After dinner at Jaleo, we ran through the rain across the street to Red Velvet Cupcakery. It's a tiny storefront with no seating, but it is connected to the yogurt emporium next door and you can eat your cupcakes there. Lucky thing---a soggy cupcake is a sad thought indeed.
I must admit that I am a little skeptical of cupcake stores in general. They do fit into the small, affordable treat category, but every time I see one I can hear my mother saying "If I had a nickel for every cupcake I made, I'd be a millionaire." (And trust me, her cupcakes are great.) But I really liked Red Velvet because their cupcakes aren't overly sweet. Regular readers know that Americans-make-desserts-with-too-much-sugar is a regular rant of mine. And Red Velvet goes a little beyond the obvious to make something that is sensuous without being overpowering.
Despite the strong hint given by the name of the establishment, I didn't get the red velvet cupcake. Instead, I had a devil's food. Their cupcakes don't use the traditional presentation of icing the entire top. Rather, they put a large dollop of icing on top with a little border of un-iced cupcake. The effect is like a jaunty beret. The devil's food is topped with a bit of gold foil, which is a nice balance to the deep, dark color of the rest of the cupcake. The icing was definitely rich---no shortage of butter here---but they used a strong dark chocolate. The contrast between the dark chocolate and the richness of the rest of the ingredients was what made the cupcake for me.
I must admit that I am a little skeptical of cupcake stores in general. They do fit into the small, affordable treat category, but every time I see one I can hear my mother saying "If I had a nickel for every cupcake I made, I'd be a millionaire." (And trust me, her cupcakes are great.) But I really liked Red Velvet because their cupcakes aren't overly sweet. Regular readers know that Americans-make-desserts-with-too-much-sugar is a regular rant of mine. And Red Velvet goes a little beyond the obvious to make something that is sensuous without being overpowering.
Despite the strong hint given by the name of the establishment, I didn't get the red velvet cupcake. Instead, I had a devil's food. Their cupcakes don't use the traditional presentation of icing the entire top. Rather, they put a large dollop of icing on top with a little border of un-iced cupcake. The effect is like a jaunty beret. The devil's food is topped with a bit of gold foil, which is a nice balance to the deep, dark color of the rest of the cupcake. The icing was definitely rich---no shortage of butter here---but they used a strong dark chocolate. The contrast between the dark chocolate and the richness of the rest of the ingredients was what made the cupcake for me.
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