Hali Hannigan's Cupcakery

I went to my very first cupcakery today. The experience was nice. I walked in knowing their cupcakes were about $3 each and was still thinking, "WTF?" but my new (awesome) friend Monica wanted to try their tiramisu cupcakes so I went. Plus, I knew they were by the gym I'll eventually join so I wanted to try them myself. How else would I behave after a hard workout? Workout aside, I went. A mom (?) and young child were there when we arrived. I thought, "I probably wouldn't be buying any kid of mine a $3 cupcake. I'm sure not bringing my sister's kids here. There's too many of them [for $3 cupcakes]!" Monica and I ordered. Banana pudding instantly caught my eye, but I stuck with tiramisu (and turtle cheesecake) since that's what brought us into the store. It (tiramisu cupcake) was okay, not great. It reminded me of bran or a "healthy" (whole wheat) cookie but not as good or something dry. The cream towards the center of the cupcake was heaven. Yum. If I had liked the cake itself better, it's possible that it would have just been yum but with things as they were I was chasing that $3 joyous cupcake cream center. The cream was good. Yum. (I'm having a flashback). I've had tiramisu. It's okay. I don't love it, but I like it. I must voice that as a full disclaimer for my review. It's been a while since I've had it so it's possible that I forgot what to expect. The moments of coffee found at times throughout the cake seemed right. The joyous cream was the height of my memory. The initial bite that made me think of bran-- eh.

Hours later was cupcake #2- turtle cheesecake. Sounds close to heaven, right? (banana pudding was left behind so....) It was good. The cake had a flaky, sugary feel and taste to it that was just right for a cupcake cheesecake. The flavor and moisture were good. The beautiful fluffy top that they had on all of their cupcakes-- almost great. 90% of it was great but 5-10% was horrible! My senses screamed each time I came upon the horror so I really can't describe the menacing flavor for you. Eventually, I tried to investigate to see what caused the ruin but I could not find the bad flavor in what was left of my beautiful top. Turtle cheesecake, I recommend. I just wish I knew what doesn't need to be there so I can talk to the chef :).

Before I left the cupcakery, I thought, "this would be a nice place to bring a child." Notice the "a". At $3 a cupcake, I couldn't live out that fantasy with more than 2 children. I suspect the cupcakery is like a Jelly Belly. A few flavors are great, a few are horrible, and most are in between. It's about the adventure of trying and hoping that one day, you will find the perfect one.

Another disclaimer: I've never purchased a single cupcake before. For all I know, Kroger *could* be charging $2 a cupcake. I just doubt it. Off I go to think back to the joy of my $3 cupcakes from today.