Alex J.
Yelp
It's especially rare that I choose to give into the already-rare chocolate craving that comes up at most once or twice a year. Being that this bakery was in a 5-minute driving radius and came with a strong backing from fellow Yelpers who mentioned the lovely cakes, though, I decided to give it a go when a chocolate cake craving hit - to find that the bakery sells their chocolate cake only as special orders, not in-store purchases. That left me with a choice between the last eclaire on the rack and a chocolate cupcake that looked fairly quiet in flavor, but hey, looks can be deceiving. Neither rang of the rich chocolate desire I was looking to satisfy, but might as well have some fun, since we're here.
I solicited the opinion of the cashier assisting us - she'd never had their eclaire and vouched for the cupcake, so cupcake it was. My Irishman opted for a caramel apple cheesecake bar. As we were ringing up the two treats, my guy spotted loaves of cinnamon raisin bread on a day-old rack ($2.25) and quickly grabbed one for his lady's mom. I'd mentioned weeks ago that cinnamon raisin was a favorite of hers throughout my childhood years.
One bite into my cupcake, and I immediately donated it to my human trash compactor. I am known for my chocolate cakes, so I'm very well aware of the copious amounts of sugar necessary to make a moist, tender cake crumb. That said, this cake was all sugar. A whisper of chocolate was drowned out somewhere in the background of the loud, overwhelming sweetness. Even my human trash compactor voiced the same opinions - on his own - and as you may have surmised from my reference, he's not exactly a picky eater.
Strangely, for all that cavity-inducing sugar, the little cupcake was very dry. Overbaked, perhaps? Regardless, a truly failed cupcake. So much so that a chocolate cake my sweet guy picked out at a market the next day to address that craving of mine not only fared far better, it was moist, dense, rich with bittersweet chocolate, hit the spot right on the nail, and a nice steal at $4.99 for a good pound and a half of baked chocolate heaven. For a bakery cake to be outdone by a market cake giving far more bang for the buck is seriously sad.
The cinnamon raisin bread was akin to cinnamon rolls. I admit, I'm known for my cinnamon rolls and breads as well, so I also do know a thing or two about that. While I get that this loaf was on the day-old rack, should the slices have been that dry? Yikes. Again, I stopped after my one first bite.
One of few experiences where I'd have preferred to ask for my money back if I were still in the shop. It's a shame, because this spot is so close to my mom's place, and given how much she loves cinnamon raisin bread, I would have loved to introduce her to a new option for an old favorite. Ah, well - I'll just make it for her when I visit.