Monday, December 28, 2015

Sending Out an SOS

Or should I say, "sending out an SAS?" Shipped cupcakes? Yup, apparently it's possible. My husband brought home some cupcakes that were sent to his office from SAS Cupcakes (Sweet-N-Sassy) in North Carolina.

Their process is freshly bake and frost the cupcakes, flash freeze, package them with ice packs and send via UPS 2-day.

And the price for these frosted flyers? $49.95 for a dozen cupcakes and $30 to ship. Yes, that means $80 for a dozen cupcakes.

Here are the flavors I tried (they only look squashed because my husband transported them in a plastic container)...

Starting with red velvet, which was light red velvet cake topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting; adorned with a mini red sugar flower. I liked the frosting, but the cake was dry.

Next, was vanilla/vanilla. Moist buttery vanilla cake topped with sweet vanilla buttercream, adorned with a red sugar flower. The description of "moist" was not accurate as this one was also dry and crumbly. The frosting had a good vanilla bean flavor.

Last, was chocolate/vanilla (not pictured because it basically looked the same as the others). It was rich dark chocolate cake topped with sweet vanilla buttercream, adorned with a red sugar flower. This one was probably the least dry of all of them, but still dry. The frosting was the same as the vanilla cupcake.

With all three cupcakes being dry, I'm not sure whether it was due to the freezing process and shipping; that they just weren't fresh anymore after two days in transport; or how they were kept at my husband's office throughout the day (or all the above). Either way, they were NOT worth the $80. We have so many fantastic cupcakeries locally that deliver fresh and less expensively, that having them shipped seems unnecessary.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Spice Spice Baby

Alright stop, collaborate and listen. Spice is back with a brand new invention.

OK, sorry, I know that was cheesy, but I couldn't help myself. Anyway, I tried a few fall "spice" cookie mixes over the last few weeks, which I have mixed reviews on.

First, was a pumpkin spice mix from Williams-Sonoma.

The instructions were a bit odd where it said to refrigerate the mixed dough for at least several hours before baking. I ignored that and they turned out fine. However, since I'm not really a pumpkin fan, I thought these cookies were just OK. After doctoring them up with frosting and sugar crystals, they were much better.

Then, from Target, next up is a caramel spice cookie mix.

It was pretty simple; no unusual ingredients or baking instructions. And they turned out very delish. I liked them better and they were cheaper than the pumpkin spice cookies.

Here's wishing you a delicious holiday!