Kimberley's Bakeshoppe

The other day I was minding my own business at my local grocery store when I noticed in the refrigerated section single, individually packaged cupcakes. I normally don't buy the store pre-made cupcakes because I don't consider them to have specialties in baking or baked goods, but these cupcakes seemed to be delivered to the store from another company.

I did some investigating online and found out the company, Kimberley's Bakeshoppe, was an online bakery which ships to various grocery stores and small markets. I decided to go back and give the red velvet variety a try.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Even though they were refrigerated, the cupcakes tasted very fresh. The frosting was creamy and soft, and wasn't overpowering in cream cheese flavor. The cupcake was soft and moist, though a little dry. I attribute that to the refrigeration.

The only complaint I had was the filling. There seemed to be an icing filling but it was a bit too sweet and took away from the overall taste. If the cupcake hadn't had the filling I think it may have really been comparable to the best cupcakes I've tried.

Well, let the hunt continue...

Price $2.50
Cake: soft, moist, airy, a little dry
Icing: creamy, smooth, not too cream-cheesy
Decorations: simple
Overall Rating: 8/10
Website: Kimberley's Bakeshoppe

Red Velvet Inspirations pt. 2

Lately I've been noticing a great deal more goodies dedicated to the red velvet flavor. I've noticed commercials for milkshakes at Steak n' Shake as well as custard flavors at BurgerFi. The most prominent advertising had to be the announcement of the Red Velvet Oreo. I hadn't seen a commercial for it on television, but I had seen rumblings of it on Facebook and other social media. I was excited when I finally found them at the local grocery. Another finding I just happened upon was a red velvet pancake mix. I think this was an attempt to break into the Valentine's Day market, but I'm okay with that.

So here goes, yet another installment of red velvet inspirations!

Red Velvet Oreo cookies:

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. I used to love Oreo cookies when I was younger and every once in awhile still partake (especially when I notice flavors like birthday cake). I got supremely excited about the upcoming red velvet flavor and hoped it would live up to my expectations, though I didn't let my hopes get too high. Let me tell you though, they are delicious! The cream cheese flavored creme is on point and the cookies are a red velvet lovers dream come true. If I closed my eyes and ignored the crunch, I'd swear I was eating my dream red velvet cupcake.

Even when you just open the packaging for the first time, you can smell the glorious, decadent cake. It's a trip for your senses! I have to say, I highly recommend this to all red velvet lovers.

Red Velvet Pancake Mix:

I happened upon this at the grocery store. At first I wasn't going to succumb to the Valentine's Day ploy, but then I thought I should try out this mix considering the epic fail of red velvet pancakes I've tried in the past.

The mix was a deep shade of red and smelled delicious. I was really excited to try out the pancakes.

Of course I had to try to make the pancakes in the shape of hearts. The batter was a delicious chocolatey batter. 

My heart shapes may have failed, but the flavor did not. Much like the red velvet Oreo cookies, eat bit was like a red velvet cupcake in my mouth. All I needed was a cream cheese whipped cream to make the dish perfect.

All in all, these various red velvet inspirations were amazing. They had the flavor combinations and really brought forth the red velvet cupcake experience. I highly recommend them.

More to come, until then, enjoy your own red velvet inspirations!

Carasid - Goa, India

Here's one last throwback from my travels after my Peace Corps service:

When I decided to go to Goa, I never thought cupcakes would be part of the vacation...heat that smacks you in the face, yes. Fresh fish, yes! But not cupcakes...unless they were fish cupcakes. Not too appealing in my head.

Well was I sure surprised when I found not one but ten bakeries! Unfortunately one I visits had no cupcakes but another, Carasid did! They had small cupcakes, somewhere between mini and regular sized.

They weren't designed very fancy but they were nice. The red velvet was decorated with a thick swirl of buttercream frosting. The flavor was very sweet and heavy on the cream cheese flavor. The cake itself was a bit dry and lacked the chocolate flavor I so craved. The frosting was a bit overpowering for the cake, even though the cake was more or less a vanilla cake. The overall taste was okay thought it left me wanting something more. Sadly the only thing I had more was heat and humidity.

My search for a true red velvet cupcake continues in Mumbai...

Price 120 rupees

Cake: dry, no chocolate flavor

Icing: heavy on cream cheese frosting

Decorations: none

Overall Rating: 4/10