Yesterday I munched not 1, not 2, but 3 cupcakes at Kara's Cupcakes. A friend and I shared them, so I suppose that makes me only half a complete glutton.
Of the three we shared, my favorite was the passionfruit: vanilla cupcake + passion fruit gelee inside + vanilla buttercream. ((The one in the photo is the one I brought home for Mr. Food Musings -- banana cupcake + caramel filling + cream cheese frosting.) All of them had nice soft cake* and the buttercream frostings somehow were both buttery rich and light on their feet, a neat trick if ever there was one. Chocolate freaks will want to order the fleur de sel, with chocolate cupcake + caramel filling + ganache frosting + fleur de sel sprinklings.
The thing about a filled cupcake is it's all about ratios. Too much filling makes them soggy, too little leaves you wanting more. Ditto on the frosting -- too much and you're in Dante's sugar-laced layer of hell, too little and you are choking on the cupcake. Kara gets the ratio just right.
Other reasons to go to Kara's? Everything is made with local organic ingredients, and they sell milk by the pint.
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In other dessert news, I went into Campton Place today for Dine About Town ($21.95 prix fixe for the month of January). I'd never tried Peter Rudolph's cooking. Of the 4 dishes my friend and I shared (2 apps, 2 entrées) 3 were quite delicious. A celeriac soup so creamy we narrowed our eyes when the waiter assured us it was vegan, Fulton Valley Farms chicken (with artichoke quarters, sunchoke puree and watermelon radishes) that was plump and juicy, and a tai snapper (with a crisp seared crust, served over chard in a lemon broth). Mmm. The other dish, a kampachi sashimi with blood orange ice cream, mushroom purée and candied fennel, suffered from a schizophrenic approach
to garnishes. The flavors of the orange complemented the fish nicely, but the mushroom spoiled everything in its earthy brown wake.
How is this related to dessert? Because my own personal Dessert God, Boris Portnoy, decided to play with our third and final course. Instead of the caramel and chocolate sundae everyone else got, we were treated to the following:
1) a cheese course -- (for me) bleu cheese soufflé with honey & bee pollen ice cream, gorgonzola breadstick, and saffron-poached pears; (for her) epoisse cheese with vanilla bean ice cream served over pastry crumbs (I know I am forgetting something here)
2) a "cocktail" palate cleanser (for me) mojito with coconut mousse and tapioca; (for her) a Negroni with Campari granita, ice cream (vermouth? lime?), candied orange peel and micro-parsley
3) for both of us, a coffee tart with Meyer lemon curd, cold-infused coffee sabayon, espresso bean ice cream, coffee cookies and a chocolate praline. The sabayon was out of this world -- it was white, and tasted like velvety, rich cappuccino froth.
Even though my friend had started out dessert saying that she doesn't care for overly complex dishes that try to stretch your palate or blend in odd, savory flavors, she ended up rolling her eyes and stomping her feet in delight over every bite. We've since decided a return is in order for one of Boris' 6 course dessert tastings. ($35 upon request)
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* No, I will not call it the "crumb." I know it's proper terminology but it's one of those words food writers use all the time that I think just sounds stupid.
That chocolate cupcake you mentioned is screaming my name!!
Posted by: mom | January 14, 2007 at 04:06 AM
how lucky I am to be your friend. how coffee made me die and go to heaven.
Posted by: sam | January 14, 2007 at 10:15 AM