mmmm redux
Tim, Sofie and I hit the first Sweet Buttercup open house last Saturday, getting there about 15 minutes after the doors opened. Karen wasn’t feeling well, so didn’t make it. (I even bought a few to drop off for her, but when I called her, she told me to keep them; she couldn’t have them in her possession. She was THAT sick.)
Well, I have since concluded that Sweet Buttercup is now my favorite cupcake joint in town.
They generously offered mini cupcake tastes of five of their flavors… I think it was five; that’s what I tasted, and I think I tasted *everything*:
* Black Cherry
* Sweet Buttercup
* Vanilla Latte
* Southern Belle (red velvet with cream cheese frosting)
* Chocolotta Love
Black Cherry cupcake
The Black Cherry was delectably described in the open house email invite as:
Dark chocolate cake filled with a black cherries soaked in a balsamic reduction topped with creamy vanilla frosting
I worried that it would sound better than it tasted. Well, it did not disappoint. At all.
Sweet Buttercup cupcake
I have to say though, my favorite was the signature cupcake, Sweet Buttercup. I don’t know what kind of magic they conjure in that kitchen, but they managed to make a vanilla cupcake a special thing. Perhaps it is the use of vanilla beans in the cake; the vanilla flavor was genuine and assertive, in a good way. Being a chocogal, I’m not inclined to go vanilla. (Well, I did in choosing my husband, but I digress.) I’m here to tell you though, there was nothing neither plain nor boring about this cupcake!
They had for sale regular sized cupcakes of the flavors they were sampling… except for the vanilla. They had to portion the vanilla mini samples as they disappeared fast. (However, I was generously given one to take to Karen.) In fact, by the time we got there, the cupcake angels behind the tables commented that all of the cupcakes were rapidly vanishing, and they had run out of some flavors within 45 minutes of opening the doors.
Visually, the cupcakes were beautiful, not gimmicky. Shiny sparkling sugar adorned some, sweet handcrafted flowers crowned others, and finely diced strawberries graced lucky chocolate minis.
Even the take-away box was impressive! Each box held 12 cupcakes, designed to hold each cake apart from the others. On either side of each cupcake space were two cutouts designed so you could place your fingers around the cupcake to lift it out. Genius!
AND we get to experience the genius of Sweet Buttercup all over again this Saturday! The email invite indicates the following will be available for tasting. I SO wish they were sampling their Lemon Burst cake. Oh well… Maybe the following week? :p
Almond Apricot: vanilla bean cake, apricot preserves, almond butter frosting
Chocolate Vanilla: deep chocolate cake, sweet vanilla frosting
PB&J: vanilla bean cake, blackberry preserves, peanut butter frosting
Orange Blossom: orange scented cake, orange Grand-Marnier frosting
Banana: fresh banana cake, sweet vanilla frosting
Southern Belle: red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting
Choco-lotta love: deep chocolate cake, chocolate frosting
Sweet Buttercup: vanilla bean cake, sweet vanilla frosting
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Cupcake adventures
Whipple Scrumptious cupcake from Sprinkled Pink Cupcake Couture.
Santa Barbara has been behind on its cupcake scene, but this past year, it is finally catching up to other civilized, cupcake-satisfied societies.
Karen and I have been conducting our fair share of cupcake research the past couple of weeks. For you. Yes, yes, it’s hard, hard work. But we’re thoughtful and giving like that.
We have thus far hit Crushcakes and Sprinkled Pink Cupcake Couture. Also, while not a cupcake joint, Fresco has long made an aMAZing vanilla cupcake slathered with chocolate frosting, so is definitely worth mentioning.
Bella Dolce, long respected as the source in town for wedding cakes, is supposedly opening a retail shop this summer a block away from Crushcakes, according to the sign on the door. Alas, as of last week, it still is not open, and the last day of summer is but 10 days away.
In a nutshell, my first trip to Crushcakes was unimpressive. I had a lemon drop cupcake, which was dry and not flavorful. However, I did appreciate the fact they serve mini cupcakes, enabling one to try a whole host of flavors. Karen convinced me to return to give it another try.
I’m glad I did.
Or maybe not.
Because I am now addicted to their red velvet cupcake.
I had red velvet for the first time ever from Fresco, and I SO did not like it. It was an unnaturally red color with pink frosting, and I detected absolutely no chocolate flavors of any kind.
Crushcakes red velvet is a whole other animal or, rather, cupcake. The cake is not scary red, and has clear - but not cloying - chocolate flavors. And the frosting is a simple white sour cream frosting.
I did determine from the mini cupcakes I sampled that those which were liquor themed (lemon drop, mojito,…) all tasted dry.
Sprinkled Pink Cupcake Couture (SPCC)… well, they have lots of scary colors BUT their red velvet version was also yum, particularly the cream cheese frosting. Both my and Karen’s cupcakes were impressively moist. When I ordered one to-go, I was asked if I wanted ribbon on it. Not quite sure what to expect, I said “yes,” of course. Who turns down ribbon? Anyway, they turned my packaged cupcake into a jewel! Karen was compelled to ask if she could simply hold the festooned package for a short while.
That was the best part of the SPCC experience. It was otherwise over-the-top pink and gimmicky in its girly-girl-meets-Willy-Wonka preciousness. If they just stop trying so hard, they’ll have a good thing going. AND, they gotta start serving coffee & tea, not just milk.
So, I had not intended to really write anything about these cupcake adventures of late, as Karen is going to be blogging about her cupcake adventures as she seeks out the best cupcakes across the country. (Or at least SoCal.)
What compelled me to mention anything at all is an email I received today from Sweet Buttercup, a place that will make cupcakes to order, but from what I can tell, has not had a retail shop presence.
How frickin’ ridiculously amazing does that Black Cherry sound?! *drool* And I can’t wait to try their Lemon Burst, described as a light lemon cake topped with a tangy lemon frosting. I love me some lemon. What time should I pick you up, Karen?
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