Cadence

Another visit to A Cookie and a Cupcake left me 12 cupcakes richer and $15 lighter.

A gift!

Their Mini Gourmet Cupcakes are not just a batch of their regularly available flavors, which are consistently gratifying. They are like cousins from another continent visiting for the summer, family but a shade different.

Unveiled

These diminutive beauties are a healthy two-bite size, so Bug and I were able to enjoy each flavor together without feeling like gluttons in denial. Each mini cupcake is ideally meant for 1 person. The first bite is more of an icebreaker, while the second and final bite better defines the relationship.

Marching 3 x 4

With the box came a slip with descriptions of each cupcake:

Last row:
Salted -- chocolate cake, liquid caramel center, sea salt, caramel frosting
Blueberry -- lemon cake with blueberries, ?butter cream frosting
Passion fruit -- chocolate cake, passion fruit custard

3rd row:
Vanilla bean -- Madagascar vanilla bean cake and vanilla frosting
Date -- brown sugar date cake, mascarpone mousse, pepper pecan crunch
Hot chocolate -- orange cinnamon chocolate cake, cinnamon chocolate frosting

2nd row:
Pistachio -- chocolate cake, orange marmalade, pistachio frosting
Banana -- banana poppy seed cake, maple frosting
Hazelnut -- chocolate cake, hazelnut crunch, and hazelnut frosting

Front row:
Strawberry -- lemon cake, strawberry marmalade, balsamic frosting
Ginger -- chocolate cake, apricot center, ginger frosting
Coconut -- coconut cake, pineapple gastrique, lime creme fraiche frosting

Ginger, hot chocolate, and strawberry

With so many cupcakes, which one should I try first? Which one would you try?

Not merely by the splash of color but also by flavor, I was the most intrigued by the ginger cupcake. Of the batch, this was the 2nd most subtle with passion fruit being the subtlest. Ginger can be quite potent, but its use in this was unobtrusive. Take that as you wish.

I've had and loved the date cupcake when it was featured during their cupcakes of the week run last year. As a result of it being an English steamed pudding rather than an airy cake, it stood out above all their cupcakes. The date cupcake of today wasn't quite as dense, but it was still a slightly sweet, moist, and tasty treat. The pepper pecan crunch introduced a little crackly party to the mix.

Banana, pistachio, and hot chocolate

A delightful treat, the hot chocolate cupcake with a trace of orange in the cinnamon chocolate cake had me craving a mug of Mexican hot chocolate.

Even with the lava salt staring me in the face dancing atop the caramel frosting, it still didn't prepare me for the sharp jab when I took a bite of the salted cupcake. There was enough sprinkled so neither of us was deprived of a crunchy and salty bite.

This makes a cute gift when visiting friends for coffee.

- Cassaendra

A Cookie and a Cupcake
2173 Professor Ave
Cleveland, OH 44113