Oreo. It was no less impressive than the other two. Chocolate cake with a whole Oreo baked right into the middle (note in photo above), plus a generous slathering of vanilla buttercream that reminded me of Oreo cream filling. And, of course, the mini Oreo and cookie crumbles on top. All of the flavors were conspiring to force me to eat way more than I should have.

I'd happily eat any of this trio again, except that there are still so many to try from OMGosh and I don't get there often enough to imagine that I'll be able to repeat any time soon. Between this place and TLCuppycakes (which is a little easier to sample because the owner, Tracy, delivers to Springfield), Petersburg is definitely a hot spot for cupcakes.

OMgosh! Cupcakes!

For Camille's birthday (today), we spent last night at the Riverbank Lodge in Petersburg. Such a beautiful hotel -- a rustic mountain lodge-inspired hotel that made us feel like we were in Colorado instead of 10 miles away from Springfield. And, across the street from the Riverbank Lodge, there just happens to be a little shop called OMGosh Bakery and Desserts. We stopped on our way out of town this morning so I could check it out because I can never resist trying a cupcake from a place I've never been.

OMGosh shares space with a shop called Memory Lane Antiques & Gifts. The pair of businesses is run by a mother-daughter team (Mom owns the antique shop, while her daughter runs the bakery). There were plenty of goodies to choose from in the display case, but I was there for cupcakes, so it was easy to hone in on those. Just some of the possibilities: s'mores, M&Ms, Reese's Pieces and Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, Oreo, turtle. There was even a caramel apple variety complete with stick. I have a weakness for all things peanut butter, though, so I went with the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cupcake.

Boasting chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and a generous swirl of chocolate ganache topped with a mini peanut butter cup, this cupcake looked scrumptious enough before I found out there were peanut butter cups baked into the cake as well. Wow.

I have to say, it was a good cupcake. The cake itself was a tad on the dry side, but the baked-in cups helped infuse it with some moistness. The peanut butter frosting was creamy with just the right degree of sweetness, and the ganache added a touch of gourmet. The peanut butter cups in the cake, though, made this one really unique. I'd love to go back and try some of their other varieties. If you happen to be in Petersburg and you love cupcakes, you should stop by OMGosh Bakery & Desserts. It's good stuff!