vanilla buttercream – DessertedPlanet.com

GiGi’s Cupcakes

September 28, 2011 No Comments

Last Friday night Jeremy and I visited one of the two new cupcakes places (yes TWO) that opened up this week in Springfield, MO. GiGi’s is a franchise based out of Nashville, TN and I had heard good things about them so I was pretty excited to visit. The place is cute, simple and clean inside. No frills. And quite frankly they don’t need frills because the cupcakes are gorgeous! At three dollars apiece, they are good-sized and well worth the money. And the frosting…OMG don’t even get me started on the frosting on top of these cupcakes. The minute we stepped inside the doors and my eyes fell upon the mountain of frosting piped on top of the cupcakes, I was mesmerized and drooling. I’m a frosting girl all the way!

Since it was their opening night and they had been giving away free cupcakes all day to all their fans on Facebook, they were down to some basic flavors but still a good variety. I would have LOVED to have tried the Tiramisu or Red Velvet but they were out of those so we went with Wedding Cake (my choice), Midnight Magic (Jeremy’s choice) and Chocolate Salted Caramel.

The Chocolate Salted Caramel consisted of a yummy super dark chocolate cake with caramel buttercream topped with chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of sea salt. It was very good and I loved the salt and chocolate combination but the caramel buttercream was just a tad too sweet for both of us. Somehow we still managed to eat most of it though…how did that happen?!

My choice, the Wedding Cake, was vanilla cake topped with vanilla buttercream. The cake was on the denser side and not so light and fluffy and the buttercream was very thick, creamy and smooth, not greasy at all and had a wonderful vanilla flavor. I really enjoyed it, especially the frosting.

Jeremy’s choice, the Midnight Magic, was our favorite. It was a rich chocolate cake topped with an absolutely delicious cream cheese frosting and mini chocolate chips. We ate the whole thing and loved every bite.

I’m really looking forward to going back and trying more cupcakes. And I will go back! I can’t stop thinking about the frosting…and the Tiramisu cupcake…and the Miss Princess (strawberry) cupcake…and the Red Velvet cupcake..and the frosting..and the Kentucky Bourbon Pie cupcake…and the…

P.S. Check out all GiGi’s offerings here!

P.S.S. After linking to her page, I read her story of how she started and it is totally inspiring! Check it out!

Cupcakes, Desserts, Recipes

Purple and Pink Flower Cupcakes

July 17, 2011 No Comments

A few days ago I got a request from a friend for cupcakes for her daughter’s 4th birthday party. I won’t lie, I’ve had some bad experiences with cupcakes (read here) but I really wanted to help out. So this morning I got up bright and early and made two dozen of the Perfect Party Cupcakes and a batch of Buttercream Dream Frosting I blogged about awhile back. If you need a tried and true vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream recipe, try these two, they won’t ever let you down. Promise.

These particular cupcakes are topped with purple sanding sugar and handmade, pink white chocolate daisies, thanks to my husband Jeremy. He is the artistic one of the two of us (and definitely the more patient one). My only worry was the car ride over…summertime heat makes me nervous when transporting baked goods and chocolate. But they made it safely and were a hit!

Happy birthday Audrey!

Bakery Reviews

Alexandria’s Cupcake Cottage

April 13, 2011 1 Comment

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to drop into a new bakery in town, Alexandria’s Cupcake Cottage at 1332 E. Republic Road. It’s a quaint little space full of antique and 50’s/60ss retro furniture, signage and decor. It’s a little overwhelming when you walk in because the tiny space is crowded with so much…small and large tables, lots of non-food retail items such as aprons, dessert themed soaps and lotions and a few other fun items.

Eventually, I made my way to the bakery case to see what magical sugary delights awaited me. There were a few chocolate truffles in the case, a couple of different cookies, cannolis, birthday cakes and of course cupcakes. I chose classics–a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and a red velvet cake with cream cheese buttercream. At $2 a piece they were decently priced and sized.

So how were they? Overall, ok. The vanilla cake was very moist and the frosting was good but a little too sickeningly sweet. As for the red velvet, Jeremy and I both agreed it was very disappointing. The cake was moist but had a strange bitter taste from the cocoa and the cream cheese frosting was way too cream cheesey and tangy for my liking. What I did like about these was the amount of frosting on the cupcakes–it was piled on! Just wish it had tasted better.

I probably will go back because I’ve heard their cannolis are very good and I’d also like to try the chocolate truffles. But for now I think I’ll stick to making my cupcakes at home. Try them and let me know what you think!