Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hold the grainy icing, please

My husband thinks I'm a cupcake snob.
I just think that if your entire business is based on a cupcake, it better be the best cupcake I have ever eaten. It's just that simple. And I think when I enter the door it should smell like you're baking something.
A few months back I visited a new cupcakery, expcting my experience to be Sublime. I wasn't. I selected a peanutbutter cup cupcake, which consisted of a chocolate cake, peanutbutter icing and a mini peanutbutter cup. Let's say this, the best part was the mini peanutbutter cup, which was bought, not made. The cake was dry and actually had a crust around the edges. Very disappointing since it was supposedly made that day. The frosting was fragrant which gave me hope. Unfortunately, it was grainy and left a waxy feeling in my mouth.
A few weeks back, my husband and I tried a brand new cupcakery boasting Swirls of frosting. Instead, it lay flat and visibly grainy on a dense, dry vanilla cake. I might have excused that had it not been for one thing: the owner's arrogance. While we were placing our orders, a friend was engaged with conversation with the owner. I distinctly heard him say "I don't have a lot of time so I decided to do one thing I like and do it very well". That set my expectations pretty high. I expected a cake that was light and airy, fragrant with vanilla. I expected frosting that was smooth and voluminous on top of the cake. While I complained, at home, to my husband about my poor cake quality he attempted to shift the blame to me, that I shouldn't be so critical.
Now, I think when I spend $2.50 for a single cupcake it had better be worth every cent of that. When I go to Chocolate World in Hershey I pay $3 for a cupcake, and each bite reminds me why I am willing to pay that much. The cake is rich and velvety, with no signs of a dry edge. The frosting is smooth, creamy and piled high. The generous amount of candy on top just pushes it over the top. They know what they are doing. There is no need to toot their own horn, the product stands on it's own.
So, call me a cupcake snob if you must. Just remember that when you ask me where to go.

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