Red Velvet Cupcakery

As much as I love frozen yogurt, when faced with the painful dilemma of new cupcake vs. fro yo, the cupcake will always win.

So a few weeks ago, when the Dupont Tangy Sweet started serving Red Velvet Cupcakery cupcakes, I took the opportunity to try their peanut butter cup. The salted icing was a perfect compliment to the peanut butter flavor and worked well with the chocolate cake. I liked the frosting better than any other in the city. Unfortunately the cupcake did not live up to the icing's high standard; though the chocolate cake was rich, it was dry and crumbly.

Georgetown Cupcake and Best Buns are still my favorite cupcakes in town, but I'm interested to find out if there is a difference between the Red Velvet cupcakes at Tangy Sweet and the cupcakes at their E Street bakery.

My Summer Obsession: Tart Frozen Yogurt

I am a hardcore chocoholic. I used to not even consider chocolate-free desserts worth a second glance. But a few years ago, I gave fruit a chance and realized, "Wow, this stuff isn't so bad."

Since then a whole new world has opened up. Summers in particular have never been the same. There's nothing quite as refreshing as a fruit-based dessert. Now my summers seemed to be defined by a fruit-based dessert. The fruit tart summer. The strawberry smoothie summer. And now the frozen yogurt summer.

The fro-yo craze has been around for a while, but I didn't get hooked until now. It is the perfect tangy way to end a hot summer day. I can't stop thinking about my next yogurt fix. It has almost replaced cupcakes...at least while the weather is ridiculously hot.

DC has two great fro yo shops: TangySweet and Caliyogurt. Both are great and I can't decide which I like best. I haven't developed my yogurt palate enough to distinguish the difference between the two. Nor can I tell the difference between the stores - both look like a cross between a bar and an Ikea. The main difference is that TangySweet carries Red Velvet Cupcakery cupcakes, which is pretty awesome, though unsurprisingly the cupcakes distract me from the yogurt. So part of me likes the simplicity of Caliyogurt. Either way, you can't go wrong. If you don't have either in your area, Trader Joe's has an amazing Plain Non-Fat Frozen Yogurt that is great with pomegranate seeds, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.

Sonogram cakes: another reason to fear baby showers...

I'm not going to lie, baby showers scare me. I only have been to one to date and I still exhibit signs of post traumatic stress disorder.

Please don't misunderstand, I have nothing but respect for mothers-to-be and am in awe of them. Which is why I am completely baffled by how a woman who is doing something as miraculous as creating a new life would want to have her friends guess how much string it takes to encircle the circumference of her waist. It just seems to undermine the miracle of life. And the mystery candy bar melted in the diaper gives me nightmares.

I didn't think baby showers could get any scarier until my friend Sarah sent me this article about sonogram cakes. There are women out there who now want to eat their baby!!!! Why??? What insane person thought of this?

I realize the sonogram is pretty cool. I can't imagine what it would be like to see my future child for the first time. But I don't think that I would ever want to see them on something I was about to eat. And how does the child feel years later when she sees baby shower pictures and realizes that her mother ate her (kind of), and thus, to some degree forced her to eat herself??? I would be traumatized. I guarantee you that as an adult, that child will never go to a baby shower.

Tuesday is Free Pastry Day!

Tuesday isn't the best day of the week, until now:

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/print_free_pastry.html

Vanilla Bean - Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting

I found this recipe in Bon Appetit and made these cupcakes for a friend's birthday. They turned out well, though the cake had more of an angel food texture than I would have liked.

9:30 Club Cupcakes

I finally got my 9:30 Club cupcake fix! It was well worth the wait. The cupcakes were chocolaty and rich, but not overwhelming. I thought I tasted a hint of espresso too, which was very nice. The butter cream filling was light and not too sweet. It was the perfect complement to an awesome show (Metric).

I owe you a cupcake...

or two...

I'm sorry for falling off the face of the earth! I changed jobs in June and neglected this blog to a point that is beyond sad. I really appreciate all of you who take time out of your busy life to share in my food obsession and promise that this won't happen again!