Big flavor, little package

     Today, on this gorgeous, sunny, and pretty normal New Hampshire day, I thought I'd officially start my foodie postings with my favorite dessert. They always say "Life's too short, eat dessert first," so that's how I'm going to begin my blog; with the most delicious, cute little sweets ever...Cupcakes!
   I can't name a single person who's ever told me "Ah, not a fan of cupcakes." simply because they are irresistible! Who could turn down the epitome of adorable foods when it is truly the perfect balance of cake and frosting? They come in all different flavors, like the plain, yet scrumptious vanilla bean with vanilla buttercream frosting, to the more daring flavors, such as a salmon cupcake (Yes- With real salmon in it!) with cream cheese frosting. By baking cupcakes, a person can give out a dainty delight to many people without frosting and cake crumbs spilling all over the plate, like when cutting a cake-cake. So with cupcakes, one can avoid the mess when eating, while still hitting the flavor and cuteness head on. 
     If you ask anyone who truly knows me, I'm a Food Network/Top Chef junkie. Included in my beloved line up of food obsessed programing is Food Network's "Cupcake Wars." This show, going on 3 seasons now, challenges four competitors to bake unique, yet delectable, cupcakes for a specified event. There are three rounds: taste, presentation, and the final round, which involves baking a thousand cupcakes and designing a stand for them to sit on. A competitor is sent home after each round so, by the end, one baker will stand tall with a thousand cupcakes, a kick-butt stand, and a free invite to the chosen event. By watching this show I've been inspired to try almost any ingredient in a cupcake. The show has had rose water, peanut and bacon, tequila, and even salmon cupcakes, as mentioned earlier. The amount of creativity is far from the size of the cupcakes. 

     Speaking of size, cupcakes usually come in three different ones, from my experience. The minis (These little bites of love are about the size of a golfball), regulars (Normal cupcake size, about four times a mini), and giant cupcakes, which can be anywhere from 4 inches tall with a 4 inch diameter, to the "Big Top Cupcake" size, as seen on those infomercials. No matter the size though, in order to make a perfect cupcake, it must have what I like to call "The Perfect Frosting to Cake Ratio." If the cake is borderline pancake size with four inches of frosting swiveled on top, there's no way I'm scarfing that thing down. Yeah right. You might as well skip the cake all together and go to the store, buy a tub of Pillsbury frosting, grab a spoon, and dig in. I'll pass. But the same goes for a massive cake with a layer of icing SO thin that you are reminded more of a Krispy Kreme glazed donut than a cupcake. This is totally unacceptable and would get a "no" from the cupcake queen (Aka, myself). 

 As a food explorer, I am constantly searching for new places to try my favorite foods, including cupcakes. Go to any state in the south and you'll be able to find a vast number of what have been deemed "Cupcakeries." You may be asking yourself, "What on earth is a flippin' cupcakery?" Well, I'm gladly here to answer your silly question. A cupcakery is a bakery that only specializes in cupcakes. That way the bakery can focus on elevating their flavors and recipes for their cute, little cakes instead of other pastries. For some reason cupcakeries are much more popular in the south and west, in states like Tennessee, Texas, California, and Arizona, while they are nearly stagnant here in the north. I've visited a variety of cupcakeries in my quest for the best cupcakes, but a few stand out to me to share with you. First off is Celebrity Cupcakes in Houston, Texas. I hope to go to college there next year, and so while visiting a certain amazing college (Go Rice!), I stumbled across this hidden gem after walking back from a delicious tapas dinner in the Rice Village. It looks small and questionable from the outside, as most cupcakeries do, but once my mom and I went in, I was in cupcake heaven. They had a huge variety of flavors, from classic red velvet with a light blue cream cheese frosting, to a creation of their own, the "Hummingbird." This DELICIOUS cupcake was a luscious, soft, moist, banana-pineapple-spice cake with a light, whipped cream cheese frosting. To top off the already glorious cake, a simple pecan was perfectly placed at the tip-top of the icing. After sitting there for 10 minutes trying to pick which one to get, I couldn't help but choose a dark chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream frosting (I'm a sucker for the chocolate and fruit combo). But that was only the first night! The second night in Houston we went back to the Rice Village for some incredible sushi (More on sushi to come, folks- It's my favorite food) and as we walked back to the hotel, we passed Celebrity Cupcakes again. I had no choice; I ran in with my mom, viewed the rainbow of flavors, and was again, in pain of which one to chose. I wanted all of them! After an extremely difficult process of elimination, I chose the Hummingbird and the chocolate strawberry cupcakes (Yes- I had to get two. I ran out of the store quickly after purchase to avoid buying the whole selection). My mom got the Hummingbird and an adorable vanilla bean with pink vanilla frosting and a dainty sugar pearl. 

I could go on and on about this one cupcakery's stunning desserts, but then I couldn't tell you about some other awesome places for kick-butt deliciousness.
     Here in New Hampshire, cupcakes are scarce. Maybe it's the two feet of snow that scares cupcake bakers from the northeast, or maybe it's the questionable success of a cupcakery in the north...Definitely must be the snow. How do I know this? Well right in our own Manchester, New Hampshire, a revelation has blessed us all. Finally, after nearly SEVEN years of living in this frozen tundra, under a constant search for a non-supermarket cupcake, came Queen City Cupcakes (My northern cupcake savior <3 ). This cupcakery is family owned and located on Elm Street in downtown Manchester. But a piece of advise: Get there right when they open at 11:30. Why? Well, remember how I said it must be the snow, not the questionable success of a cupcakery, that keeps the bakers away? This cupcakery is the most successful I've ever seen! Right at 11:30 a.m., my friend and I went to try this food miracle on Elm Street. He had never been to a cupcakery, but I had and thought I knew what to expect; Little store, great selection, yankee-candle-worthy smell, and a few trickling customers in and out. Well, I was wrong about that last part. The minute we arrived there was already a line bursting out the door. Men, women, babies (Thankfully they weren't crying or this might've been a totally different experience...), and even some dogs were standing in line to buy some cupcakes. I was astonished! I had no idea there was such a demand for cupcakes in the little Granite State. We waited patiently for our turn and after about ten minuets, we were at the front of the line. But while waiting, I noticed a little section in the store of hand-crafted cupcake art. I ran over, snagged a cute framed picture of a chocolate cupcake, and went back in line. I ordered three cupcakes because I had been totally dogged the day before (You should know, I attempted going to Queen City the day before but at only 4 p.m. they were already SOLD OUT. The store has no official closing time, it's merely whenever they sell out). So obviously I had to be a fatty and order three to make up from the previous day's losses. I got the chocolate mint cupcake, the carrot cake, and the vanilla bean with vanilla buttercream.

Carrot Cake Cupcake from Queen City Cupcakes

The presentation was pretty and I was excited. There was even a great frosting to cake ratio, which really pumped me up. But after diving into the cakes, I wasn't too thrilled. The carrot cake was great, but had nuts in it. While I prefer it this way, not all of our friends in this big, wide world can have nuts (Example? My buddy who went with me on this cupcake adventure), so they're left out. Boo. But at least I enjoyed it! The second cupcake, the mint one, was very disappointing. The chocolate cake was just that- Chocolate cake. No sparkle. No richness. No lava. Nothing. Just cake. And the mint frosting was missing the punch of that mintyness that you're supposed to taste. You know those York Patty commercials where as soon as they take a bite a wind literally blows them away with minty goodness? I wanted that and was left with a lackluster cupcake and no minty wind. The third cupcake, a classic vanilla cake and frosting, was again pretty dull. Overall, Queen City was a good start to bringing cupcakes up where chowda and lobster reign supreme. But I'm still waiting for a rockin' northern cupcake. So far, the south has won the war- The cupcake war that is. 

Blue Suede Shoe Cupcakes

     Before I leave my little laptop after a full day of writing, eating fruit, and watching Man v. Food and Family Feud (Two of my favorites. The last one is my non-food guilty pleasure show), I'll leave you with a recipe I've tried myself. If I ever own a cupcakery one day, the shelves will be packed with cupcakes no one has ever seen and definitely never tasted. This flavor would be on my spectacular menu. Seeing as everyone has heard of the age-old Red Velvet cupcake, I decided to be innovative (As always) and throw a little twist to stir up this overdone dessert. These cupcakes are called "Blue Suede Shoe" cupcakes. Instead of red cake, these cupcakes are blue with a cream cheese frosting. On top is a simple, fresh blueberry for a quick juicy and acidic bite to contrast the sweetness. The beauty of these cupcakes is that they are nearly fat free (Besides the small amount of good, olive oil fats in the Smart Balance butter substitute in the frosting) and have very low sugar from using Splenda. Now I'm sure you're thinking, "Healthy cupcakes? Those must taste terrible! Only fatty desserts are good!" Well, sorry chico, but you're wrong. After making these cupcakes, I found them to be much better than expected and so did my guinea pigs that tasted them (Not actual guinea pigs. Although some of my friends, and myself included, usually have the attention span of one). All of them had no idea at first that they were made with healthy ingredients, but after a satisfied "yum" (Or some variation) from them, I let them know my healthy little secret. They were shocked to know that they were delicious cupcakes that wouldn't add to the waistline or the guilt factor. But that is the most satisfying thing of all...Well, maybe the second most after the tasty cupcake. 

     That's all for now on cupcakes, folks. As always, I wish you luck in whatever you do and wherever you're headin' after reading this. Hopefully the luck will come while making a delicious batch of the Blue Suede Shoes, or maybe even the luck will help you stumble upon a delicious cupcakery. Whatever the result, remember that while many people underestimate cupcakes as a true dessert, they are really big flavor in a little package. 

-The Oaklavore

Blue Velvet Cupcakes/ Cream Cheese Icing

Cake
2 cups skim milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups splenda
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup apple sauce
2 ounces blue food coloring
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Add vinegar to milk, and set aside to curdle.
• Sift flour, splenda, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda, in a large bowl.
• Add apple sauce, food coloring, and vanilla extract to the curdled soy milk, and mix.
• Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix.
• Fill cupcake liners ¾ full.
• Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes or until done.

Frosting
½ cup butter substitute (I used smart balance)
½ cup Fat free cream cheese

1/2 cup spenda (Or add until desired sweetness)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 carton of blueberries

1/4 cup flour

• Cream butter, cream cheese, splenda, and vanilla.
• Slowly mix the flour into the creamed mixture, and then beat until smooth and fluffy.
• Frost cooled cupcakes and add one blueberry to each.     

(P.S.) Here are some pictures of cupcakes, some of which my friends have made! I promised them a picture if I got to try a cupcake, and I'm one to usually hold to promises, so I couldn't let them down. Thanks again guys for the scrumdidiliumptious cupcakes!

Frederick's Pastries (Amherst, NH) signature "Purple Velvet" Cupcake

Dezzi's Sheep Cupcakes

Lexii's Island Beach Cupcakes