My experiments in beer baking have done more than make me popular at work. They have given me something to contribute to a celebration. Since I am a terrible cook, I always got anxious when we were invited to a potluck. But, this weekend when the invite to a friend’s birthday said “no need to bring food or gifts”, I still offered to bring beercakes. My offer was not turned down.
Little did I know that I was going up against my favorite bakery in Richmond, Shindigz. It was a party, not a pastry competition, but knowing that my cupcakes would be served along side the salted chocolate cake was intimidating. Their cakes are freaking amazing and the salted chocolate is one of my absolute favorites only to be surpassed by their spotted cow cake.
The pressure was on.
So far, the Hardywood Strawberry cupcakes are Evan’s favorite and I pretty much use him as my barometer for all things edible. That way, if people don’t like them, I can blame him for picking the wrong flavor. I also figured these would be the best option as an alternative to chocolate cake.
For the party, I made them filled with Agriberry strawberry jam and topped with cream cheese butter cream. Lucky for Evan, they were a total hit! Some people even preferred them to the chocolate cake. That may be more to do with the fact that some people don’t like chocolate, or that Evan was paying people to say they like them so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the sofa, but I will take it either way.
Everyone keeps asking me, “What are you making all these cupcakes for?” I think it is pretty obvious. I am doing it so that I will be invited to parties, because my personality alone is not going to cut it.
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Yum.. I love strawberry cupcakes. With all of these beer cakes, can you taste that they're made with beer? Does the beer add to the flavor of the cakes? I'm a big cupcake fan, my favorite being anything from Sprinkles cupcakes... (they are just the best, hands down... www.sprinkles.com) I've never heard of Shyndigs before, I'll have to check em out! I love any flavor that includes the word "salted" ... salty and sweet combination can't be beat!
ReplyDeleteSome of the beercakes you can really taste the flavor of the beer, but others you just get a nice fluffy texture from the addition of the beer. I am a super fan of Georgetown Cupcakes in DC, but you MUST try Shyndigz if you have never been. They are phenomenal! They are open Thurs-Sat evenings and serve amazing cake by the slice.
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