Red velvet cupcakes and Valentine's Day

I love cupcakes. If I was presented with a whole cake, I would eat it all, and that's just not good for my health. I don't buy the whole "pie is the new cupcake" bull... but that's probably because I've never found a pie I would sell my organs for. That being said, there's very little room for error with a cupcake. There's only so much, so it had better be darn good. Since it is Valentine's Day today, I thought I would pay homage to the day of love with a review of two red velvet cupcakes I've eaten recently.


Isobel's Red Velvet Cupcake
Isobel's Cupcakes and Cookies http://www.isobels.com/
Twitter: @isobelscupcakes 

The other day on Twitter, I saw Isobel's tweet about their new red velvet cupcake! I was pretty pumped, since the elusive red velvet isn't always a Canadian cupcake "thing," but something better left to our southern neighbours. I sent off my lovely husband, since Isobel's is only a two minute walk from our house. As soon as he brought them home, I dug in.

First thing - I was shocked, yes shocked, the frosting wasn't cream cheese. I thought that was something all red velvet cupcakes had to have. Once I got over that horror, I was still incredibly disappointed with the frosting. It was a buttercream, which was fine, but it didn't have that really BIG flavour that is necessary to stand up to the quasi-sour red velvet cake. The cake itself was good. It had that signature tang, and was really moist (but not too moist!). I think this cupcake was good, but could be really great if they kicked up the frosting a notch.


Southern Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting
The Cupcake Lounge (Courtesy of The Candy Store)

This cupcake is big. Not massive, but big in comparison to other cupcake offerings in Ottawa. I find the way they frost their cupcakes really interesting, and I'm not sure I could mimic it if I tried. The only annoying thing is when you unwrap it, some of the frosting flakes off. Not so great if you have kids, or are made easily upset by frosting loss, like I am.

The cupcake itself though? YUM. The frosting is cream cheese - thank you - and there's not too much or too little of it. The cake itself is a good consistency, and it doesn't "crumb" too much. Honestly, it's delicious.


Onto our Valentine's Day. I got a full six-pack of cupcakes from the Cupcake Lounge, as well as a lovely Henry of Pelham Reserve Chardonnay from A. I got him a heart shaped box of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from Wal-Mart, which I'm pretty sure he ate already since I haven't seen them in the house since this morning.

We ate mac n' cheese with hotdogs for dinner - awesome. To my husband, I love you more everyday, thanks for spoiling me when I ask you to.

-K

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