Cupcake Tasting

Written on September 16, 2011

Did not post this earlier because it may ruin a surprise...

I didn't know about cake tastings until I started watching some of the wedding shows on TV. It is pretty crazy what people can do, and more importantly, what people are willing to pay or do for it. Our friend, Bran, decided that she wanted to surprise her groom on her wedding day with a whole lot of cupcakes (one of his favorite things). So, she hired a girl who specializes in making cupcakes and cakes right out of her home.

Tonight, we had a cupcake tasting. It's not enough to just choose a few flavours from what seemed like a hundred choices off her website, but you have to taste it to really know if you like it. Especially if you're going to be spending some big bucks for a few hundred cupcakes. This is where cupcake tasting comes in.

After work, I made my way over to Karen's where the cupcake tasting was being held. Karen steeped a pot of black tea to help us wash our palates in between cupcakes. Cathy, from Sweet Tease, came in shortly after with her dozen of cupcakes. That's right. A dozen of full-sized cupcakes. For the three of us. We really should have thrown a cupcake party! After a bit of them all... we practically ate four cupcakes each (which may explain the slight nausea I've been feeling the past couple hours... from sugar overload, not from the cupcakes!).

The cupcakes were gorgeous. Different colours. Different decorations. They were too beautiful to cut up. Now, to the flavours. Dan, the groom, loves chocolate. So, there were quite a few variety of chocolates. Chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream icing. Chocolate cupcake with kahlua icing. Chocolate with peppermint icing. Chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter centre and a drizzle of caramel on top of the icing. To.... die.... for.... I would have to say her chocolate cupcakes were the best! Super strong in chocolate flavour and crazy moist... and not too sweet.

The others were not far from the best. There was a lemon cupcake with tangy lemon icing. Vanilla cupcake with green tea matcha icing. Pineapple cupcake with coconut icing (yes, a pina colada). Banana chocolate chip cupcake with salted caramel icing (oh! the salted caramel! mmmm). Red velvet with a cream cheese icing. Pumpkin spice cupcake with a pumpkin icing. Almond cupcake with coffee icing....

Oh.... so good. Total indulgence.

It was like a perfect girl's night after an awful break-up. Buy full-sized cupcakes of every different flavour possible and eat them ALL in one night. They were all a whole lot better than the chain store brands. The flavours were strong with a kick. Yum...

Cake tasting is definitely a whole lot of fun. We ranked our favorites and scratched out the ones that we didn't love as much. And well, the winners will make their appearance at the wedding! I cannot wait to see this party come together!