Just Desserts

While in California, I abandoned all hope of calorie counting and INDULGED! When I stumbled upon this little gem, I HAD to go in. Besides, there is someone VERY near and dear to me named Kara. It would have been just plain rude not to investigate!


The little shop was ADORABLE!! Neat little darlings all in a row!

The best part...they had MINIS!!! This way, I could buy the 3 I was DYING to try and not feel too terrible in regards to my wallet or waistline!! My picks: Raspberry Dazzle, Chocolate Coconut, and Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Ganache.

(Kara's Cupcake photos courtesy of www.uncorked29.com)

Little did I know that about 2 seconds down the block were THESE GUYS!!!

SPRINKLES! Of course I had to pay homage to my little strawberry darlings!!

(Sprinkles pics courtesy of www.sprinkles.com)

AND Peanut Butter Chocolate AND Chocolate Peppermint TWIST. OUT OF CONTROL!!! My justification to The Strong Man regarding these purchases was: it has been OVER TWO years since I had one!! AND I was pregnant, paralyzed and unable to TASTE anything!! He rolled his eyes and offered no sympathy BUT did allow the purchases!!

We carried on our merry way and ended up at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We decided on taking dessert home. The Strong Man suggested Stephanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake. I curled my nose up and said, "whatever." I do not care for Red Velvet cake and I had an arsenal of cupcakes waiting for me in the car.

We get back to the hotel, order up our "Still in Theatres" movie and sit down with dessert. First bite for me, Kara's Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Ganache. The cupcake was too chocolaty but the Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Ganache Icing was HEAVEN. Second bite, Kara's Raspberry Dazzle. Unfortunately, it was a dud. Yuck on my tongue. Booooo. Third bite, Kara's Chocolate Cupcake with Coconut Cream Cheese Icing. I thought it was ok! Fourth bite, Sprinkles Peanut Butter Chocolate. The cupcake was great (minus the chocolate chips) the icing was not so great! Fifth bite, Sprinkles Chocolate Peppermint Twist. Yuck on my tongue. AGAIN! Boooo. It was ok I thought, I saved the best for last.....Sprinkles Strawberry cupcake. So I thought!! I wasn't as W-O-W-E-D as I remembered being!!

I was SUPER bummed because I just knew I would have been in cupcake heaven! The Strong Man was SUPER bummed because he shelled out $15 bucks for NOTHING and our coffee table looked like a war scene. However, he is a considerate one. He offered me a bite of his Red Velvet Cheesecake. I reluctantly agreed and then ALMOST DIED. Ya'll...I ALMOST DIED. It was SOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!

It has completely changed the way I view Red Velvet Cake!! Well, it has completely changed the way I view The Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet Cake! Remember, I said he was a considerate one and he shared the rest with me! Actually, I don't know if it was consideration or the fact that it is humanly impossible to finish a piece of this cake in one sitting!!

Yum, yum go get ya some!!

As far as cupcakes go...I'll be sticking with these:

Betty Crocker's Triple Chocolate Fudge and my sister-in-law's KILLER homemade vanilla buttercream!! Much more budget friendly!