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The second shelf in my middle cupboard.
I don't take enough pictures of things. I've got this Handycam, too, that I'm really excited to start using. However, the digital camera guru at Best Buy sold me the wrong kind of editing software (DVD only) so I have to go back and get something different. Pretty soon I'd like to post videos here on Girl Friday. Lots of people request it, and you know me; I'm just really acccommodating that way.
I have this problem with instant gratification and food. That is to say, when I get a craving for something, I have to have it immediately. This often poses a problem because I always seem to be engaged in conversations about food. Friends are always asking me for recipes or restaurant recommendations, and I do tend to go on about my favorite places to eat in the city. Sometimes I get a little fixated on one particular thing, and before I know it, I'm already in my car and en route to whichever eatery I'd just rhapsodizing about. The margherita pizza at Punch, the Spanker Soup at Azia, the Cava Cocktail at Solera, and the triple chocolate layer cake at Trattoria da Vinci are all very recent examples.
I have a particular weakness for sweets, specifically chocolate. More specifically, chocolate cake. My recent entry about Italian desserts, combined with a bit of a broken heart -- a collective "aww" now, please and thank you -- has left me yearning for my favorite treat. So today I decided to venture out and pick up a decadent dessert for myself. And what better choice than my favorite of favorites, a chocolate cupcake. "But from where?" I wondered. Eureka! One from everywhere.
I purchased one regular chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting from 5 neighboring bakeries (plus 1 bonus gourmet chocolate ganache cupcake that looked too good to leave in the bakery case) and tasted them all in my kitchen today. By eating 1/3 of each cupcake, and cleansing my palate in between with a swig of V8 and then water, I think I was able to effectively judge all of my selections. Here they are, in the order they were purchased and tasted:
Wuollet Bakery, 2447 Hennepin Ave S
I love the thick, rich frosting; it's like eating a piece of fudge. Definitely the centerpoint of the cupcake. The cake itself is semi-moist and has a true chocolate flavor, though it could be stronger. ($1.15)
Franklin Street Bakery, 1020 Franklin Ave E (Regular Chocolate Cupcake)
The frosting is smooth and glossy, definitely the wettest of them all. It doesn't have a pure chocolate taste, though. The cake is moist and dense with a good flavor, but is too salty. ($1.95)
Franklin Street Bakery (Chocolate Ganache Cupcake)
A "ganache" is a smooth chocolate glaze created by pouring warm heavy cream over chopped chocolate. FSB has separated the two ingredients and topped this cupcake with a fluffy whipped cream frosting and milk chocolate curls. Magnificent! Though the cake is the same recipe used for the regular cupcake above, the saltiness is tempered quite a bit by the creaminess of this frosting. ($2.25) [EDIT: I finished this cupcake today and discovered a dollop of milk chocolate ganache in the center!]
Cupcake, 3338 University Ave SE
A dark, flavorful frosting with a pure chocolate taste. The cake is very moist and chocolatey. This one tastes as every good cupcake should: like a smaller version of a great chocolate layer cake. I wanted to try their buttermilk chocolate cupcake, too, but the bastard in line ahead of me snatched up the last one. Either Cupcake has substantially improved the quality of their goods since my last visit, or they have one specialty cupcake and this is it.
Roseville Bakery, 1147 Larpenteur Ave W
Bland frosting and very dry cake. I question the presence of real chocolate anywhere in this concoction. I'd rank this cupcake at or below chain grocery store standards. Sometimes, you get what you pay for. ($0.65)
Sarah Jane's Bakery, 2853 Johnson St NE
A light and glossy frosting, but not very chocolatey. The cake itself is semi-moist with an always-present hint of coconut that adds another layer of flavor. Quite complimentary. Because Sarah Jane's is so close to my house, I probably eat these cupcakes more often than any others. Though I mostly just stop in for the awesome bars, I can't help but grab a cupcake or two while I'm there. (not sure of exact price, but cost of 1 cupcake + 1 brownie = $1.38)
It's a tough choice, but I'd say Cupcake's chocolate cupcake comes out ahead of the rest. I've given mad props to Wuollet in the past for having an outstanding cupcake, but the one I tasted today was a little drier than usual and the flavor of the cake was too mild. I plan to return to Franklin Street Bakery to try their other varieties of gourmet cupcakes, as the chocolate ganache one I tasted today was a true gem. I will likely never return to the Roseville Bakery, however. And Sarah Jane's Bakery will see me soon enough. I can already feel a craving coming on for those little spice cakes with maple frosting and the cinnamon-cardamom sweet rolls.
I have to wonder if any of my fellow MNSpeak readers really did reply to a request from The Strib for people willing to be photographed for the paper. The original link doesn't work anymore, but they were looking for anyone that was particularly fond of an area on their body, an area that could be featured in a "family newspaper". I really did reply, and the photo shoot is Wednesday afternoon. Whee!
A disclaimer before I tell the following story: I am not interested in scoring with Bryan the bartender from Stasiu's. I just want to make that clear to everyone (namely his girlfriend). Don't get me wrong; he's a very sweet and very cute fellow, but I have no intentions with him whatsoever.
Okay, so I was at Stasiu's last Sunday, as I am every Sunday, chatting with Jerry the bartender. Jerry and I have a great friendship resembling that of siblings. We have good fun together; always joking or horsing around, and making inappropriate comments about Rick and Bexley. Jerry's also very protective of me, like an older brother would be. Not that I'd ever date anyone from my bar in the first place, but Jerry's always looking out for me in that regard.
So Bryan wasn't working that night, but he came with a few friends to play some pool. Now, Jerry gets kind of creeped out when I talk about guys that I like, especially when I start talking about sex. We'd been having a rather jovial conversation about some amusing aspect of my personal life when Bryan came up to the bar and ordered another round. He walked away, and I leaned over the bar to Jerry and said, "Bryan's pretty cute. I'd hit that."
I thought Jerry was going to have another stroke. His mouth just dropped and he actually had to walk away from me for a moment. He came back with a terrified look on his face and asked me if I meant what I said. I beat around the bush a little, not actually giving him a straight answer. I figured I might as well have some fun with this.
Over the next 6 days, I sent Jerry a few "I'd hit that!" text messages, all the while looking forward to Saturday night, when I knew both of them would be working.
Saturday came, and we had a f**king blast. In addition to all the fun I was having on account of it being Janelle's birthday, I was entertaining myself, too. I'd go up to the bar to talk to Jerry, then point over at Bryan if he happened to be bending over, pretending to check him out. Jerry would feign illness or heartbreak or death, or all three at once. I figured it was time to come clean with Jerry about how I was just messing with him, but I wanted to make one last dramatic point: I demanded a photograph of me and Bryan, arms around each other. Jerry rolled his eyes. I didn't realize Jerry was standing behind us until I saw what the camera had captured:
Best. Picture. Ever.
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