Mountain [Sugar] High

I am from a sleepy little mountain town called Truckee.  It's one of the best places on earth, if you ask me.  I moved there when I was in the first grade, and lived a full and wonderful life there until I graduated in 2000 - go Wolverines!  I try to make it back often to visit my dad and his wife, who still live there.  The fresh mountain air, cool nights and clear sky filled with stars never gets old.  All of these elements bring me back to the adventures I used to have with friends - late nights at the lake, driving around town, snow days and summers filled with all the goodness Truckee had to offer.  There really is no place like home - that good witch really knew what she was talking about.

So imagine what would make this place even better than it already is.  That's right, folks; a cupcakery.  Freshly opened for business in my hometown, right in the heart of downtown.  

Growing up, I didn't spend a lot of time in downtown Truckee.  It is filled with shops and restaurants that are usually vacated by "the locals" on weekends to make way for those pesky Bay Area folk.  However, on Sundays, after church, my dad and I would go to Coffee &, one of the local restaurants, where I would try my darndest to finish a plate of french toast all by myself.  We would race from the car to the coffee cup that was inset in the sidewalk - I usually "won" - and then we would wander on to the counter and catch up on the funnies and world news, enjoying diner fare and chatting with the waitresses.  It wasn't until I was older, making trips back from college, that I started to hang out down there more, realizing how Truckee's downtown captures the quaintness and small town feeling in a short packed block.  And so, it is the perfect spot for a sweet stop at Cake Tahoe.

Their spot is very cool - a huge open space to let in all that fresh mountain air.  They open onto a patio right along Donner Pass Road - a perfect spot to sit, eat a cupcake and watch the throngs of people passing by which is just what we did, after enjoying a night at Truckee Thursdays.  The inside reads like a typical mountain shop.  It fits in well with the vibe of Truckee and the neighborhood.  Their location and set up easily earn: 

We ordered a few types - we wanted to be thorough in our research.  We tried the red velvet, carrot (well, actually my DAD had the carrot and didn't share!) and chocolate.

The decoration was pretty simple - not anything too memorable, but not the lamest thing ever.

All the cakes were moist, except for the elusive red velvet.  That is a hard one to get just right, and CT didn't quite nail it in my opinion.  The other cakes were yummy, but not necessarily something I would use calories on again!  You have to be selective, you know.  I can't really speak for the carrot, because my dad didn't let us try any.  But there were definitely no crumbs left behind, so I'll let you be the judge!  For the overall taste, I'd say:

Cupcakes from L.A. L.A. Land!

I headed down to L.A. a few weekends ago to hang with a dear friend, Birdy, who is getting hitched in the summer of 2012!!  After a "small" incident at the airport (I forgot my ENTIRE wallet - ID, CC, everything...) it was a great weekend.  Especially since Birdy had scouted a few cupcakery options for us.  We ended up deciding on Vanilla Bake Shop, which is in a cute little outdoor mall where, I believe, a scene was filmed between Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell for "Crazy Stupid Love."







The location wasn't my favorite, though the mall was great.  It just felt a bit too commercial - Brookstone, The Gap and then this cupcakery.  Again, going back to my dream shop, I envision a stand alone Victorian or Craftsman with a porch - and again, somewhere to sit DOWN and enjoy!  Enough with these fast bake cupcakeries!  Bake Shop was a walk up counter, very similar to Sprinkles or Kara's.  I loved the decor, the wall paper, the beautiful cakes lining the walls, and especially, the wide variety of cupcakes we could choose from!  Overall, I would give the decor:

  
Lucky for me (and for you), I had a strong team of samplers that included Birdy, her fiance Sasha, her mom Kim, her sister Courtney, Emily and of course, me!  More samplers = ..... you got it!  More cupcakes!  Here are the flavors we decided on....

1.  Blackberry Passion Fruit
2.  Old Fashioned
3.  Vanilla Bean
4.  Chocolate Vanilla Bean
5.  Gingerbread Spice
6.  Peppermint Chocolate
7.  Black and White
8. Toasted Coconut
9.  Fleur de Sel
10. Mint Cookie
11. Southern Red Velvet
12. Bittersweet Dark Chocolate

This is what we started with!  (All minis!)

I should say that we got what they call "Cupcake Babies" - AKA, mini cupcakes.  Obviously, too many to go through one by one!  I have my top recommendation, and one that you should definitely just avoid ordering at all costs!

Try 'Em -

Blackberry Passion Fruit - OMG, so good!  Maybe it was all of the fresh fruit, or just the combination of flavors, but this was a definite WINNER!!!

Leave 'Em -

Peppermint Chocolate - YIKES!  How many ways can you use Peppermint Extract?  Uh, too freaking many, as was demonstrated by this cupcake.  It was fire-through-your-nose pepperminty and not pleasant!

The decorations were okay, but I wasn't overly impressed.  I could have used some lighter duty frosting - it was a bit heavy for my taste.

Given that I don't live in LA, I probably wouldn't make the effort to go to this place again.  There are so many lovely places to try, and I really only thoroughly enjoyed that one.  Oh well, better to have loved and lost...

We divided each mini into six pieces - so we demolished 'em...

Overall, it was okay.  Not great, not terrible.  I know there are better spots, though if you are at this mall already, maybe seeing a movie (like we were), certainly stop on by and see if you can get the blackberry passion fruit!

Not a "Miette" Left....

Sometimes at the end of a great week, you need things to get even greater.  That is when you call your girlfriends and arrange to have a magical girls night out.  I love having girl time.  I really enjoy all of the sigoths of my friends, but, I love the silly-laugh-at-anything ridiculousness that happens when it's just us girls.

We had planned on dinner and possibly a movie, but Emily also mentioned a MUST SEE cupcakery in Hayes Valley. She spoke about it on a couple of occasions, so I knew it was great and memorable!  We stopped first to get some pedicures, and then it was off to do some serious business at Miette!

Thank goodness I have friends who are ready to help with my serious blog research!

Emily and Mira - ready to go in!!

 Miette is located in both the Ferry Building and Hayes Valley.  We went to the Hayes Valley stop, and I was in awe from the moment I crossed the threshold!

Imagine this: glass jars filled to their brims with colorful confections - candy, cookies, chocolates, caramels, sweets, sours, crunchies, chewies....  Gorgeous vintage (looking) wall paper in warm and cozy colors, framing the white antique tables.  The counter in the front houses gorgeous cakes, cupcakes, works of art.  The lady behind the register? Not so friendly, but it doesn't matter because you are distracted by the hand wrapped chocolate bars, antique scales and perfectly centered and balanced displays. 

Okay - you can stop imagining - here it is!

This place was even more so what my ideal cupcakery would be.  But don't you know it - they had no chairs!!!  What do people have against chairs!

In all seriousness, though, it was absolutely stunning.  Almost like a museum - I felt like I had to whisper...but I didn't :)

Then we headed out to dinner, and talked about heading back to Em's for a glass of champagne while we enjoyed these beauties.  But instead, we decided on warm tea and forks.  Talk about quality time.  Emmy even busted out the silver platter.  That's just how we roll, kids.  

We got four flavors: Chocolate with Rasberry, Gingerbread with cream cheese, Pumpkin with cream cheese and vanilla with vanilla.  Hands down, best frosting I've had in a long cupcake tasting while.  Very light, and fluffy.  It didn't have an overwhelming flavor, and was just a perfect compliment to the cake.  Because we got there a bit later in the day, the cake was kind of dry for the chocolate and vanilla, but the other two were great, probably because of the water packed veggies inside!

So, for taste, I would give Miette three stars.  The cake left something to be desired, and that's about 75% of the cupcake!

For decor - hands down a five!  Look at the pictures!

For decorations, a five!  They were dainty, beautiful and simple.

A few cupcakes, a warm beverage, good friends and a great night out?  I would say it was a success on all fronts.

Holy "Hotcakes!"

I went to visit my fabulous and newly engaged buddy, Brittney, in her LA pad.  Of course the activities for the weekend included girl time, good food, movies and CUPCAKES!  L.A is one of the hotspots of cupcakes - they are ubiquitous and that's something I love about the place!  Granted, some of them are more inviting looking than others...but isn't that always the case?

Brittney had sampled some cupcakes from Hotcakes Bakes at her work, and had great things to say.  Twist my arm...I'm on board. They were also the winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network (Similar to Sift - which I blogged about earlier).  I had higher hopes for Hotcakes, since my Sift experience was forgettable.  Hotcakes is a little tiny shop, packed with lots of flavor variety and two stools at a bar by the window.  There were two of us, so it worked perfectly.  Let it be said, though, that I am still in search of my dream cupcakery.  I will find it, or I will open it.

Birdy - ready to sample with me!

There are no words...

As you can see, there were so many flavors to choose from, and well, I just couldn't.  Choose that is.  So, we walked over to the counter with a baker's dozen.  That's right, folks.  Thirteen cupcakes.  Don't judge - it was for research.  ;)

The flavors we chose were:

1. Red Velvet
2. Lemon
3. English Toffee
4. Tres Leches (their award winning flavor)
5. Sprinkleicious 
6. Strawberry
7. Coconut
8. Cookies and Cream
9. Carrot Cake
10. Chocolate Mint
11. Snickerdoodle
12. Key Lime
13. Chocolate

Oh, and I should probably add (for my own sake) that these were MINI cupcakes, people.  (Not that I wouldn't have ordered 13 normal size cupcakes.)

I don't have the energy to write on all thirteen, and truth be told, we could only get through ten.  I had to leave Brittney the last three to sample with her fiance, Sasha.  The pictures didn't turn out too great once we left the sunny store front, and so I will choose my top two, and then one of Brittney's reviews. I will also briefly let you know which ones were relatively anti-climactic, and that you should avoid...

Lemon

Photo Credit: Brittney Smith

This is one of the ones that Britt and Sasha tried.  According to her:
"So good! I must admit that I'm partial to lemon cake, but I really enjoyed this one. There was a subtle, but completely present lemon flavor in both the cake and frosting. But the surprise that Sasha and I both loved was that inside the cake was a little dollop of lemon curd. So so yummy. The yellow frosting just looks cute to me too." - Brittney Smith of Britt by Britt

I personally liked the off center frosting.  It made it look like a little party hat - and I was so down to party with this cupcake.  Too bad I didn't get to sample it!  Next time.  Thanks, Birdy, for doing the hard work for me!










Chocolate Mint


I love mint chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins.  I mean, who doesn't? (if you don't, don't tell me).  So the idea that that yummy summertime flavor could possibly be captured in a cupcake?  Yes please!

I was a bit put off by the alien green of the frosting - I prefer things to look a little more pale than that, but I wasn't letting that stop me.  I also wasn't a fan of the whole chocolate chips on the top - a bit clunky for my taste.  Perhaps consider some chocolate shavings next time? A little more elegant.

We bit in, and were both a bit overwhelmed with the mint flavor!  It was pretty powerful - like lingering minty burn in the back of your throat and clear your sinuses while your in there, powerful.  But, if you're into that kind of thing, then by all means...

I don't think I would revisit this one, though.

Flavor:


Decoration:

Strawberry


I've said this before, but nothing really says summer like a strawberry cupcake.  This cupcake did not let me down.  It was moist, fluffy, a beautifully pale shade of pink, topped with light and airy whipped cream frosting.  A dream in a wrapper.  Seriously good.

And, similar to the lemon - don't you love the off kilter frosting topper?  This one's totally rocking it.  Love it.

Flavor:

Decoration:

Anti Climactic:

English Toffee.  The only thing toffee about this cupcake was the toffee crumbles on the top.  I would have been better off eating a Heath bar.

Sprinkleicious.  Basically Funfetti.  Tasted like the box.  Kind of a let down.

Overall, I would give Hotcakes a definitely worth a stop if you are in the area!

Sweet "Buttery" Goodness

There are many, many things to love about summer vacation.  I could have an entire post dedicated to things I love about the months of summer when I don't have to grade endless amounts of papers.  However, one of the highlights of my summer (aside from my fabulous European adventure) has been spending time with my fabulous friends.  I love the luxury of being able to visit them during the week, lunch, shop, take walks, etc.  It is very fulfilling and wonderful, and reminds me of how blessed I am!

Last week, my dear friend, Monica, and I went to Santa Cruz.  Monica studied and lived in Santa Cruz and so is very familiar with the area.  We did many fun things, including a hike, a lunch, shopping, ice cream and lots of chatting.  But of course, this blog is devoted to the one, the only, the best dessert in the world for any season, any time of day: the cupcake.

Monica suggested we go to The Buttery for lunch.  It was the place where she and her husband, Daniel, had their wedding cake made and she said it was great for lunch.  When I opened the door, I knew I was in love.  Yummy pasteries and homemade bread lined the entrance.  Turn the corner to find chalkboards filled with mouth watering descriptions of fresh, organic sandwiches.  We chose our lunch and then headed back to the dessert counter.  We selected the "Favorite Chocolate" and "Carrot" cupcakes.  We were ready to dig in.

Photo Credit: Crazy biking lady outside "The Buttery"

Photo Credit: Monica Schuet

Favorite Chocolate Cake

Photo Credit: Monica Schuet

This cake was beautiful to look at.  It was chocolate cake, topped with a thin layer of ganache, whipped cream frosting, and a strawberry.  I am usually not a fan of ganache (it's a bit too rich for me), but it looked like a pretty thin layer.  This was a great chocolate cupcake!  Very moist, flavorful, and the whipped cream frosting was just right.  Because the frosting and the cake were pretty light and fluffy, the ganache wasn't overwhelming, and was actually a nice textural element to the cupcake because it was a bit crunchy.

For presentation, I would probably give this cupcake a:

Both of us agreed that for taste, this cupcake got a:

Carrot Cake

Photo Credit: Monica Schuet

This was the type of cake that Monica and Daniel had for their beautiful wedding.  I enjoy a good carrot cake.  This one had shreds of coconut in there that made it a bit crumbly (that is Monica's educated guess as to why it was falling apart!)  It was very delicious, but pretty hard to manage.  As you can see, the cupcake was HUGE!!!  I liked the nuts on the outer rim, and the cream cheese frosting was very light and not too cream cheesy (you can OD on that stuff, you know).


For presentation, I would give this cupcake a:


For taste, this cupcake would get a 4, but because it was so out of control and kind of irritating, it gets a 3.5 ( don't have 1/2 cupcake images!)


Definitely worth a repeat visit, especailly with such wonderful company!  My next cupake adventure will be taking me to L.A. with one of my fabulous and newly engaged besties, Brittney.  Check back next week!

Don't Hold the "Frost"ing!

Today was the perfect summer day - great weather, started with a walk with the best dog in the world, Taiko, and a cupcake tasting with a great companion at a fabulous new place!

If you recall, I have mentioned my ideal cupcakery.  It includes the following criterion: fun and inviting atmosphere, fun and funky furniture, good music, clean and simple cupcake presentation/display, and drinks!  I mean, who doesn't want to wash down a rich chocolate cupcake with a nice cold glass of milk (or a martini...)  And my visit today, actually came pretty close to meeting most of those!  They stole my concept! ;)

Frost Cupcake Factory JUST opened on July 1st of this year!  I was so excited when I googled "Cupcakeries in SJ" and something besides Kara's actually popped up.  I had been planning to get together with one of my fabulous (ex) students, and this was the perfect venue.  It is in downtown Campbell, right on Campbell Avenue.  Every time I visit that part of town, I always think of how I want to spend more time there.  It is so quaint, fun and cute.  It is the perfect spot for a cupcakery, in fact.

As you can see from their list of flavors - they have some awesome ones.  I was lucky enough to be able to talk to the (super friendly) owner, and she said they they have six flavors that are their kind of "base" - Tahitian Vanilla, Red Velvet, Black Velvet, Frostfetti and Cookies and Cream.  Then, they will have between 2-4 "rotating" flavors.  Her goal is to have six rotating flavors at some point.  I can't WAIT to try some of them.  Coconut mojito?  Hell yes!  Banana Caramel?  Uh, yes please!  Maui Coconut Dream?  Salivating already.  I love the creativity of the names and how they are so much more fun and enticing than "Coconut" or "Vanilla."  A+ for thinking outside the box a bit.

Of course I forgot my camera, but my wonderful taste tester, Cole, brought his, and snapped this photo - just so you can see what we are dealing with.

Photo Credits: Cole Carter

Anyway, on to the tasting...

I had Cole choose two flavors and then I chose two.  I was THRILLED to see the Frostfetti flavor.  That is my favorite flavor of boxed cupcake.  There is something quintessentially young about them - the look, the taste - just everything.  Obviously, that was one of my choices.  The owner also recommended the Lemon Meringue, and that was an easy sell for me.  I love citrus - especially in the summer time.  Cole's choices were the Tahitian Vanilla and the Black Velvet.  We parked outside, and dug in.

Frostfetti

Firstly, I kind of appreciated the uniformity of all of the frostings.  With a name like Frost - I had to pay extra attention to that detail of the cakes.  Not a lot of fanfare, but I liked their minimalist approach.  It went with their whole vibe.

Having said that, and considering my considerable excitement over this flavor, I was a bit disappointed.  It was a bit too dense, and lacked a strong flavor.  Cole agreed with me, and we left about 95% of this cupcake on the plate.  Bummer.

So, while it was pretty, it lacked what I was looking for.  I appreciate the effort, though, and the nod to the classic.

Tahitian Vanilla


I don't know what it is about this flavor being Tahitian that made it sound exponentially more exotic that just plain old American Vanilla, but I bought into that description expecting full blown rich vanilla flavor. Again, it was a bit bland for me.  I really wanted more of a kick in the pants than this offered me.  Again, we left about 90% on the plate.

Again, loved the look and the name, but ultimately, I wasn't taken away to Tahiti with this one....

Black Velvet


Oh my chocolate God.  This was a great cupcake.  Rich.  Moist.  Mouthwatering.  Yum-O.  So amazing. I could have eaten two of these (but, I did have three other cupcakes.  I don't want to be a total pig!)  Seriously though, this was one of the better chocolate cupcakes I have tasted.  The frosting was light - like a whipped cream almost.  Just enough, and it didn't overpower the wonderful flavor of the cake.  Love at first bite, all the way.  I am glad this is a staple, because I will be getting this again.

Lemon Meringue 

Wow is this ever a summer flavor.  Visually, this was a very appealing cupcake.  I love the light toasting on the top and, you can kind of see it, but the gooey yummy lemon sauce oozing out underneath.  I knew this was going to be a good experience for everyone.  When I cut this baby open, imagine my delight to see that the inside also included that gooey lemon filling.  

Every bite of this cupcake SCREAMED lemon.  It was in the frosting, the sauce on top, in the cake itself, and in the filling.  But it wasn't overpowering.  It was bright, refreshing, moist, and sit back in your chair to rejoice in summer good.  

Overall, I was very happy with my visit, and I am so excited to have such a fun place in the neighborhood.  They have free WiFi, so I plan on bringing some papers to grade when school comes around, grabbing a cup of joe, and enjoying the fun place that is Frost.  Hope to see you there!