Raspberry rhapsody and pumpkin perfection

I'm still basking in my cupcake windfall from New Year's weekend, which included stops at Jilly's and The Cup in St. Louis. Thanks to my generous coworker, Jayette, I also found myself with a Chocolate Raspberry cupcake from TL Cuppycakes on Friday night. That was on my menu for this weekend, along with a Pumpkin Harvest cupcake from The Cup. 

Lately, I've become a fan of jumping on my first weekend cupcake at the stroke of midnight Saturday morning, and that's exactly when I tucked into my Chocolate Raspberry. 

As Jayette pointed out, one of the strengths of TL Cuppycakes is owner Tracy's ability to inject a cupcake with taste identity from top to bottom. For instance, the Chocolate Raspberry was dark chocolate cake filled with raspberry cream and topped with raspberry buttercream frosting and chocolate shavings. Even the color of the frosting was just right, calling to mind raspberries. Jayette commented that the frosting's color appeared natural, as opposed to some of the bright, obviously artificial colors you see on a lot of frosted cupcakes. When I tasted it, it was evident that Tracy had actually used raspberries in the frosting -- the texture included the seeds. While berry seeds in frosting might bother some people, it appealed to me. I liked knowing that there was no artificial flavoring -- just the real-deal berries themselves. The moist chocolate cake received an assist from the raspberry cream filling that bumped it into a higher tier of tastiness. And the chocolate shavings on top were the perfect complement to the whole creation. 

This afternoon, after a nail-biter win by my alma mater, the Fighting Illini, it seemed like a no-brainer to celebrate with the Pumpkin Harvest from The Cup.

This is among my favorite pumpkin cupcakes of the five I've tried. The spice cake was a tad dry, and I suspect that was from sitting in the freezer for a week. The frosting, however, took this one to new heights. Instead of using cream cheese frosting on their pumpkin cake like most other bakeries, The Cup opted for cinnamon buttercream. Divine decision. Creamy, creamy, creamy with a delicate cinnamon flavor that made me wish I'd asked for a side of extra frosting. (Oh yeah, and there was a wedge of pumpkin chocolate bark on top that was a nice touch, too.) I would love to try this one again, eating it in the shop or at least the same day. Not all cake holds up well in the freezer, and my foil liners (which I learned, from Heavenly Delight, help to hold moisture in cake when frozen) were too small to fit The Cup's jumbo-size creations. In the long run, though, the loss of moistness barely dampened my enthusiasm for the Pumpkin Harvest. I wish I had another!

POP goes the peppermint

The cupcake of the hour this fine Wednesday was The Cup's Peppermint Stick, pulled from the freezer this morning after a stop at the St. Louis cupcake haven on New Year's Eve. This one was a beauty to behold: White, pearly sprinkles, mini white-chocolate chips and a mini candy cane served as a Christmasy garnish to a thick layer of vanilla mint buttercream that topped a festive red velvet and peppermint-swirled cake.

This cupcake was every bit as rich in taste as appearance. The frosting was like eating an entire bowl of those pink, green and yellow white-chocolate mints that are often served next to peanuts on the cake table at weddings and showers. (I actually grabbed a handful of peanuts from a stash in my drawer afterward to offset the overwhelming sweetness of the vanilla/mint combo.) Bold to the extreme, it left me with an aftertaste rivaling that of an Altoid. No need to worry about those raw onions on my salad at lunch! The cake itself was a welcome neutralizer; in spite of the website's claim that it contained peppermint, I didn't taste it. And that was more than OK.

I feel no need to repeat the Peppermint Stick. Much like the commercialization of Christmas, a little of this Cup creation goes a long, long way.  

I-want-candy Wednesday!

It was great to return to Heavenly Delight this morning after missing last week due to too many birthday cupcakes from The Cup in St. Louis. Les had some great choices when I got there -- Butterfinger, Chocolate Caramel Surprise and a few others I've yet to try. I was tempted by the caramel but was wary because the other caramel cupcakes I've tried have been too sweet for my palate. So I went with Butterfinger, intrigued by the possibilities of a cupcake inspired by a candy bar that I loved when I was a kid but have drifted away from as an adult.

I didn't regret my decision. The Butterfinger was exactly what I've been jonesing for all week -- yellow cake with candy bits baked in and light chocolate frosting topped with candy clusters. This was the first yellow cake-chocolate frosting combo I've had from HD, and it hit the spot. When it comes to rich gourmet cupcakes, I tend to prefer my chocolate in partnership with some other flavor -- be it white or yellow cake or some non-chocolate frosting flavor. Gourmet chocolate cupcakes tend to be fudgy and made with semisweet chocolate, which I don't like as much as milk chocolate. However, HD's chocolate frosting is the kind I like -- light, moussy and milky.

Normally I force myself to wait until I finish lunch to eat my Wednesday cupcake. I don't know if it was the four-day fast from sweets I imposed on myself after my eight-day birthday binge, but I was so hard up for chocolate that I broke into the Butterfinger about half past 10 a.m. and devoured it in less than 5 minutes. Typically, if I cave in to temptation and taste a cupcake before noon, I at least save half of it for dessert. Not today!

A side note about the Chocolate Caramel Surprise: My friend and colleague Robin Desai also stopped at HD this morning, and she went for the one I passed up. Her take on it? Absolutely amazing. She reported that the "surprise," not surprisingly, was a soft, flowy caramel in the chocolate cupcake's center, tucked beneath a roof of caramel frosting. Can I just say that one is on my list for one of the remaining six weeks of the market, should it show up again. I don't think I could have gone wrong with either of my choices today, though.

Another great Wednesday!

The last birthday bite

I just polished off my final cupcake from Monday's trip to The Cup in St. Louis -- the red velvet. It was easily the best of the red velvets I've had. Moist cake, perfect cream cheese frosting -- not too sweet, and just the right amount of cream cheesiness. It would be hard to rank it against the Summer Crush orange cupcake from a few days ago. They were each so delicious in their own way ... We'll just skip the rankings this time around. :-)

If ya have to turn a year older, why not do it with cupcakes?

Orange dream

Today would normally be Heavenly Delight Wednesday, but since I had a couple cupcakes leftover from Monday's St. Louis trip, I decided to focus on those and pick back up with HD next week.

And so (drumroll, please), the Summer Crush cupcake from The Cup.

The best word I can come up with for this cupcake is "Wow." Orange cake with orange buttercream frosting, vanilla filling and a little crown of vanilla frosting with an orange Gummy Bear perched on top. When it comes to orange or lemon, I like subtle flavor, and this orange hit the mark. The frosting was phenomenal. The touch of filling was a thrilling surprise (just ask Camille how startled he was when I shouted to him upon finding it), and I quickly decided this one was my favorite from our birthday trip. Our timing was just right, too -- Labor Day was likely the last day for this one, judging by its name.

Tune in next Wednesday for the next Heavenly Delight delight!

My cup runneth over

Yesterday's planned St. Louis cupcake crawl for my birthday didn't quite pan out as we had expected. As it turns out, most of the bakeries I had found on Google are closed on Mondays. Jilly's, whose chefs won on the Food Network show "Cupcake Wars," is normally open Mondays but was closed yesterday for Labor Day. I can't fault them for that, but, dang it, I was disappointed.

However, The Cup, nestled in the back of a building in the heart of U City, was open and awaiting us after our trip out to St. Louis Mills. We had been to The Cup once before, this past Valentine's Day weekend. I had the most decadent Peanut Butter Cup cupcake that time -- so rich, but so worth the stomachache I endured afterward. That day, Camille's gift to me was a box of a half-dozen cupcakes to go (because I had such a hard time deciding which one I wanted at the shop. Isn't he the best husband ever?)

In February, we brought home two Confettis, a Grasshopper, a Red Velvet, a Strawberries 'N' Cream and a Raspberry Beret. All divine! Especially the Grasshopper. And I loved the Valentine's-themed garnishes. So cute!

This time around, I chose the simple Confetti cupcake, which was yellow cake with vanilla frosting. (After a delicious but heavy mid-afternoon meal at Chevy's Fresh Mex, I just wasn't ready for an overly rich cupcake, much as I would have loved a repeat of the Peanut Butter Cup.)

The Confetti was just right. Although it was jumbo-size, it didn't overwhelm me. The yellow cake wasn't the moistest I've ever had, but it was flavorful, and the vanilla buttercream frosting was light and smooth. The rainbow sprinkles were a nice touch.

I also got to sample my friend Becky's Lemon Drop cupcake -- lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting and a lemon curd filling -- and the flavor's subtlety was just what I look for in any lemon dessert.

Since it was the day before my birthday, Camille snuck off and came back with a to-go box. When I opened it, I found a trio of cupcakes -- a Red Velvet, a Summer Crush (orange) and another Confetti -- with cute little "happy birthday" decorations placed on top along with individual candles. I remember how good the red velvet one was from Valentine's Day,but I've never had The Cup's orange cream, so I'm looking forward to that one a little later.

On another birthday note, I had the privilege of enjoying cupcakes from multiple sources this past weekend. I went to the Villa Maria on Lake Springfield for a Koinonia spiritual retreat Friday night through Sunday afternoon, and while I was occupied with activities on Saturday afternoon, Camille came by with a big box of Hello Kitty cupcakes for me to share with everyone on the retreat. The retreat director surprised me with them that night, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday." What an awesome surprise! Camille knows my love of Hello Kitty AND, of course, my love of cupcakes. It's hard to imagine a better birthday. 35, so far you're not so bad!