Saturday, February 14, 2009

A Cookie and Cupcake (with an accent on the cupcake)

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I decided to head down to Tremont to procure a Valentine’s Day dessert for tonight. Regina had wanted to surprise me with some cupcakes from A Cookie and a Cupcake on Professor, but they were out of the red velvets when she called on Friday.

Who here thought the cupcake craze would last this long? It's been raging pretty hard for a while now and like this recession it doesn't show any signs of stopping. I can't really say what it is, but if I'm at a party with a tupperware container full of these things I lose all self control. As a courtesy I'll verbally warn everyone.

I'll say, "Listen up everyone! If anyone would like a (with an emphasis on the singular) cupcake take them now. In fifteen minutes their open game and it ain't gonna' be pretty." Women, children, and especially men will come running.

Have you ever seen anyone leave a party with leftover cupcakes? It's never happened. Ever. Go ahead Google it.

Opened by Wendy Thompson and Syndee Klingenberg last fall, Cookie and a Cupcake is a pure pastry shop. These two women teamed up at Lockkeeper/Dante as the top two pastry chefs. I think it’s kind of funny that these two set up shop only to have the new Dante set to open sometime this year about 5 or 6 doors down.

*Sorry for the blurry picture. It was my idea to put them in front of the brick wall. The 50mm lens offers great field of depth, but when you hastily focus you end up with misfires like this.*

The shop has a wide range of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and other small pastries. They also specialize in creating cakes for special occasions. No bread, no scones, no muffins, or croissants. Diabetics beware.

From the get go the cupcakes looked good; plenty of frosting, not insanely large, and quite a variety. I picked up a Grasshopper (mint frosting with chocolate cake), Carrot Cake, and a couple of Red Velvets. I’m a huge sucker for red velvet.

So how do they taste? I mean that’s really why we’re here, right?

After dinner we decided to cut these suckers in half and taste test the three different varieties. This is what I really liked: when Regina split them in half you could see that they jammed the pastry bag into the center of the cupcake (I’m assuming that’s what they did). I like it because it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Let’s face it, the frosting is the best part. Why not share the love with the center of the cupcake? The frosting is a butter cream, with a cake that is not at all dry.


I think the interesting thing about Tremont is that it lacks ice cream shops and bakeries. I think these ladies definitely fill a void in the neighborhood. A Cookie and a Cupcake is worth A Look and a Taste.

A Cookie and a Cupcake
2173 Professor Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 344-9433
www.acookieandacupcake.com

A Cookie and a Cupcake on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

  1. That red velvet looks awesome. We might have to stop by after brunch at the Fig tomorrow.

    I never really thought about the lack of bakeries, but now that you mention it, it would be nice if On the Rise would open a satellite shop on the Westside! There is an ice cream shop pretty much across the street from Fahrenheit though.

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  2. I've been to the ice cream place you speak of. There was a very long wait (due to the speed of the staff not the product) the last time we went. I'm really surprised some sort of gelato or nice ice cream place hasn't gone in there. Who knows, maybe I'll lose my job next year and open one up.

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  3. Sounds really yummy. If you ever want to do any cupcake comparisons I suggest you check out the Red Velvet cupcakes at www.baker-babes.com
    They truly are to die for!!

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