Archive | January, 2011

Sprinkles Cupcakes: January Flavors + Cupcake Giveaway

7 Jan

This Monday, I wandered into the Beverly Hills location of Sprinkles, the original cupcake bakery, after a fruitless purse-less shopping adventure on Rodeo. Well, I can’t really call it wandering; I purposefully waited in line to try their new cupcake flavors: Peanut Butter Banana and German Chocolate.

But alas, I didn’t do my homework. There were no round, wooden signs engraved “peanut butter banana” and “German chocolate.” I pouted a bit and picked out four cupcakes for the family: two dark chocolates (have you had the chocolate sprinkles from France?!), dark chocolate banana, and mocha. I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be nice if I read a dessert blog prior to this trek, informing me of the flavors of the month and release dates?”

You get the point. As I disclosed, there are two new flavors arriving to your local Sprinkles cupcakery in January 2011. Here’s the gist of each flavor:

The King: gift someone a gold star!

Peanut Butter Banana [Jan. 7 - 9]

Head to Sprinkles this weekend only for “the King” to commemorate Elvis’ 76th birthday with peanut butter and banana! The cupcake features a fresh banana cake topped with creamy peanut butter frosting. Apparently, “all you’ll be missing is pair of blue suede shoes.” That being said, I’d love to try the King’s grilled peanut butter-banana-bacon sandwich when I’m up for a heart attack!

Two German chocolate cupcakes, please!

German Chocolate [Jan. 14 -  30]

Sprinkles’ German chocolate cake sounds divine: a topping of golden caramel, grated coconut, and pecans mounts a light chocolate cake. A sticky disaster worth the trek? Sure, why not! You’re in luck ’cause this cupcake will be in stores for a whole two weeks!

I love German chocolate cake. When my boyfriend reads this post, he’ll probably comment:

This one time, I brought home a store-bought German chocolate cake to Anisha and she looked at it in disgust. Over the next week, she ate 80% of it.

In my defense, it was finals week and I forgot how much I adore the combo of chocolate and coconut.

Anyway, very happy cupcaking and don’t forget to order hot drinking chocolate before March 31 — it’s perfect for the cool weather we’re having in LA and is topped with a vanilla bean marshmallow!

The Giveaway

I’m so thrilled that my first giveaway is pretty frosting awesome — Sprinkles is sponsoring my blog to give you a dozen signature cupcakes! You lucky readers, you! Good luck!

Entries:

There is only one mandatory entry (1) to be eligible to win a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes! However, if you’d like additional entries, complete steps (2+3+4).

  1. [required] Comment on this post: Share your first Sprinkles experience. Do you remember you first flavor? If you haven’t had Sprinkles yet, what flavors are you dying to try?
  2. Follow @sprinkles on Twitter and leave a comment on this post that you’ve done so w/ your Twitter handle.
  3. Follow @52desserts on Twitter and leave a comment on this post that you’ve done so w/ your Twitter handle.
  4. Retweet the following:

“@52desserts is giving away one dozen @sprinkles cupcakes! Enter to win by 1/9 at 9PM: http://bit.ly/dGrq2z #giveaway #cupcakes“

Rules: You have until Sunday, January 9th, 2011 at 9pm, PST to enter this giveaway. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and announced on Monday, January 10th at 10pm, PST via email provided. If the winner does not respond to me by January 11th at 11pm, I’ll randomly choose and contact the second eligible winner via email! This giveaway is open to US residents only.

4th Annual LA Cupcake Challenge: 2011

5 Jan

My Delight Cupcakery's winning "breakfast cupcake"

Let’s get ready to CRRRRUMBLE!

The oven mitts are off as some of the best cupcakeries from Los Angeles and Orange County compete for the title of “best cupcake” in Southern California. The public (you) and panel of celebrity judges (I’m one of them!) will each vote on their favorite cupcakes, culminating in the crowning of LA’s best traditional and non-traditional cupcakes. Sponsored by CozmoCard, the event will feature Los Angeles’ best mini cupcakes. Here are the frosty facts:

Why?

To find the best cupcake, of course!

Who?

This year, there will be several returning cupcakeries, including…

and some new cupcake entrants:

When + Where?

The event will be hosted at the Renaissance Hotel & Spa on Saturday, February 5th from 4-7PM. Cupcake fiends, mark your calendars!

How much?

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased here: [www.drinkeatplay.com/cupcakechallenge]

If you break it down, $40 isn’t that steep:

  • you’ll be tasting dozens of mini cupcakes (at an approx $2 retail value, you can eat your tickets’ worth in 20 mini cupcakes!)
  • think about all that gas you’ll be saving trying to find the best cupcake in the LA + OC!

Special thanks to Drink:Eat:Play for throwing the fourth annual LA Cupcake Challenge and inviting me to judge!

A Tale of Two Tiramisus: Heirloom LA vs. Drago Centro

2 Jan

It was the best of tiramisu, it was the worst of tiramisu, it was the age of (culinary) wisdom, it was the age of (culinary) foolishness…

Tiramisu: what is it?

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert meaning “pick-me-up” or “pull-me-up,” depending on who you ask or where you Google. One of Italy’s most popular cakes, tiramisu is made with ladyfingers (savoiardi) dipped in espresso with layers of whipped cream made of egg yolks, mascarpone, and liquor. You’ll typically find tiramisu dusted with cocoa and/or dark chocolate shavings for a bitter component.

Black Cat Tiramisu ($7)

@IntelliPasadena @HeirloomLA:

I was incredibly unimpressed by the Black Cat tiramisu by Heirloom LA at Intelligentsia Pasadena. Perhaps I had too high of an expectation, since I’ve liked most of Heirloom’s grub (have you had a lasagna cupcake?!) and I’m a regular at Intelligentsia’s Pasadena outlet. Too bad the tiramisu wasn’t very palatable.

It’s called “Black Cat” tiramisu after Intelligentsia’s signature espresso, which is used to soak the ladyfingers. Learn more about their trademarked Black Cat Project here. Unfortunately, the ladyfinger:cream ratio was off; there was way too much cream and not enough “bitter” cocoa to cut the sweetness. Also, I prefer boozier tiramisus and this one just didn’t cut it (which is somewhat ironic, considering Intelligentsia has a liquor license… just saying).

Maybe this is just one fail in my books for Heirloom LA, but it shouldn’t discredit their overall menu, which I’ve sampled at “foodie” events in Los Angeles and at an underground cocktail party.

If you’re in Pasadena, I’d opt for:

  • Mi Piace: espresso + Kahlua soaked ladyfinger cookies layered with sweet mascarpone cream
  • Louise’s Trattoria: lady fingers dipped in espresso layered in mascarpone and cream [Sweet Lady Jane?]

(yes, even if they’re chains)

Caution:

  • Pop Champage & Dessert Bar. I’ve been there three times (first time by choice, twice more because of friends) and each time was a dud. In their case, the phrase “third time’s the charm” just doesn’t cut it. If you want cloyingly sweet, imbalanced desserts and terrible service, go there!

::versus::

Tiramisu spoons from an Urbanspoon event at Drago Centro

@DragoCentro: Pastry Chef @JasHmineCorpuz

Such an imperfect pastry experience only magnifies other attempts at the same dessert. I love Drago Centro’s desserts, due to Pastry Chef Jashmine Corpuz. Corpuz does everything right when it comes to pastry: she innovatively balances savory and sweet and employs local, seasonal ingredients on Drago Centro’s ever-changing dessert menu.

I’ve had the privilege of tasting a large chunk of the dessert menu at various events and dinners. At an Urbanspoon event over the summer, I tried Drago Centro’s tiramisu for the first time. I didn’t eat just one spoon. No, no, no … I ate four, a whole tray’s worth of tiramisu. It was the best tiramisu I’ve had to date in LA. When you think of tiramisu, you only wish it would taste this good. Aside from the plasticky aftertaste (thanks to its mode of transportation to my pie hole), it was creamy, dense, and balanced. Sometimes I think balance is the most relevant factor when judging a dessert; there should be a balance of sweet to savory as well as creamy to crunchy. So when you dine at Drago Centro next, you must order the tiramisu for two ($18) . Your date will thank you.

The Verdict:

Maybe it isn’t fair to compare a top-notch catering company with a respected Italian restaurant, but this is a merely a battle of the tiramisus and Drago Centro won.

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