Colossal Cupcakes

Last weekend, we were in the neighborhood of Three Brothers Bakery, a local bakery I've always wanted to try, so it was the perfect opportunity to grab some sweets. Well, we were in for some seriously large cupcakes that they referred to as "jumbo." They were about twice the size of standard cupcakes.

The husband and I decided on four. My choices were cheesecake (top left) and black velvet (bottom left). The husband selected red velvet (top right) and Italian cream (bottom right).

I started with black velvet, which was chocolate cake topped with cream cheese frosting and cake crumbles. The cupcake was good. It was a bit cold, so they appear to refrigerate them, which leads me to believe they aren't truly fresh baked. Refrigeration keeps cake fresher longer, but reduces the moisture. Some of the gourmet cupcakeries will actually instruct you NOT to refrigerate their cupcakes to ensure they retain their true flavor.

My second cupcake was the cheesecake. There wasn't a description of this cupcake on their website, but it seemed to be a yellow cake with a bit of cream cheese filled in the middle; topped with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate curls. This one was a bit more moist than the black velvet, but still refrigerated.

This bakery is family-owned and has been around since 1949. More than cakes and cookies, they also have hearty baked goods like breads and bagels. The cupcakes were good, but I prefer the cupcake-specific shops. However, I would try this bakery again sometime for cakes or breads.

Drop, Stop, Cake Pop

A few months ago, I purchased a Bake Pop cake pop pan. Try saying that five times fast. So, I decided to give it a try this past weekend.

Aside from some of the usual ingredients like eggs and oil, I used Betty Crocker Super Moist cake mix in French Vanilla, Kroger brand French vanilla pudding mix and Kroger brand vanilla candy coating. The Bake Pop instructions said to add another egg and substitute the one cup of water the cake mix called for with a half cup of milk. Supposedly, these modifications make the cake more dense. If you've had cake pops or cake balls before, they are usually denser and more moist inside than the usual fluffy cake.

After preparing the mix, I sprayed the cake pop pan with no stick baking spray containing flour; filled the pan with batter and stuck it in the oven at 350 degrees. The Bake Pop directions said to bake it for 25-30 minutes, but I reduced it to 20 minutes.

When removing the pan from the oven, the batter sort of exploded outside the little vent holes. After cooling for about ten minutes, I heated up a little of the candy coating in the microwave, dipped the cake pop sticks in the candy coating and inserted them into the cake pops. I also bought a styrofoam block to hold the pops upright and stuck them in the freezer for another ten minutes.

Once cooled, I heated the remaining candy coating in the microwave according to the instructions on the package and began dipping the pops. This was a messy project. The coating dripped a lot or the sticks fell out or the pop. For some pops, I added some sprinkles. In the meantime, I made another batch with the remaining batter, reducing the bake time to 15 minutes. After the last batch was done, I just went with cake balls. The total cake pop/ball count made was 27.

Here are the results...

While they look pretty good and tasted fine, they weren't as dense or moist as ones I've had from other people or places. Between making multiple batches, mishaps, cleaning in between, etc., the process took about two and a half hours. Baking cupcakes takes a lot less time. I will likely make cake pops again sometime, but not for awhile and not very often.

Slow on the Cupcake Front, but King Cake Season is Here

The cupcake selections and opportunities have been a bit slow. However, it is Mardi Gras season, so this is a good time to indulge in a king cake since they're usually only available for about a month. The past few weekends, the hubby and I sampled a few from local grocery stores. They weren't comparable to a true Louisiana king cake, thereby not worthy enough to feature a full blog post. But between HEB and Kroger, the clear winner is HEB. If you plan on getting one, make sure you get the cream cheese filled flavor. I sampled the pineapple and wasn't a fan. Kroger's version wasn't bad, but just tasted like a cinnamon roll.

Anyway, back to the cupcakes. Several weeks ago, I had a chance to try Sprinkles Triple Cinnamon cupcake during a coworker's birthday lunch. While I failed to get a photo, here's more info about the cupcake itself from Sprinkle's website: http://www.sprinkles.com/gourmet-cupcake-flavors/triple-cinnamon-cupcakes/. It's a lightly spiced buttermilk cupcake topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and dusted with cinnamon sugar. This one is much better than their cinnamon sugar cupcake as this has frosting. It truly had a lot of cinnamon flavor and was moist.

Then, a few weekends ago, we made a trip to Gigi's. The flavor selections were the same as what I've featured before, but we did get a chance to try a different featured flavor this time; German Chocolate. It's German chocolate cake topped with homemade chocolate cream cheese frosting, toasted coconut and pecans.

The cake, frosting and consistency were good, but I just don't care for coconut and pecans. I realize this is typical of German chocolate, so it's just me.

February Cupcake Specials

Here are the specials...

Sprinkles

February 1-24:

• Raspberry Chocolate Chip: Chip-studded Belgian dark chocolate cake topped with raspberry frosting.
• Salty Caramel: Fleur de sel granules compliment the sweet, buttery caramel, which flavors both the cake and frosting. My favorite is back!

Crave

February 9-14:

• Strawberry on Chocolate: Dark chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. I had this one when it was featured last year; pretty good if you like dark chocolate and strawberry flavors.

Sugarbaby's

Tue/Thu/Sat:

• Smores: Chocolate cake with chunks of graham cracker and milk chocolate chips, topped with marshmallow buttercream, a drizzle of ganache and toasted marshmallows.

Wed/Fri:

• Candy Bar: Chocolate cake with a Snickers® baked inside, topped with caramel buttercream, roasted peanuts, and drizzled with caramel and ganache.
• Banana Split: Banana cake with a swirl of strawberry puree, topped with strawberry buttercream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and your choice of rainbow jimmies or chopped peanuts.
• Cookie Dough, I love you so...: Chocolate chip cookie inspired cake with an eggless cookie dough frosting. This is one of my favorites at Sugarbaby's.

Gigi's

Gigi's now offers three gluten-free cupcake options every Friday. Each Friday, they serve Birthday Surprise, White Hot Chocolate and Wedding Cake. Some locations bake additional gluten-free flavors and offer them on other days as well, so check with your local Gigi's for more information.