another DC cupcake wars contender: buzz bakery, arlington

The rematch continues.

http://pievcake.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/washington-post-cupcake-wars-i-demand-a-recount/

Here’s the Buzz Bumble Bee cupcake, a vanilla cupcake with a chocolate center and vanilla buttercream frosting. (The bee isn’t edible, for anyone wondering). The cake and filling were tasty enough, but the slightly gritty buttercream was a buzzkill. It had the taste and consistency of something you’d expect from a Safeway cake. Bummer.

Rating: 5.2 out of 10

This chocolate cupcake was created for the 9:30 club. It’s a devil’s food cake with a vanilla center topped with chocolate icing dipped in ganache. I thought I tasted hints of coffee in the ganache or icing (Barefoot Contessa would be proud). This one’s a winner. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t the best thing on the 9:30 club menu.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

http://www.buzzonslaters.com/

Krispy Kreme gelato at Boccato gelato, arlington

We cracked up at the sight of these crullers sticking out of the Krispy Kreme gelato. eLiz and trac-e agreed that this flavor has an identity crisis, though. With its cinnamony flavor, it tastes more like a Snickerdoodle cookie than a Kripsy Kreme donut. For anyone curious, there weren’t little pieces of crullers throughout the gelato. But that might be a good idea.

bacon s’mores

I can’t decide whether these bacon s’mores from the Food 2 kitchens look good or disgusting. Maybe it’s the dollop of chocolate on top that’s throwing me off (it’s actually Nutella).

Anyway, these are further confirmation that we haven’t bottomed out on the bacon-dessert trend.

If you’re planning on re-creating this, may I suggest using precooked bacon instead? If you nuke it long enough, it gets a super-crispy texture with fewer fatty bits (which get awkward with chocolate). That way, instead of chew chew chewing on the bacon, you get only the crunchy, smoky goodness–a perfect contrast to the gooey marshmallow and chocolate spread.

http://www.food2.com/blog/2009/08/18/top-17-extreme-smore-creations-bacon-included

brown sugar bourbon cheesecake at buzz bakery

This is perfect for people who find Cheesecake Factory-type cheesecake too rich. The cheesecake part is light and fluffy, with a rich maple-caramel type flavor. We just wished the portion size was more like Cheesecake Factory.

http://www.buzzonslaters.com/

dc cupcake wars revisited: georgetown cupcake and hello cupcake face off

In response to the lameness of the Washington Post cupcake wars last year, we’ve been conducting our own rematch. So far, Hello Cupcake’s Gianduja (chocolate hazelnut) flavor is in the lead.

http://pievcake.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/washington-post-cupcake-wars-i-demand-a-recount/

Both Hello and Georgetown Cupcake offer a coconut flavor, so we pitted them against one another.

Icing: The coconut on Hello Cupcake’s icing was toasted (left and top in photos), which made Mr. X-sXe prefer theirs, but I didn’t think it added that much flavor. I missed the tartness of the cream cheese in Hello’s icing and preferred Georgetown’s (right, bottom).

Cake: Hello’s was dense and drier, but seemed to have coconut bits in it. Georgetown’s was moister and lighter. Again, I preferred Georgetown’s, while Mr. X-sXe voted for Hello’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Winner: It’s a draw. Honestly, the judges could not come to an agreement. A numerical evaluation proved fruitless. We didn’t think it would be so tough to decide, but there you go. These are the Venus and Serena of cupcakes. Either one could come out on top.

http://www.hellocupcakeonline.com/

http://georgetowncupcake.com/home.html

the best of the trader joe’s dessert case: chocolate mousse collaboration

I regularly check the dessert case here, since the products are always changing. This new one’s my current favorite. A chocolate ganache tops a milk-chocolate mousse, supported by a rich chocolate cake bottom. I don’t even really like milk chocolate much. And I wouldn’t call myself a chocoholic (in fact, I run from those people). But this is undeniably delicious.

It just takes 30 minutes to defrost from the freezer. I couldn’t wait that long to take the photo, so that’s why you see the frost on top. This box was $3.99 for two, which seems pricey at first. But when you consider that similar desserts at Whole Foods or cake shops cost about $5 each, it’s not that bad.

Any nomination for their other best desserts?

food network’s “the best thing i ever ate”: totally fried episode

Here are the donuts highly recommended by Giada “Bobblehead” De Laurentiis from this episode. I don’t have issues with people sensualizing food, but Giada comes off as over-the-top to me. Nigella does it so much more naturally. Speaking of Nigella, why are all her shows airing only at 7:30 AM lately? Did she piss off someone at Food Network?

Watch the Giada clip here and silently judge:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-best-thing-i-ever-ate/index.html

Back to the donuts–they come with two dipping sauces. I believe one is a mascarpone-based sauce and the other is cranberry.

Made To Order Doughnuts-Lola

2000 4th Avenue

Seattle, WA 98121

206-441-1430

www.tomdouglas.com

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/shows/episode/0,1000011,FOOD_32078_63428,00.html

food network’s “the best thing i ever ate”: pizza episode

Yup, they did feature one sweet pizza on the show. This looks way rich, like PMS food.

Chocolate Pizza – Max Brenner

841 Broadway

New York, NY 10003

(212) 388-0030

www.maxbrenner.com

food network’s “the best thing i ever ate”: bacon episode

Here are the two desserts that got shout outs on this episode. Both of these looked pretty amazing. They incorporated apples and bacon into the donut dough before frying. And the bacon chocolate crunch bar had so many different forms of chocolate and textures going on, Duff was practically serenading the thing.

Right when I think the bacon-in-dessert fad is bottoming out, we get a bacon-apple-maple donuts. Any guesses for which dessert will be bacon-ized next? My money’s on chocolate mousse!

Bacon Apple Maple Donuts – Dynamo Donut & Coffee

2760 24th St

San Francisco, CA 94110

415-920-1978

dynamosf.com

Bacon Chocolate Crunch Bar – Animal

435 N. Fairfax Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90036

323-599-6990

www.animalrestaurant.com

Buzz Bakery’s bacon cupcakes

Photo courtesy of Buzz Bakery.

Check out these babies from Buzz Bakery. It’s peanut-butter icing on a chocolate cupcake base with pieces of crispy bacon lounging on top (and incorporated into the icing). I hadn’t thought of the peanut-butter bacon combination before. Salty-sweet fans, I think it’s time for a field trip to Alexandria.

Buzz Bakery
901 Slaters Lane
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 703-600-2899

http://www.buzzonslaters.com/