Aficionado or J'aime Manger des Petits Gâteaux or Caboodle Cupcakes Come to Town

In the interest of fairness, I have tasted a lot of cupcakes. Ask anyone who travels with me, dines with me or reads this blog and they will tell you I have eaten a lot of cupcakes. I think it's only right, because how are you to know a good cupcake when you taste one if you haven't eaten a lot of cupcakes. Baked a lot of cupcakes. Dreamed about cupcakes!

And at bigYELLOWbowl, we try to bring you all of the important news on cupcakes, which despite the predictions of some publications, are not going away anytime soon. And for that, we are ever so thankful.

My credentials:

1. Last spring, I made 102 cupcakes in four flavors for my friend Melissa's opening. It was me vs. the cupcakes.
2. I have eaten at cupcakeries from Chicago, IL to Madison, WI to Dallas, TX and Long Beach, CA times two.
3. I watched every minute of Martha Stewart's cupcake week and read her cookbook on the subject. She is the queen.
   
4. I have been to the temple of cupcakes, Sprinkles of Beverly Hills and lived to tell the tale.
5. I Made dozens of tiny chocolate cupcakes.
   
6. I have even made a cookie tribute to cupcakes...

Satisfied? I love cupcakes.

What do I look for in a good cupcake?

• The perfect size; not too large and not too small (Unless it's supposed to be small, of course.).
  
• Ratio of frosting to cake.
• Crumb of the cake.
• Texture of the frosting.
• Originality of the flavors.

It is very much like judging a beauty pageant. So, you can imagine how exciting it was last summer when Caboodle Cupcakes appeared at the downtown farmer's market. Rumor had it that local artist and cupcakista Susan Tingley (check out the beautiful exploding pots) was opening a temple to cupcakes right here in Terre Haute, IN. But, could she make the transition from small-batch baking to churning out miniature masterpieces day in and day out?

I am pleased to report that indeed, she can. I got to talk to Susan the other night at a party and she said business was going very well--they are selling out almost every day! Caboodle Cupcakes offers a variety of rotating flavors and also does special orders. And, has a very cute pink and green shop right on south 7th street.

This week, I finally got to visit 'la source' with my friend Mary and I was thankful she was willing to go splitsville so I could try two flavors: cinnamon and pumpkin. They were both divine, but the pumpkin won. I could have eaten three of them! Susan said she was working on a new flavor while we were there, sweet potato which she decided to top with a brown sugar frosting. That touched my southern heart! A sweet potato cupcake. If you become a fan on Facebook, you can get updates on what special flavors and offers they have in-store.

I'm also pleased to report that Caboodle Cupcakes are some of the best I have had, hands down. The cake is perfectly tender, but not too soft. The frosting is complementary and in my opinion, perfectly proportionate. And with both classic and experimental flavors, Caboodle Cupcakes is on the way to winning the heart of this city.

Caboodle Cupcakes
3419 South 7th Street
Terre Haute, IN 47802-4016
(812) 232-5551

Cupcakes Are So Last Year

Cupcake-shaped cookies are the new black! That's right, cupcake-shaped cookies. Or simply: cupcaked cookies. Yes, we took your favorite cookie and replaced it with one in the shape of a cupcake. Pleasantly surprised, weren't you?

Friday we ran some errands in Indy, knocking out most of the holiday shopping. At Crate and Barrel, I couldn't resist getting a little something for myself: a second miniature salt pig and this set of cupcake cookie cutters in two different sizes. So fun.

And since this week is Hadley's first birthday and he is going to Florida for a wedding (kids today!) , we decided to make him cupcake cookies for a surprise treat at dinner on Sunday night. And he loved them. His first cookie ever, apparently, so it was fun to watch him munch on it, throw it on the floor and have sprinkles all over his mouth. Adorable!

It's also the time of year for cutout cookies and there are lots of recipes out there. Most of my baking books are still in storage, and I couldn't find the Best Recipes recipe or the Dorie Greenspan one either. So, I went to the font of all kitchen knowledge: Martha Stewart. Her recipe is here and it couldn't be easier.

Couple of tips:
1. Add two tablespoons of corn starch to the dry mixture. This will make your dough especially toothsome.
2. Don't skip the freezing step after you cutout the cookies. Freezing the dough helps it retain its shape while baking and let's face it, it's all about the shape, right?
3. Icing is good, white chocolate is better. Yes, these babies are frosted in white chocolate that has been tinted, then sprinkled with multi-colored non-pareils. Yummy!

Even though I love the cupcake shaped cookies, I have to honestly say it doesn't mean I'm over the cupcake! This craze has no end in site and we even have a cupcakery in Terre Haute now--it opened on Friday. Stop into Caboodles Cupcakes for a very sweet treat.

Caboodles Cupcakes
3419 S. 7th Street
Terre Haute, IN, 47802

Phone:

812-232-5551

Mon - Fri:

11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sat:

11:00 am - 5:00 pm

(More) Frosting

Frosting Cupcakes in Belmont Shores is super cute, with a fun mural of a dancing cupcake that strikes a vintage vibe. Since I am about to go into sugar shock, I showed restraint and only had a bite of M's chocolate peanut butter. Mmmmmmm...

We popped into Babette's Feast, with its well-stocked pastry case (including the elusive chocolate filled eclair) with the promise of 'one of the best' chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't stand it and had to delay the intake of more sugar for a later moment. Despite how fantastic everything looked....soon they will all BE MINE.

See, too much sugar.

Mini-cupcakes!

We had dessert at Miss Priss Cupcakes, close to John's office. Sugar rush!

The have bittles--bite size cupakes in every flavor they make. I was glad, because that meant I got to try a wider range. John says it's the best red velvet he has ever had--and he may be right!

I had:
Vanilla Cookies & Cream
Lemon
Red Velvet
Chocolate Peanut Butter
Chocolate Cream
Death by Chocolate (a divine way to go!)

All of then amazing, moist and perfect.

Restaurant: Sprinkles of Beverly Hills

If a place sells only cupcakes, is it really a restaurant? Is the cupcake craze really over? Or just reaching critical mass? Should a cupcake really cost $3.50? These are the questions I was asking myself as I entered Sprinkles of Beverly Hills' Dallas location with Kristina and Gab.

And by entered, I mean waited outside to get in the door. Seriously, there was a line out the door and the people were three deep inside. All waiting to get these gorgeous, supposedly sublime cupcakes. I had seen the proprietress of Sprinkles of Beverly Hills (I mean the name says it all, right?) last year on the Martha Stewart Show during cupcake week. And there were raves, from Martha and the audience. But could they be any better than any other cupcake?

I doubted it. The store itself is incredibly chic and well-branded, with light pink and browns covering the walls, and a very modern wood counter and display. At Sprinkles, they sell: cupcakes; drinks to go with cupcakes; t-shirts that talk about cupcakes; stands to put their cupcakes on; and their own brand of cupcakes mixes. That's it.

But was this 'experience,' this highly stylized store built to deliver the simplest of childhood treats, worth the cost? I wondered if the people standing there were all fools, and I with them, to stand in like for cupcakes and pay such a price for them. You can buy a pretty good cupcake at Central Market for $.50 and Whole Foods has some pretty fancy ones that cost a little more. But the ingredients are simple and the delivery basic. How can you make that better?

And then I tasted the dark chocolate cupcake. It was unbelievable: The crumb was moist and you basically need a fork to eat these little guys, and I should clarify that this $3.50 cupcake is no larger than a regular cupcake. The frosting was perfect, an absolute balance of chocolate and sweetness and creamy delight.

But, how?

Gab & Kristina Ogle the Cupcakes

When I bake, I use good chocolate, organic sugars, the best cocoa, good butter and free range eggs! I am pretty good at technique and know how long to beat things and what batter should look like. What could you possibly do to make a cupcake THAT much better? That divine?

I tasted the red velvet and the experience was similar. The banana chocolate, I think I could top. I could try and top anyway, but the addition of banana to batter lends a heaviness to the crumb that is impossible to combat. Yet, part of the charm.

You can find her strawberry cupcake recipe here. Notice anything out of the ordinary? Thought not.

I imagine she is leaving out some secret ingredient: MSG? Crack? Heroin? Something delicious and addictive. I don't know, but I do know that I want more and I would shell out $3.50 without a whimper, without a second thought. After a taste, you would too. Hold your breath, because Sprinkles could be coming to a town near you very soon...

The candy dots on top of the cupcakes distinguish flavors that might look similar, as in the variety of chocolate frosted cupcakes they sell. Here's the codes and the day on which each are available. I wanted to try lemon, so next time I'm going to try and hit them on a lemon day.