Hittin' the Spot

While visiting family in Florida last week, I stopped by The Cupcake Spot in St. Petersburg. They also have a location in Tampa.

My parents and I split a six pack. Top row, left to right: Tuxedo Bites, Butterscotch Babies and Better Thans. Bottom row, left to right: Berry Squared, Butterscotch Babies and S'mores.

I started with Butterscotch Babies, which was toffee cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and butterscotch chips. The cake was moist and flavorful. I liked the frosting; especially the added touch of the few butterscotch chips. This turned out to be my favorite cupcake of all three I tried. I usually save the best for last, but didn't know this one would be my favorite.

I split the Better Thans with my Mom. This is their signature cupcake. It's a chocolate chip cupcake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate chips on top. It was good, but I still prefer the butterscotch.

The last cupcake I had was S'mores. This was a chocolate cupcake topped with marshmallow frosting, dusted with graham cracker and a Hershey's mini chocolate bar inserted in the top. This cupcake was very sweet tasting. Compared to the S'mores cupcake I had at SWEET in Houston, The Cupcake Spot's was a bit better.

I've wanted to try The Cupcake Spot for awhile and was satisfied with my visit. I would go back again whenever I'm in town.

Also during this trip, I was given an early birthday gift from my parents. I will be experimenting with some recipes from The Cupcake Bible and report my results here, so keep on reading!

Cupcake Marathon Weekend

Well, we got that dozen cupcakes from SWEET as promised. Flavor selection beginning with the top row from left to right: 2 tiramisu, carrot, salted caramel; second row: 2 s'mores, red velvet, Nutella; bottom row: chocolate on vanilla, vanilla on chocolate, and 2 vanilla.

SWEET's website doesn't give much detail on the ingredients of each cupcake, so I'm taking a stab at what they are. Here's how the weekend of cupcakes unfolded...

Day 1 - Round 1

Started with Nutella, which is was a vanilla cupcake filled and topped with Nutella hazelnut frosting. I only tried Nutella once before in a crepe and wasn't addicted like some people. This was a good cupcake though. If you're a Nutella fan, this cupcake is for you.

Day 1 - Round 2

Second cupcake I had was the s'mores. It was a chocolate cupcake with a little bit of graham cracker lined on the bottom, marshmallow frosting topped with chocolate ganache. The cupcake was a bit dry and fell apart. Overall taste was OK, but I was expecting better.

Day 1 - Round 3

The final cupcake of the day was tiramisu. It was a yellow cake with a coffee filling and whipped cream frosting with cocoa sprinkled on top and adorned with a mini lady finger cookie. If you like tiramisu, you'll love this cupcake. It tasted just like tiramisu. Since tiramisu is not my favorite dessert, I thought this cupcake was alright. I'm used to a heavier frosting, which this did not have.

Day 2 - Round 1

First cupcake on this day was the vanilla on chocolate. Pretty self explanatory on the ingredients for this one. I usually like it the other way around (chocolate on vanilla), but this one was a good traditional cupcake change-up.

Day 2 - Round 2

Second cupcake for the day was plain ol' vanilla. Another one where there is no need to disclose the ingredients. Also a good tasting cupcake.

Day 2 - Round 3

The final, final cupcake, which is one of my favorites that I saved for last was the salted caramel. I've already reviewed this one from SWEET before and it was just as good now as it was then. The best I ate among all six.

I think I'll be making the red velvet cookies again this weekend. But next weekend, I'll be in Florida and will make it a point to try out and report back on a cupcake place over there that I've wanted to try called The Cupcake Spot.

April Cupcake Specials

Check out this month's specials...

Sprinkles

March 23-April 8:

• Brown Sugar Praline: rich caramel cake topped with brown sugar frosting and crunchy praline.

April 6-14:

• Flourless Chocolate: flourless chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, adorned with a blue a Star of David.

April 6-29:

• S'more: graham cracker lined Belgian dark chocolate cake filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache and topped with toasted marshmallow frosting.

Crave

April 2-8:

• Lemon Coconut: Easter eggs atop lemon cupcakes with coconut cream cheese frosting.

April 6-14:

• Flourless Chocolate: flourless chocolate cake topped with dark chocolate frosting.

Cinnamon Sweet and an Upcoming Weekend Treat

Last week, we had a birthday celebration for my coworker Michael. As usual, we went with Crave Cupcakes. Unfortunately, I only had the pleasure of eating one cupcake. My chosen flavor was cinnamon. It’s cinnamon spice cake with vanilla cinnamon cream cheese frosting. It was moist, lightly cinnamon-y and delicious. Some of my coworkers marveled at how fast I was able to consume my cupcake. They forgot I am a professional cupcake connoisseur.

With this extended holiday weekend, the fiancée and I will be getting a dozen cupcakes from Sweet using a daily deal offer I purchased a few months ago. I’m looking forward to trying some new flavors. Don't fret! We won't be eating them all in one sitting.