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Cupcake Monday: Whipped Bakeshop

June 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Welcome to Cupcake Monday! Last week we reviewed the  Sweetbox Truck which is a mobile gourmet cupcake truck in Philadelphia.  This week we’re taking a look at Whipped Bakeshop that is located in Fishtown, which is a neighborhood just north of Center City Philadelphia.

According to their website, they are a custom bakery located in Philadelphia, specializing in custom cakes, cookies and cupcakes. The bakery was founded in 2008 by pastry artist Zoë Lukas, and their retail store opened in October 2009. I know that when I stopped in to pick up some cupcakes there were about 4-5 people in there working on different cakes, cookies, and other goodies.

As of for the cupcakes, I was actually pretty disappointed in the flavor selection when I was there. Before I left to go to the bakeshop I looked at their list of flavors from their web site and I was pretty excited to try some of them.  But when I got there, they only had about 5 flavors to pick from.  I asked about a few flavors, and they were able to frost them for me pretty quickly, but they weren’t really what I had in mind.  I just thought that since they were a bakeshop, they’d have a larger selection. It sounds like Pamcakes spoiled me! :)

Their cupcakes range in price from $2.75 – $3.25 each, depending on the flavor. If you buy them from the dozen they range in price from $33 – $39.

Chocolate Truffle: Chocolate fudge cake filled with truffle cream, iced with chocolate buttercream, drizzled with ganache.

I’m not sure that the cupcake I got was the true Chocolate Truffle or not. As you can see mine wasn’t drizzled with the ganache.  But anyways, this cupcake was pretty  good. The cake had a very deep, strong chocolate flavor.  I really enjoyed it. The truffle cream filling was very smooth and gave the cupcake more depth. The Chocolate Buttercream wasn’t the kind of buttercream that I like, but I didn’t absolutely hate it. It was more along the lines of a meringue buttercream, which I’m not a fan of.  If you ask me, it’s go sugar, or go home! ;)

Vanilla: People talk about vanilla as if it means boring. We think it means bliss.

So as usual, I picked up your Classic Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream.  I thought that the cupcake part was a bit on the tough side. I didn’t find it to be moist at all, and it was a bit crunchy on top. It didn’t have a very vanilla  flavor either.

As for the Vanilla Buttercream, it was way too buttery for me. Again, I think it was a meringue type buttercream icing as opposed to a sugary buttercream. In my opinion it didn’t have a vanilla flavor at all; it actually had no flavor whatsoever. That was quite disappointing since the frosting was plentiful. I loved the confetti on top…at least it looked nice.

Banana: Everyone loves this moist, delicious banana cake topped with vanilla or chocolate buttercream!

This was one of those cupcakes that I had to ask about. I was very interested in tasting the Banana Cupcake with either Vanilla or Chocolate Buttercream, but they didn’t have any in the case. I asked about the Banana Cupcake and I was told that they could frost one with Peanut Butter Buttercream icing for me.  That was fine with me!

The Banana cupcake was nice and moist. It had a very good flavor and a nice consistency.  I was pretty happy with it. The Peanut Butter Buttercream was light and fluffy. It didn’t have an overwhelming Peanut Butter flavor to it; it was a pretty light Peanut Butter flavor. It almost tasted like Peanut Butter mixed with some Cool Whip (although I know it wasn’t).

Lemon: You can’t go wrong with lemon buttermilk cake and delicious lemon meringue buttercream.

After I had that absolutely amazing Lemon Cupcake from Pamcakes, I wanted to try one from Whipped Bakeshop. I didn’t see one in the case, so I asked about it. I was told that I could get a Lemon cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream. After waiting though, they asked me if I wanted Lemon Buttercream. Sure!

The Cupcake had a faint lemon flavor. It wasn’t robust at all. The cupcake was a bit on the heavy side, almost like Poundcake. I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it – I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. I was somewhere in the middle, and I figured I’d let the frosting make the decision for me.

The Buttercream didn’t have much flavor at all. I couldn’t really make out what I was tasting, which isn’t good if you ask me. I should know what I’m eating. So needless to say this buttercream was a big miss. It’s a shame because the Cupcake has potential.

Vanilla cake with Chocolate Buttercream (this wasn’t listed on their flavor menu, but it was available)

This Vanilla Cupcake was much like the other one. The Cupcake part was a bit on the tough side and I didn’t find it to be moist at all. It was a bit crunchy on top. It was definitely lacking the vanilla flavor that a Vanilla Cupcake should have.

The Chocolate Buttercream had a faint chocolate flavor. It was a light and fluffy icing, lacking the sugar to give it that good flavor. It just seems that Whipped Bakeshop prefers the Meringue Buttercream as opposed to regular Buttercream, which will keep me away.  But hey – that’s their thing and if that’s what they like, so be it.

So all in all, this was a very cute bakeshop, but it wasn’t for me. The cakes weren’t all that moist, and the buttercreams weren’t the kind that I like. They really lacked the flavor and sugar that a buttercream should have, in my opinion. There really wasn’t a cupcake that had the total package. It seems like you had to sacrifice one thing for another.  The best cupcake that was taste tested was the Chocolate Truffle Cupcake.  I could really do without the others. They had some very pretty LOVE Park cookies there but at $57 for 12 small cookies, I’ll never know if they are good or not!


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Rhubarb-Raspberry-Strawberry Galette

May 16, 2011 by 1 Comment

I got some Rhubarb in my first CSA box this past week so I knew I had to make something with it. I’ve never had it before, but I know that it’s usually paired with Strawberries. I was all set to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp that I saw in the Food Network Magazine, but then I saw an email in my inbox from Fine Cooking. It was a recipe for Rhubarb-Raspberry Galette. I really liked how they were little individual desserts. So I decided to give this recipe a whirl. I had both raspberries and strawberries, so I used some of each. I cut down the amount of rhubarb since I wasn’t sure if I would like it since I’ve never had it. I didn’t want it to ‘ruin’ the recipe.

Rhubarb-Raspberry Galette

For the dough:
10 oz. (2-1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 oz. (12 Tbs.) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup ice water
For the filling:
1-1/2 lb. rhubarb
1 cup raspberries
3 Tbs. flour
1 to 1-1/4 cups sugar
Melted butter for brushing
Sugar for sprinkling

To make the dough 

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt; cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the ice water and toss just until the mixture holds together. Be careful not to overmix. Press the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the chilled dough into a 14-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate while preparing the filling.

To make the filling

Trim the ends of the rhubarb and, if the stalks are more than 1 inch thick, cut them in half lengthwise. Cut the stalks into 1-inch-long pieces. In a large bowl, gently toss the rhubarb and raspberries with the flour and sugar. Let stand until moist, 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature until it’s just pliable, about 5 to 10 minutes. Gently spread the fruit in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch margin around the edge. Carefully fold the edge of the dough over the fruit, pleating it as you go. Brush the edge of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit is soft and bubbling, 45 to 55 min. Set on a rack to cool slightly.

 


Dough is ready to chill in the refrigerator

Rhubarb, Raspberries & Strawberries

Up close & personal

All lined up ~ waiting to go in the oven

The finished product

My thoughts…

This is an example of how not every recipe that I try works out very well. LOL! Now as you can see mine definitely didn’t turn out looking like the picture on their web site, lol! But I did the best that I could do given the humidity and all of the jazz.  Truth be told, I really dislike making my own dough and rolling it out, etc. I  just don’t like doing it because it seems like something always goes wrong! Looking back, I should have made them a little bigger. I had to put the dough back in the fridge for a bit after cutting out the rounds because it was so warm. I think I also let the fruit mixture sit too long with the flour & sugar because it looked like it had too much juice in it.

These really didn’t turn out all that well. They opened up a bit and the filling came out some. I tasted part of one and I thought that the rhubarb tasted pretty good. I can totally see how those flavors go together.  But I will be honest – we did not eat them. The trash can did. So while it wasn’t a successful recipe for me, at least I got a blog post out of it! :) I still have some rhubarb left that I threw in the freezer for another day. I think I will try to make that Rhubarb Crisp I was talking about earlier. If only I hadn’t changed my mind… ;)

Filed Under: CSA, Dessert, Desserts, Fruit, Recipes, What's in the Box? · Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

A trip over the bridge to Jilly B’s Boutique & Treats

April 27, 2011 by 3 Comments

I had an appointment at Bernard’s  Salon and Spa in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I arrived a few minutes early and I noticed that a few doors down there was this cute little boutique called Jilly B’s Boutique & Treats. I had a few  minutes to kill before my appointment, so I figured I’d browse around. When I first walked in I noticed my favorite – CUPCAKES!! I’m always up for trying cupcakes from different places so I wanted to pick up a few. They also had frozen yogurt with many different flavors and toppings, chocolate covered pretzels, candy, cookies, beverages and other treats.  They also sell other things such as aprons,  accessories, gift baskets, jewelry, vases, stationary, etc.

The staff was very nice – I was asked if I needed help with anything and I appreciated that. I love when the workers interact with the customers and genuinely show interest.  I mentioned that I had an appointment a few doors down but I’d definitely be back to buy somethings.

I decided that I was going to pick 4 flavors of cupcakes. It was VERY hard to narrow it down, but I did. Here’s what I picked:

The flavors that I chose were Cookies n Cream, Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream, Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream and Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream.

Now let me start off by saying that I had to pick flavors that would interest both myself and my other half. Although I’d love to eat all 4 cupcakes myself, that was just not something that would be good for my waistline! Mr. Curly Fry is into chocolate big time – so I knew I was safe going with a few cupcakes that involved chocolate in some way, shape or form.

Cookies n Cream Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream and an Oreo garnish:

I’m a sucker for all things Cookies n Cream so when I saw this cupcake I just knew it was going home with me.  It was a pretty good cupcake – the cupcake itself didn’t wow me like I thought it would. It was a vanilla cupcake with oreo crumbs throughout. It was generously topped with some Vanilla Buttercream. The Vanilla Buttercream was good, but not the best that I’ve had. I felt like it was missing something. I think vanilla bean added in would have gone perfectly in the buttercream. Another suggestion would be to top it off with Oreo Buttercream icing – that always wins me over!

Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream:


When it was time to break out the cupcakes for the tasting, Mr. Curly Fry went right for this one.  I barely got a bite of it! The cupcake was very good – nice and moist. The Chocolate Buttercream was outstanding – definitely the best icing out of the bunch. It was the perfect sweetness and it just left me wanting more.

Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream:


This Cupcake had the Chocolate Buttercream on it as well, so you should know that I barely got to taste it! Mr. Curly Fry gobbled this one right up. The Chocolate Buttercream was the star of the show yet again! The Vanilla Cupcake was good – I definitely can’t complain. But out of the Chocolate Cupcake and the Vanilla Cupcake we would pick the Chocolate one, hands down.

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream:


Part of me actually regrets choosing this flavor. It had the exact same icing as the Cookies n Cream cupcake, and by the time I got to this one I was kind of over the Vanilla Buttercream. I *almost* chose the Carrot Cake Cupcake, but decided against it since Mr. Curly Fry doesn’t like that flavor. But now I wish I got that one. I’m confident that it would’ve had a Cream Cheese icing of some sort on it and it would have been a change for my taste buds. But aside from that, the cupcake was good.

So it seems that the stars of the show were the Cupcakes with the Chocolate Buttercream – next time I’m in that shopping center I’ll pick up a few of those for Mr. Curly Fry and I’ll pick up a few new flavors to try myself.  I will also be picking up some of that Frozen Yogurt to taste.

Checkout their store menu so you can see everything they have to offer.

Check out Jilly B’s on Facebook!

STORE ADDRESS
100 Springdale Road
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003

STORE HOURS
Sun, Mon, Tue: 11:00am – 8:00pm
Wed, Thu: 10:00am – 9:00pm
Fri, Sat: 10:00am – 10:00pm

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Dessert, Desserts · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buttercream Cupcake Truck

November 9, 2010 by 3 Comments

A mobile Cupcake Truck. What a neat concept. We’ve got one here in Philadelphia, and it’s none other than the Buttercream Cupcake Truck. According to their web site, the cupcake lady used to practice law, but she decided it was more fun to be the cupcake lady. I can’t say that I blame her. The cupcake truck used to be an old mail truck. They don’t bake the cupcakes on the truck, they bake in a shared kitchen in a bakery.

They are mobile so they operate similar to an ice cream truck, except they schedule  their stops at the beginning of the week. This is so that people will know where to find them. And because of the city, they are limited as to where they can park and sell their cupcakes. Click here to find out the schedule of stops so that you can go get some of your own! Check out their menu - there are a variety of cupcakes available each day and they also have seasonal flavors as well.

Aside from visiting the cupcake truck at their scheduled stops, you can special order cupcakes and have them delivered (minimum 3 dozen).  Or better yet you can rent the Cupcake truck for a party, wedding, special event, etc. How much fun would that be?

As everyone knows by now, I’m quite the cupcake lover. Icing is my favorite. So I had to stop by and buy a 4 pack of cupcakes. So we spent one evening taste-testing some cupcakes. That’s a good evening if you ask me.

Here are the flavors that I chose:

  • Yellow Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
  • Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache
  • Cookies and Cream
  • Pumpkin with Cream Cheese Icing

I’ll rank them from 1 to 4, with 1 being my favorite. We’ll work our way down to #1.

#4 – Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

How cute are the little ghosts on top? This was a good cupcake, but I should’ve picked the chocolate cupcake with the chocolate buttercream icing. Why? Because I live for buttercream. I chose the ganache for my guy – he loves chocolate so I figured this would be very chocolaty. It wasn’t a bad cupcake at all, but I just prefer buttercream icing. In my opinion, the ganache made this a ‘heavier’ cupcake.  So if you’re a ganache lover this may be the cupcake for you. How cute are those ghosts?!

#3 – Yellow Cake with Vanilla Buttercream

This was a very good cupcake. I love birthday cake, so it’s no surprise that I enjoyed this cupcake. The cupcake was very light and fluffy. The vanilla buttercream icing was also on the fluffy side. It wasn’t heavy at all. I’m also a sucker for sprinkes – they add a nice touch!

#2 – Pumpkin with Cream Cheese Icing

I love pumpkin flavored cakes, so I loved this cupcake. It was nice and moist and had the right amount of pumpkin in it.  The cream cheese icing was good. I think this cupcake would have slid into the #1 spot if it had vanilla buttercream icing. I prefer vanilla buttercream over cream cheese icing, but I still enjoy it. It gets bonus points for that piece of candy corn on top! It’s the little things…! ;) This is a wonderful fall treat!

#1 – Cookies and Cream

So…#1 goes to the Cookies and Cream Cupcake. I love cookies and cream anything! The chocolate cupcake was very good – nice and moist. And the icing was spectacular! It had just the right amount of cookies in it. The chocolate on top was a wonderful addition to an already tasty treat – it took it to the next level. This cupcake is definitely a keeper and I would definitely pick this flavor up again!

You can follow the Buttercream Cupcake Lady on Twitter!

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Desserts, Reviews · Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Philly Cupcake

November 3, 2010 by 1 Comment

I’ll just come out and say it. I love cupcakes/cake/icing. It’s my favorite dessert.  Ohhh, the buttercream icing. I seriously can’t get enough. Don’t give me that whippy icing. It must be buttercream all the way.

I live a few blocks from the cupcake shop Philly Cupcake so I figured I’d take the opportunity to stop by the shop on my way home from work and grab a few cupcakes. They have a cute boutique set-up going on in there. It’s very stylish!

They offer many flavors – both classic as well as fancy. They all look delicious and it’s  a very hard decision to make when it comes down to picking out which flavor to buy.  They also offer Vegan cupcakes!

The two flavors that I picked up were Cookies and Cream and The Massacre. I knew I’d have to share one with my guy, so I had to get something he’d like. He loves chocolate. We both love cookies and cream so I figured that would be a great choice. And I love peanut butter. Love it. So I knew peanut butter buttercream icing would be amazing.

First up up is Cookies and Cream:

It’s a Cookies and Cream cupcake with Cookie Buttercream icing and an Oreo. This cupcake was amazing. It had a little bit of cream in the center, which you can’t see in the picture. The cookie buttercream was out of this world. I honestly could have taken a spoon to a bowl of that stuff.  And the Oreo on top gave it that extra special touch. I would definitely buy this flavor again.

And finally…The Massacre:

It’s a chocolate cupcake with Reese’s peanut butter cups and peanut butter buttercream icing. Have I died and gone to heaven? Seriously. The peanut butter buttercream had the perfect amount of peanut butter in it. It was nice and creamy. As you can see it was piled nice and high on top of that cupcake – just how I like it.  And no worries – I didn’t have to share this one since my guy isn’t into peanut butter – he’s only into peanut butter cups! This is the perfect cupcake for a peanut butter lover.

So if you’re ever in Philly, be sure to check out Philly Cupcake. They’re located at the corner of 12th & Chestnut. They are so pleasant and friendly there. I’ll definitely be going back there soon. I’ve got my eye on the Twix Dream Cupcake!!

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Desserts, Philadelphia, Reviews · Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fro Yo

November 2, 2010 by 2 Comments

For a little while cupcakes were all the rage. Now it seems to be that way with frozen yogurt. As I walk to work, I pass about 3 different frozen yogurt shops here in the city, and that’s only in 5 block radius. I’m all for it. Who doesn’t like a little dessert now and then? I need an occasional break from icing ;)

But it’s a really simple set-up. You help yourself to the frozen yogurt. There’s a little toppings bar where you can choose if you want crushed oreos, fruit, gummy bears, graham cracker crumbs, hot fudge, and a bunch of other tasty toppings. Then you go to the cash register, set your cup on a scale, and you pay by the ounce.

There are quite a few fro yo shops, but I’m going to choose 5 fro yo places here in Philadelphia:

Kiwi Yogurt - 3606 Chestnut Street

Phileo Yogurt – 416 South Street

Sweet Ending – 1800 Chestnut and 13th & Chestnut (I will be reviewing yogurt from this location)

Tutti Fruitti - 1315 Walnut Street

Berry Sweet Frozen Yogurt - 901 South Street

And I’m going to visit each one of them (separate days of course) and individually review each one of them. I heard that Kiwi Yogurt has a birthday cake flavored yogurt, so that definitely had to make the list even if it is off my beaten path. After each visit, I will post (with pictures) my thoughts on that specific establishment and their frozen yogurt.

Now keep in mind – the yogurt from these places will not taste like what you used to get at TCBY when you were a kid. After all, this is the real stuff.

What is your favorite flavor of fro yo?

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