A Piece of Cake in Wellington

A Piece of Cake
9108 Forest Hill Blvd, Wellington, 33411
September 24, 2010

Test Subject : Key Lime Cupcake @ $3.00 each
Presentation : 8
Topping & Garnishes :10
Filling : no filling
Pastry : 15
Flavor Profile : 2
Creativity : 2
Rating : 37/100 points (2 Sprinkles)

Experience
Three major things that hurt this cupcake, 1) the buttercream had that lacking-butter feel, 2) there was no filling, 3) why do people insist on always using green for Key Lime, when any Floridian knows that Key Limes have an off yellow appearance. The buttercream was also flavored but it was so faint that I couldn't tell if it was with lime or key limes. There wasn't anything special about the cake, and while I'm not opposed to box mixes, this had an "anyone can make this" kinda of taste. While I realize their cupcakes are not made at that location and get shipped out to them, which means they probably use an industrial mix, they should still do something to make it their own. The best thing on that cupcake was the little dollop of key lime filling that was the size of a nickle. That little dollop has been the best key lime anything that I've had on a cupcake since starting this blog. Why couldn't that be in the filling?

Test Subject : Butter Rum Cupcake @ $3.00 each
Presentation : 8
Topping & Garnishes : 8
Filling : 20
Pastry : 15
Flavor Profile : 2
Creativity : 2
Rating : 55/100 points (3 Sprinkles)

Experience
Like the key lime, the same buttercream consistency. Same boxed feel on the cake. And the filling was delicious, however not enough in it.

Test Subject : Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake @ $3.00 each
Presentation : 8
Topping & Garnishes : 8
Filling : 20
Pastry : 15
Flavor Profile : 2
Creativity : 2
Rating : 55/100 points (3 Sprinkles)

Experience
The boxed feel was most notable here in the chocolate cake, with such a classic flavor profile, I was very disappointed they didn't do something to own it. The buttercream was colored instead of flavored, and the raspberry didn't have a glaze on it to keep it from wilting. There was a raspberry filling in the cupcake, but it appeared to be your average seedless filling from a plastic sleeve. How hard would it have been to make your own compote or sauce? One word that came up many times in discussion was 'average' and that's what these cupcakes where.

Over All Sprinkle Average

Annie's Vintage Gourmet

Annie's Vintage Gourmet
1132 W Indiantown Rd, Jupiter, FL 33458
September 24, 2010

Experience
Annie's Vintage Gourmet was opened September 22, and we decided to go have lunch there on the 24th. Bad move. Had I finished the Roast Beef wrap that I got there, I probably would have become sick from food poisoning. Never having experienced horse radish sauce, I grabbed a Roast Beef wrap that featured it. Mainly because it was the cheapest thing there, and how hard is it to mess up roast beef? There was no color to the meat, it looked like a gray overly cooked pork. When I bit into it, it had an unpleasant taste, and left a metallic taste in my mouth. I later found out that after taste is what happens when horse raddish isn't kept properly. I took a couple of bites, and put the rest aside. For that price I could go to Publix and get a Boars Head roast beef wrap where everything is fresh. While it was a beautiful design, the place of business that is, it wasn't in the best location and has it's back to the road. It features a huge case of ready made foods, from main dishes, to sides, to deserts, and a wall of other premade foods such as salads, sandwiches, and desserts. Ready made foods ranged from $8.99 a pound to $12.99 (or higher I didn't check). While some of their sides looked good, I don't think they are made fresh daily. The lasagna servings they had were hard and dry because the pasta was exposed, and unless covered in some kind of sauce, that was the theme for the rest of the case. There was a deli on the other side, but they were having a humidity problem so you couldn't see what was there really. There was also a pizza station but like everything else it was way over priced. A small was only a 10" and cost you $10.50 at a minimum. What was nice was that they had all their pizzas available on whole wheat dough as well. A single cannoli the size of your thumb was shoved into a single pie slice container already filled for $1.99. The best places I find (and I've seen them up north) the cannoli shells are prepped and ready in the case, and are filled to order. Parfaits were simple and tiny, and cost you $3.95. The cupcakes where sloppy and thrown 6 in a box. By the time you got them home they would look like a shake and bake mess. The terms 'Vintage' and 'Gourmet' are really used as umbrella terms, specially here. What is gourmet about Annie's? Until they sadly sold the place, I'd go down to the Office Bar on Dixie and get a 'Gourmet' brick oven pizza made how ever I wanted it for a great price. *sigh* How I miss the Office Bar. And aside from their outfits, what was vintage about Annies? Where's the soda jerkers, ice cream shop, music? Hope you can make it Annies, but there have been other prepared food shops who have come and gone before you. So you better have something different to offer, starting with improving your quality of food if that's what I got only after 2 days of being open.

Hello Cupcake

Hello Cupcake
521 Northwood Rd, West Palm Beach, FL 33407
September 24, 2010

Test Subject : Key Lime and Praline Cupcake @ $3.00 each (jumbo)
Presentation : 7
Topping & Garnishes :10
Filling : no filling
Pastry : 20
Flavor Profile : 7
Creativity : 5
Rating : 49/100 points (2.5 Sprinkles)

Experience
I did enjoy coming to Hello Cupcake, it had a professional but simple feel, which is fine with me because it makes the cupcakes front and center, and shows you take pride in your work. Ever the lover of Key Lime cupcakes I had to get one. This cupcake had a simple but elegant boarder around the top to form a dish in which to put the curd in. However there did not appear to be any butter in the buttercream, the curd was made with Persian Limes and not Key Limes, the pralines didn't reflect any flavoring because they were over powered by the curd, and while the vanilla cake was absolutely delicious, it was only a simple vanilla with no filling. Now I'm not a big fan of overly tart things, but Agent S is so we counter one another. However we both agree that if you advertise a Key Lime cuppie, it needs to be made with Key Lime. And while filling on the outside of a cupcake is fine, with a cupcake as large as this one, and having so little buttercream to start, there should have been something in the middle to pull it together. Specially when you cut it in half the curd oozes off the cupcake. It did make a beautiful presentation, and was rather creative. And for all that could have been improved, there was no denying that the cake base was a beautiful consistency and very delicious.

Test Subject : Raspberry Cheesecake @ $3.00 each (medium size cupcake holder)
Presentation : 10
Topping & Garnishes : 25
Filling : no filling needed
Pastry : 20
Flavor Profile : 10
Creativity : 5
Rating : 95/100 points (5 Sprinkles)

Experience
This cheese cake was actually featured in the news paper, and was very delicious to eat. It featured a vanilla wafer crust, a creamy but still thick cheese cake (you could really taste the cream cheese), a (surprise) raspberry compote, and fresh raspberry's with an apricot glaze. While the cheese cake itself is rather simple, and there was noticeable thought put into the layering of it. The compote was a real delight, and I'm not one that goes out of my way to eat raspberries. Agent S who is the raspberry lover, only got to steal one while the rest went to join their brother Key Lime cupcake.

Test Subject : Lemon Curd Cupcake @ $3.00 each (jumbo)
Presentation : 7
Topping & Garnishes :15
Filling : no filling
Pastry : 20
Flavor Profile : 7
Creativity : 5
Rating : 54/100 points (3 Sprinkles)

Experience
This was much like the Key Lime Cupcake, the buttercream appeared to be missing the butter factor, there was no filling in the jumbo cupcake and the cake wasn't lemon flavored either. However Agent S did say that Hello Cupcake made a nice Lemon Curd. That aside, it was still a creative way of presenting it, and had a delicious vanilla cake base.

Test Subject : Pina Colada Cupcake @ $3.00 each (jumbo)
Presentation : 6
Topping & Garnishes : 10
Filling : 15
Pastry : 15
Flavor Profile : 3
Creativity : 3
Rating : 52/100 points (3 Sprinkles)

Experience
When someone says Pina Colada I think creamy coconut, pineapple, and rum all blended together. And while it's perfectly fine to leave out the rum, the only coconut was toasted on the buttercream. The buttercream was the same used on the Key Lime and Lemon Curd, and while it didn't have a unpleasant taste, it was the texture that I couldn't overlook. More often when I look at cupcakes, I find that the frosting does not come to the edge, and that is what hurts the presentation for this cupcake. Even though I can appreciate the time it took to layer. This cupcake had a nice pineapple filling, and I believe it was pineapple from a can that had been cooked a little more to get the extra liquid out. Don't let the "from a can" fool you. The filling was great, and much better then what you usually come across when ordering already made fillings in plastic sleeves. I would have liked to seen some pastry cream, and coconut added to that filling however. The cake was flavored with pineapple, and had a different texture than the others, however still a great base. It's only fault in this review is that it was only flavored with pineapple.

Over All Sprinkle Average

The Weekend Long Sugar High

So I promised you reviews and reviews you shall receive! But we first interrupt this message with some awesome news from the Daytona ICES Day of Sharing!

We had demos by Filomina Koolman-Vas who showed us how to make Ixora flowers out of gum paste. Sidney Malpern did a demo on cast, pulled and spun Isomalt. Lisa Menz teamed up with the inventor of Photo Frost and put one a demo titled “Wallpapering a Wedding Cake.” Ximena Sempertegui showed us some new gum paste cut out techniques while she demonstrated how to make a baby buggy using her cutters. And then (insert drum roll please) we had a Cake Challenge! Three teams of 3 were selected at random to level, ice, and decorate a cake in 30 minutes, but there was a twist! Half way through the event they were told they needed to make a gum paste ribbon. Anyone feel like they were watching Just Desserts? After we caked ourselves out, there was a raffle drawing. Lets just say we left with some goodies ^_~. In the morning and the afternoon Bennett’s Catering in Daytona Beach with nice little snacks and a nicely boxed lunch. I asked about the oatmeal cookie they had, which seemed to have everything but the kitchen sink thrown in (in a really delicious way), and the caterer said they came from Gordon Food Services, which happens to have a West Palm location!

On to the vendors. There weren’t that many at this event today. Aside from the Photo Frost table, the vendors consisted of metal cutters, molds, and premade sugar pieces. It perks my interest to see all the molds, especially the figurine doll molds, but then part of me is a little disappointed as well, because by using those molds, it takes that skill of being able to sculpt people and animals, and throws it out the window. But that can also be the artist in me talking. Any ways! Satin Ice also provided a wonderful sample of their butter cream fondant, and a nice size reusable container might I add!

Alright people now we get onto the dates.

• January 14-30, 2011 : Community Creative Crafts & Skills Competition, South Florida Fair, West Palm Beach, FL
• January 15-16, 2011 : Volusia County Confectionary Art Classes, Deland, FL. (More info @ website on Oct. 15)
• March 26-27, 2011 : National Capital Area Cake Show, Washington D.C.
• March 27 : Florida ICED Cake Competition, Ocala, FL
• August 4-7, 2011 : 36th Annual ICES Convention and Show, Charlotte, NC

More Info on Florida ICES Days of Sharing Coming Up
Boca Raton, January 2011
Melbourne, June 2011
Jacksonville (?)

Florida East Coast Noshing Part Two

The cupcake has landed. I repeat the cupcake has landed. Agent S and I have arrived in Daytona, with 4 scrumptious cupcakes we would like to share with you all. These cupcakes happen to come from Debi Adkins, owner of Classy Cupcakes. Classy is located in Vero Beach, 712 21st Street, 32960.

Agent S and I had planned to stop at 4 different bakeries on our way to Daytona. The first bakery we stopped at, was titled Piece of Cake, and was supposed to have individual cake slices. However when we got to that location they had apparently moved. The internet tells lies!  So after giving them a ring, we headed North for another 20 minutes, only to realize with much disappointment they were the chain store A Piece of Cake that we had gone to Friday in Wellington. Even with seeing some new flavors on top of the ones we already tasted, we left there with broken hearts already knowing what to expect.

The second location we went to was Southern Sweets Custom Cakes & Bakery, which either closed down or has since relocated. When we pulled up to the address, it had become a laundry mat, and the telephone number was no longer in service.

The growing trend here is that while we mapped everything out, we didn’t think to call ahead to make sure they were still open. I guess it’s a sign of the times. So with a heavy heart, we drove North, looking for a cupcake to cheer us up.

That leaves us our 3rd location on the way to Daytona, Classy Cupcakes located in Vero Beach. This is another small little store front, which screams elegance. Instead of having trays upon trays of cupcakes, Classy had three decorative cupcake tree stands placed inside a clear case. There was one or two of each flavor for that day, and when that cupcake decided he wanted to become one with my belly, the funny gentlemen behind the counter took a new one from underneath to replace it on the pedestal.  I say funny gentlemen, because of the shirt he was wearing which said “Real Men Eat Cupcakes.” Or I think that’s what it said. I was too busy dreaming about how this lemon curd cupcake with meringue would taste. For you see I’ve been playing around (in my head) with the idea of a Keyline Pie cuppie with baked meringue, and this would be my first cuppie to experience with said meringue.  This bakery had a real professional atmosphere, whether they realized it or not. For starters they didn’t ask you how many cupcakes you would like. You simply picked out the ones you wanted, and the counter clerk would put them on a tray, and only then would they be boxed up in simple but elegant packaging. That’s pro right there I tell you! Another thing that really impressed me, and I’m not sure they thought this through or not, (and if you guys did I really want to intern with you before opening up my own place), was instead of putting a sticker on the lip of the box, which would ultimately become destroyed in the process of opening it, they placed a business card in the inside of the box in such a way that you saw “Classy Cupcakes by Debi” right when you looked inside the clear window box. You guys rocked my creative-o-meter! So onward we went, with a Lemon Curd Meringue, Key Lime, Chocolate Vanilla Twist, and a Coconut cupcake. Believe me, these cupcakes are worth the trip out to Vero Beach. And they are well worth the blogging about, which will commence when we return to our lair. Now, I’d tell you to stop reading this right now and go over there, but sadly they are closed on Sundays. However, may I suggest calling out sick on Monday as they open at 10am to 6pm Monday through Friday.  Oh and should I forget to mention this later, they are only $2.50 each, and come with the right proportion of frosting to cupcake for their flavor.

The end, that’s it. The 4th location wasn’t even worth blogging about. They close at 3pm on a Saturday, and we called there at 2:55pm. We’ll get you later, and your little cuppies toooo!

Florida East Coast Noshing

Friday was the day before the big weekend noshing event as we made our way up the coast to the ICES Day of Sharing in Daytona, Florida. I got my photos printed, bags packed, shopping done, but I still could not settle on what recipe to use for the recipe swap. It’s 11:25pm and I still can’t decide. Maybe it’s due to the sugar induced coma that I’m finding myself in at the moment.

One of my fellow crawlers “kidnapped” me in a surprise today, and we drove all over town testing local cupcakes. Our first stop was Hello Cupcake located on 521 Northwood Rd in West Palm Beach, here we sampled Lemon Curd, Key Lime and Pralines, and Piña Colada cupcakes, as well as a Rasberry cheesecake. Then onto lunch we went, and ended up on Indiantown Rd. in Jupiter at the newly opened Annie’s Vintage Gourmet…I should have just stuck with sugar and cake for lunch. Not far away was a little place called DD’s Cupcake Shoppe, where I devoured a Pineapple, Banana, and Pecan cupcake topped with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting, and a Cannoli cupcake. While my partner ate one…which we couldn’t put our finger on. We were told it was a chocolate chip devils food, but we couldn’t figure out the frosting. So I think a phone call back to them is in order, and maybe a cupcake order of more of those Hummingbirds (the pineapple ones). And finally if 7 cupcakes weren’t enough for me, on our way back into town we stopped by A Piece of Cake in Wellington and tried their Chocolate Raspberry, Key Lime, and Butter Rum cupcakes. Needless to say, after 10 sweet treats I drove back home groaning and smelling of cupcakes, but please, don’t take that as a complaint. All those sweets left me craving some savory food, so off to the store I went for Grilled Chicken Ceaser Salad fixings.

Tomorrow will bring new adventures as we hop in the car and make our way to Daytona. And after we arrive back home, I’ll will commence the reviewing. Until then, here’s wishing you cupcake filled weekends, and tons of sweet treats.

PS. If you’re in the Wellington area, and it’s not a Monday, grab a slice at A Piece of Cake, and head next door to Kobosko’s Kreamery and enjoy a scoop of ice cream that will complement. They are located at 9102 Forest Hill Blvd, Wellington. Just West of 441 on the South side.

Elegant Swirls

Elegant Swirls
http://www.elegantswirls.com/
Wellington Green Mall, Wellington, Florida
September 17, 2010

Test Subject : Cannoli Cupcake @ $3.25 each
Presentation : 4
Topping & Garnishes : 5
Filling : no filling, but should be filled
Pastry : 15
Flavor Profile : 0
Creativity : 0
Rating : 24/100 points

Experience
After paying $3.25 for a simple cannoli cupcake (vanilla cake with buttercream a melon ball scoop of cannoli filling, and a broken piece of shell with some chocolate chips for garnish), we headed down stairs to the Earl of Sandwich to get our grub on. This trip included our Trio and the Baby Bakers, but they did not partake.

But I need to back track and explain why the presentation score was so low for this cupcake, and this will reflect upon the franchise location as well. After looking at the counter and not noticing any visible flavor signs that indicated which was which, I settled on a recognizable Cannoli Cupcake. I specifically asked the gentlemen what type of packaging do they have for individual cupcakes and he showed me two options: a small plastic parfait container that was tall with a domed lid, and a long rectangular plastic container you’d most commonly use for an 1/8 sheet cake bar or something along those lines. Since I new we were going to be eating this with a fork any way, I wanted the longer one so I wouldn’t make a mess. The gentlemen said it would fit in the parfait container so that is what we got. Needless to say when we opened it the sides were all smooshed in, but oh well it was all going to the same place. However, I have to tell you, as someone that works in a bakery, it’s important you have the proper packaging for all your products - you never know where they may end up. For this particular trip, I broke down presentation into 5 subcategories: packaging, sloppiness, execution, eye appeal, and aroma.

Out of 25 possible points I gave this cupcake a 5. The buttercream tasted like hydrogenation vegetable shortening and powdered sugar. It was horribly grainy, and needed more sugar for better consistency, as well as real butter. It has been a while since I’ve made the Wilton fake buttercream using the artificial flavoring, but I seem to remember it having that same consistency. I tasted the frosting, and passed a fork full to my unsuspecting counterparts. After which one exclaimed they almost gagged. The broken piece of cannoli shell which was used as a garnish was stale, and had it been stored properly and made that day, this would not be the case as we were there that morning. The cannoli cream that lay on top of the frosting in a little ball tasted better but was still a disappointment. I don’t know what they used to make the cannoli garnish or if it came prepackaged, but it wasn’t what I would call a cannoli cream, not even close. Some may not like the texture ricotta has, or the taste of cinnamon, and they may have nut allergies, or not like candied citrus. For the most part you can leave some of these components out and still have a semi-ok cannoli cream, however when you leave them all out, it becomes something entirely different.

Now to the cake. When I broke off a piece with my fork I could already tell it had a great texture, and when I took my first bite I enjoyed that the simple vanilla cake wasn’t cavity inducing sweet. However other then that, there wasn’t much to it. The texture was there, but I really had to work it in my mouth to get the taste of vanilla. I would have liked to see more flavor added, or maybe even a vanilla bean appearance. Sadly the cupcake wasn’t filled. That truly was a disappointment for $3.25. For that price I purchased Crisco fake buttercream, a stale cookie, a nicely textured but flavorless cupcake, and a small melon ball of cannoli cream – the one item that there should have been excess amounts of if one advertises a Cannoli Cupcake. If you are garnishing your cupcake with its main component, that customer better get a mouth full when they bite into it. Instead I couldn’t even properly judge this cupcake because the buttercream was inedible, and there wasn’t enough cannoli cream to even split two ways, let alone three.

Later that day I found out they were a franchise started by a local pastry chef in Palm Beach County and that they don’t bake on location. So I wonder how much of the preparation is actually done off site. Their brochure really lays it on thick about the owner Alethea Hickman, having worked at the Breakers, Boca Raton Resort and Club, and the St. Andrews Country Club. If you’re going to really talk it up that much in the brochure, you’ll want to make sure your product is as good as your resume says you are. It also goes on to mention they were on the Food Network Cake Challenge as well as record holders for the 2010 Guinness World Records Largest Cupcake. I think I will be stopping in at her Passion for Pastry location in Boca Raton in the up coming weeks.

I feel it’s in bad taste to open this Florida based review blog with such an unpleasant experience. Makes us seem like such stuck up witches. When really we’re not, so I hope it doesn’t discourage you from reading, or going to other bakeries. In all honesty I found reading other Foodie Blogs, specifically the Cupcakers, to be extremely useful. It’s free customer feed back, and through their experiences you learn what you should and shouldn’t do – which is great advice for when we open our own bakery.