Cupcake Tasting in Chicago!

Bleeding Heart Bakery

Tony and I were in Chicago for a 20 hour layover.  I grabbed my computer and found 6 shops (Bleeding Heart, Molly's Cupcakes, another shop that is now a yogurt shop, Swirlz Cupcakes, and More Cupcakes) that were close to public transportation.  I mapped out our route and off we went! After an hour long train ride and bus ride.  We walked into Bleeding Hearts Bakery, which could possibly pass for a tatoo parlor.  This place was really cool. I was  welcomed by a friendly girl behind the counter.  After looking at all their brownies and cookies and all sorts of sinful desserts,  I asked the girl what flavors they had because none of the cupcakes were labeled.  They all looked delicous, but I couldn't tell what flavor each one was.  I then asked her what her favorite flavor was. 

Bleeding Heart's Red Velvet and Veruca Salt

She said without hesitating "Veruca Salt".  Taking her opinion, I ordered the Veruca Salt and a Red Velvet cupcake.  The Red Velvet was moist and flavorful.  The Veruca Salt on the other hand was a bit on the dry side. One of the bites I took had so much salt in it I almost spilled the glass of milk in my efforts to wash the salty taste away.  The Veruca Salt cupcake was just a different tasting cupcake that I wasn't used to.  Very nice atmosphere and lots of other goodies to choose from.  Our second stop turned out to be a yogurt shop (I should have checked the website before I put it on my cupcake list).

Molly's Cupcakes

From that shop, we headed to Molly's Cupcakes.  Molly's Cupcakes was such a cute shop.  They had real swings to sit in at their bar and a designated sprinkle station.  All their cupcakes were labeled and looked exceptionally delicious.  There were lots of people buzzing behind the counter and people were constantly coming in the shop.  It was so hard to decide what cupcakes to get.  We ended up getting a Mint Chocolate cupcake and a Tiramasu Cupcake.  We first dug into the Mint Chocolate cupcake.  One word  "WOW"! We were blown away by the texture and taste. All we kept saying is MMMmmmMM, oh yea, MMMmmm.  I hope we weren't moaning too loud! Then we tasted the Tiramasu.  Again "OH WOW"! We had never tasted a Tiramasu.  I am so glad we had our first one at Molly's Cupcakes.

Molly's Mint Chocolate Cupcake

We practically rolled out of Molly's Cupcakes.  We were so stuffed!  I still had 2 more stops on my map! Swirlz was next on my list and during our painful walk, we decided to make it our last.  When we arrived at Swirlz we were immediatly welcomed by an enthusiastic guy behind the counter with his also enthusiastic co-worker (They could easily pass for cheerleaders..("Give me an S give me a W give me an I give me an R give me an L give me a Z SWIRLZS woohhooo") The guy's name was Jamie or James (We were so tired and stuffed I'm surprised I remembered even that) and the girl's name was Laurie or Lauren.  Jamie or James was so incredibly helpful.  He totally went out of his way to help me decide which cupcake to pick.  He described each cupcake as if they all were his favorite.  Laurie or Lauren was also extremely helpful.  She helped me narrow my decision down to 4 cupcakes and assured me she would pack them so careful that they would make it home unharmed. There was no way I could have eaten another crumb at that moment.  I chose Key Lime, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Lemon Berry, and Red Velvet.  All were made with a buttercream and were buttermilk cakes.  When we got back to the hotel after our 20 minute bus ride and our hour train ride and hotel shuttle ride I opened the cupcake bag and as Lauren or Laurie promised they were all intact and still perfect looking.  We couldn't eat another cupcake until the following afternoon.  The frosting on the Key Lime tasted like butter and I didn't taste any of the tartness of the Key Lime until I bit into the cupcake.  The Chocolate Peanut Butter was moist and had the perfect peanut butter taste in the frosting that I love. My favorite of the 4 cupcakes was the Lemon Berry which was vegan.  My only complaint was the berry filling, it tasted like grape jelly.  The Red Velvet was moist and tasty.  They were all very good.  I so cannot wait to go back to Chicago.  I will definately be stopping by Molly's Cupcakes for their Peach Cobbler cupcake and venture to More Cupcakes.

The Gloater and His Heiny Cupcake



Tony's Red Velvet

 After we received our very mixed reviews from Julius and his friends in regards to my Red Velvet and Boston Cream cupcakes, Tony decided he was going to come up with a new and improved recipe for my beloved Red Velvet cupcakes.  I pulled out yet again all my baking stuff from my neatly packed moving boxes and began following his drill sargent-like instructions.  Twenty minutes later, out came a dozen of beautiful red velvet cupcakes.  As they were cooling, I snuck a bite from one that was still very warm.  I realized at that moment, I would now be listening to Tony gloat for the next few hours, or maybe days or even weeks about how his special recipe is THE recipe of our future cupcake corner shop. I waited till they were completely cooled and then frosted them with the cream cheese frosting that Tony also came up with (we are still perfecting this recipe). I reluctantly handed Tony his prized creation and waited for IT to begin.  I believe the gloating began the moment he touched the cupcake.  I admit that it was a damn good cupcake and I will pay dearly for admitting it, but it is what it is as they say.  Now that I have baked Tony's recipe, I now had a platter full of beautiful red velvet cupcakes and no one to eat them because I was leaving on a 4 day trip.  I packed those babies up and off to the airport I went to pass them out to all my Air Wisconsin friends.  On the way to the airport Tony just had to take a picture of his prized cupcake on the dash of his jeep.  Doesn't it look like a heiny?   I was walking into the terminal pulling my rollerboard in one hand and holding an armful of neatly frosted cupcakes in the other.  From the look on the people passing by you would have thought I was holding the Holy Grail.  Peoples faces just lit up upon seeing the cupcakes.  A TSA agent even asked me if they were from DC Cupcakes.  That was totally way cool.  I reluctantly said "no" and offered him one before sending the cupcakes through the x-ray machine.  He accepted and said they were awesome.  I made my way to my gate and handed off my box of treasures to one of my friends and in less than 2 minutes they were gone.    I now have new guinea pigs!

If I have a will...I will find a way!

It's Sunday evening, after being on home reserve for yet another day, I am climbing the walls.  All my baking supplies are packed except for the basic wooden spoon and cupcake tin.  I decided to go for it and make our new friend Julius and his coworkers the cupcakes I promised them.  I pulled out my Red Velvet and my Boston Cream recipes and began making my babies.  I can honestly say these cupcakes are totally homemade being hand-stirred and everything (I didn't dig out my mixer until I got to the frosting).  Half way through my baking adventure, I thought I would text Julius and let him know that tomorrow would be his lucky cupcake day!  He texted me back and said he was at the Redskins game (lucky dawg).  If only the Redskins would have gotten that field goal and won! Then my cupcakes would have been the frosting on the cupcake day for them!  

Red Velvet

SOUTHERN RED VELVET
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Fill cupcake pans with papers.  Fill 2/3 full.  Bake for 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool completely.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 pound cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Boston Cream Cupcake

I will post the Boston Cream in the near future.

Mom's Apple Pie Bakery Visit

We stopped here on our way to a casino in West Virginia (why Tony thought that bringing a girl with the WORST luck in the world to a casino would actually bring him luck is beyond me). Although this is a pie shop, the yelp reviews said they had cupcakes.  Before we entered the shop, we could already smell a wonderful aroma. Inside, we saw rows of pies and piles of cookies and 1 tiny row of cupcakes. I first ordered buckeyes...because as you know I am a chocolate peanut butter fanatic and of course, Tony ordered a coconut macaroon. I also ordered a piece of Texas cake since we are moving to Texas, I thought I should know how a Texas cake should taste. As we were checking out we seen Mexican wedding cookies so we ordered one of them for good luck.

As soon as we got in the car I took a picture of the cupcake and the buckeye.

Chocolate Cupcake

The cupcake looked like a supermarket cupcake with the bright orange frosting and store bought fall sprinkles. When I bit into it the frosting crunched (not a good sign)! I then peeled back the cupcake paper and broke off a piece of the cake. The cupcake was well past it's prime as well as were the Texas (which was the size and weight of a brick seriously) and the mexican wedding cookie. All three ended up in the trash with just a small taste bite taken out of them.

Buckeye

The buckeye, on the other hand, was a different story (ya just can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter). The peanut butter was perfectly sweetened and was dipped in just the right amount of sweet chocolate. Even though it wasn't a cupcake, it rates high on the taste scale as well as the macaroon did.

The people working there were very friendly and helpful and the place smelled absolutely wonderful! We will stop by again and maybe try a slice of pie and of course stock up on buckeyes and coconut macaroons.

Bad Service in Syracuse, NY

Tony and I came here on the second overnight of my 4 day trip.  We stopped by this place to check out their cupcakes (only because it was across the street from Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.  I didn't even yelp a cupcake place today). When we walked into Mimi's Bakery and Cafe, we could almost hear the lady behind the counter grunt "oh great another customer" we should have walked right out the door right then and there, but I thought she could be having a bad moment. We soon realized, no she was just plain rude we asked a her few questions about some of her pastries and cupcakses and she gave us a snippy answer each time. We quickly ordered 2 cupcakes and walked out the door. When we opened our bag, the lady had put my cupcake in the bag upside down totally ruining the cupcake. Save your money and take your business to someone that actually appreciates it.

We went to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que for dinner. Awesome food! We will visit again on my next overnight.