The Cupcake Diaries - Georgetown's Coconut Cupcakes

My daughter and I have twice tried to get into Georgetown Cupcakes in D.C.  We failed each visit.  The lines were just too long.

A couple of weeks ago we visited Georgetown on a wet, windy cold, late Summer weekend and guess what...?  No lines.

We zipped in immediately and breathed in deeply.  The smell of sugar, chocolate and all things sweet baking was heavenly.

And the store was just so reassuringly girly.

Pink boxes and exquisitely iced cupcakes lined the walls of the store.

We bought a box of six - we only intended to buy one each but just couldn't decide between the red velvet and the chocolate ganache or the coconut and oreo cookie cupcake.  There are just too many flavors from which to choose.

So what's a girl to do?

Buy the cookbook of course.

We did and have so far cooked the coconut cupcakes.

'Pon my word, my cupcakes were as good as the one I tasted in D.C.

The chocolate ganache didn't go so well.

I messed up because I mismeasured the flour (don't ask, it's too dumb.  Let's just say I really should wear my reading glasses when baking.)









Want to try your hand at baking one of these?  The recipe can be found here.Coconut Cupcakes

I learned a few things from the D.C. cupcake gals:

1. Sift the flour onto parchment then put to one side.  Why you ask?  I don't know the answer, but I do know this step resulted in perfect fluffy cakes.
2. Remember to leave the butter out of the fridge.  It's impossible to combine with the sugar if it's too hard and then you're left twiddling your thumbs, waiting for it to soften...
3. Sift the powdered sugar.  Again I'd normally cheat and leave out this step, but it does make a difference -- especially if you are using organic powdered sugar, which seemed very dense to my eyes before sifting.

Go girls.  We love your recipes!

Can't get to D.C anytime soon?  Check out our other favorite bakers:  Flying Monkey Patisserie which sells its cupcakes at the Reading Terminal Market.

Cupcakes in Philly, an Embarrassment of Riches

Cupcakes are everywhere. And we've rarely met a treat we didn't like, especially a pretty, nicely-portioned, eat-with-your-hands-but-not-like-a-barbarian-cake. Good thing Philly is well stocked with cupcake providers.....

We enjoyed this sixpack from Buttercream Philly Cupcake Truck. 
And were thrilled to learn that they will be opening an actual shop in August.  Stay tuned for details; we heard the location is Pennsport.

Buttercream Cupcake Truck's Selection

We had a lovely encounter with one half of the Cupcake Wonderland Team at South Street's New Market.    We sidled up after dinner, around 9pm just as the Market was closing down.  We chatted briefly with Nima, who was utterly charming, and even as the lights were shut off, he stayed to make sure we got the cupcakes we wanted.  He was terribly apologetic that he wasn't able to decorate the cupcakes properly--what with it being pitch dark by then, but he did scatter a few Spiderman oatmeal cookies on the cakes for some additional pizzazz.

A Cupcake Wonderland Cupcakes--Cupcake War Champions!

We're huge fans of Cookie Confidential--their push pops are a perfect pick me up.  The novelty packaging is great, and the small size of the cupcakes makes them ideal for, well, everything.

You can never go wrong with treats from Brown Betty.  With locations in Northern Liberties, and Liberty Place and a wide assortment of amusingly named cakes ("Company's Comin'" is a personal fave) these are always a hit.  They are generously portioned, so I'm a fan of cutting them in half.

Brown Betty Cupcakes

And no cupcake post would be complete without mentioning Flying Monkey.  Their lemon-filled cupcake puts me in a swoon.  Pistachio, too.

Flying Monkey's Bouquet (photographed by Albert Yee)

Which is YOUR favorite?

Cookies & Cupcakes - The Undercover Story...

Cookie Confidential's Cheesesteak Cookies are shipped from Philly to fans around the country.  The cheesesteak cookie is based on an old German recipe. 

Cookie Confidential's bakery is situated on the corner of 5th and Gaskill -- just north of Johnny Rockets on South Street.  The bakery and coffee shop is distinguished by its 'in yer face' color scheme (fierce red and lime green) and its equally strident "Cookie Confidential" graphics. 

The modernist interior with its exposed surfaces and rough-hewn wooden cladding contrasts with the oh-so-dainty cookies and fluffy buttercream cupcakes on display. 

Take a bite of one of Cookie Confidential's melt in your mouth pushpop cupcakes and you just know that these cakes are made with loving care...

One of our favorite inventions by Cookie Confidential is this unique pushpop cupcake. 

The pushpops are in heavy demand, particularly for children's parties, because of their mess free design and portability; they make great party favors and keep for up to a week in a fridge.

Another distinguishing characteristic of Cookie Confidential is its use of meat in its cookies.  Bacon seems to go down particularly well....

We didn't get to try the bacon peanut brittle or the maple bacon cupcakes, but will be returning to Cookie Confidential someday soon to buy a quantity as presents for the upcoming Holiday season. 

Cookie Confidential ships to fans all over the U.S.  The easiest way to mail order their cookies is through the bakery's website. 

Owner, Melissa Torre, is no stranger to the area.  Prior to founding Cookie Confidential, Melissa was a bartender at Tattoo Mom's on South Street. 

She has now been baking on South 5th for just over a year. The bakery/coffeeshop is open to the public Thursdays through to Sunday, with late night opening on Fri and Sat nights. 

Cookie Confidential has a cult following amongst those who have discovered her terrific organic cookies and cakes, as Melissa explains: "We have people jump in a cab from the other side of town to grab some cookies for lunch or to take home.  We've had an online store for years and ship our meat cookies particularly all over the U.S.  And customers are always trying to suggest new meat-based flavors to us!  We've never tried a seafood cookie before but I'm experimenting on that at the moment - using the very small dried shrimps that you find in Asian stores.

"We try to use all organic ingredients from Lancaster Farm Fresh - we use organic flour, butter and eggs, for example, and all our colorings are as natural as possible. I also ensure that our packaging is recyclable, hence we use the brown bags for pretty much everything."

Cookie Confidential releases two new flavor cookies per month. 

We can't wait 'til the Holiday season when Melissa will be reintroducing the peppermint sugar cookie.  Roll on Winter we say...