Nurturing my inner... double dessert

While on the treadmill at the gym this morning for four, long, boring and more boring miles, my mind began to wander.  (Well, they only seem to show guy-oriented sports and news programs.  *Yawnfest.*  Not what I'd be watching at home!  Um, not that I don't watch the news.  I'm intelligent, relevant and informed.  Some days.)  So, my thoughts turned to food.  As it mostly does.

What would happen if you took two desserts you loved and morphed them into one?  Pure awesomeness, that's what.  Julia's Bakery, Orange, CT.  Place of fine baked goods fusion.  (And why has my family not taken me to this place sooner?)

What color is that brick? Mauve?

One small set of doors opened up quite a good-sized bakery.  There were a dozen glass-covered cabinets full of sweet treats.  Sugar shock!  I didn't know where to look first.

Cake slices of all kinds.

I looked over the Italian cookie trays, that went on for miles, and then saw these magic words: Fun Filled Cupcakes.  Who doesn't like the promise of fun in a single-sized, self indulgent serving?

I wanted to taste test the entire cabinet.

I could tell you right off which cupcake I decided on, but then how else would I build the sugary tension?  So here is the box first.

Old fashioned bakery style box.

Okay, enough wait.  I love cupcakes and I love canoli, so I got the canoli cupcake!  Obvious choice.  Plus, I have never seen a canoli cupcake anywhere else.  Must be the Italian influence up North.  (I love those New England bakers who bring my heritage into all things edible.)

Yes, I do realize you see that mini canoli in
there as well. I can't help myself!

So, you know what a canoli is, right, but what is a canoli cupcake?  It is a golden, moist cupcake with a Marachino cherry juice and traditional creamy, canoli-filled cavern, topped with light and airy whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate chips.  Topped with a cherry too!  Scrumptious.

Nope, not sharing. Get your own!

Might I recommend the banana chocolate chip cupcake... and the red velvet cupcake... and the carrot cake cupcake... and the chocolate canoli cupcake.... okay, just get them all.  And promise yourself you'll only eat one a day and then run on the treadmill for half an hour.  Or just eat one while running on the treadmill.  (Now there is some fusion for you!)  Gives you incentive and makes the round and round, yet going nowhere, less boring.

Nurturing my inner... sweet sweet main street

On a trip to CT a few months back, I decided to take my mom to a little town that I'm not sure I've ever been to.  I've heard of it though, because the hooty tooty people live there.  (As opposed to the horse people who live in the town I'm from.)  So here is a little trip into a couple stores in the quaint town of New Canaan, CT.

The reason I took her there was to go to the nearest location to her house of Le Pain Quotidien.  (Where I saw some famous actor who I can't remember his name.)  I had enjoyed it so much in VA, they have a killer cappuccino, that I had to take mom for the waffle.  After we were done with brunch, we walked along the adorable, picture perfect main street.  It had all kinds of shops and boutiques.  I bet you can guess which ones I was drawn to the most.

First stop, Belgique Chocolatier.  Darling artisan chocolate place.  If I lived nearby, I'd go every week.  (No, I'm not kidding.  I really would.)

Practically out of a watercolor.

Inside, it was row after row of decadent, interesting, cleverly-flavored treats.

Can you see the giant chocolate acorn and
flower shapes at the bottom right?

The interior of the shop was like a snapshot out of Paris.  Not that I've ever been to France, but this is what I think a European chocolate shop would look like.  Warm and cozy.  They even had rugs on the wood floor.  (Can I live in there?)

I'm pretty sure this is what heaven looks like.
At least at the entrance.

I used restraint, for a change, and just got four pieces.  One for mom and three for me.  (Hmmm...  That makes me sound rather selfish.  Oh well!  All is fair in love and chocolate.)  They put my lovely gems in a pretty, little cellophane bag with a B sticker to keep it safely shut.  (For the time being.  But a sticker is no match for me!)

Was hard to choose. I wanted them all.

I often go for anything with hazelnut or caramel, but I do also tend to be attracted to the peculiar.  In this case, the flavor that most intrigued me was the Speculoos-filled faceted dome.  Speculoos, in case you don't know (and why would you), is a ginger biscuit traditionally made in Belgium.  I've seen it ground up and made into a spread for waffles.  But then to take the spread and add it into a chocolate - well that is brilliantly unique!  I'm in!

How do they get those detailed designs?
A stencil? An airbrush? Magic wand?

I recommend going for the strangest flavors when you can.  Embrace the bizarre!  Speculoos rocks!  (Even if you can't spell it.)

A view down main street. Sweet old town.

But wait!  I was not done yet.  There was one more place.  A cupcake place.  for my second stop.  Crumbs.

Hello puppy waiting out front. Your owner
is in there getting a quick snack.

Like all good cupcake places, and they are EVERYWHERE these days, the glass case was filled with options.  Colorful ones at that.  I always find it SO hard to choose.  But I have been trying to have a different kind at every place to keep it interesting for both you and me.

I'd rather just back the car around, pop the
trunk and say, "Load 'er up!"

The friendly shop worker handed the cupcake to me in a plastic container with their juggling jester sticker on top.

Thank goodness I was still full from brunch
or I would have just eaten it while sitting
on the bench outside with the dog.

I carried my package home like it was a box of plutonium.  And I'm happy to report it arrived 100% safely with super cute carrot icing detail fully in tact.  That afternoon, I ate half.  It was a substantial cupcake, so a whole one was a little more than I could wrestle down that day.  (Yes, I am a sugar lightweight.)

Another winner!

Might I recommend a chocolate and cupcake world tour for everyone.  The earth would be a happier place.  Can you ever be disappointed with a mini personal cake at your disposal?  I think it's unlikely.  They make you smile.  Plus it's a heck of a delightful way to spend 30 minutes of browsing and snacking.  (I might also recommend that if the cupcakes are smaller, you really should get two different flavors.  Call it investigative research to anyone who looks at you funny.  They're just jealous of your self-assurance and dessert bravado anyway.)

I'm noticing lately that I remember the cities I visit by the food.  I guess there could be worse ways to travel!

Nurturing my inner... georgetown on the cheap

When a friend of mine said, "Hey, there is this great place in DC you have to try called Surfside," I thought for sure she was talking about a seafood joint.  But no.  It's Mexican.  (Imagine that.)  And, affordable.  (Imagine that too.)

I didn't get a pic of the outside, I think the extreme heat distracted me, but it wasn't anything to catch your eye anyway.  So here is a link to their about page if you really want to see it.  They have some parking behind them, which is nice.  If you go early like we did, there was no searching the streets for a space.  Just park and cross the one way road.

The interior was simple and industrial.  Brick walls and boards with the offerings.  What may seem unfancy, cafeteria style at first glance to you will pleasantly surprise you in a few minutes.  You go up, order, get a buzzer (like Panera does) and then you can get your drinks and find a spot to settle down in.

People on bottom right filling out paper lists that
help you create specialized burritos, tacos and
salads. You can create whatever you'd like!

Yes, it was unnaturally, unbearably humid out, but we wanted to sit outside.  On the roof of the place, after you hike up a long flight of stairs, is a deck.  Complete with bar and tables.

Open tables to the side, but we sat in the ones
under the awnings in the shade.

Buzzer went off, I went back down to where I ordered, and there was my plate.  (You can create your own combos, but the menu was so good as is, I just ordered right off of that.)

Maui: Two grilled fish-of-the-day tacos in corn tortillas with black bean and corn salsa, guacamole, cilantro and lime sour cream.

Is this not a beautiful dish?  Everything was super fresh and talk about delicioso!  We also got a pitcher of margaritas to share with the group.  Refreshing and cool on such a hot day.  But how fun to sit and dine on a rooftop in the city!  Yeah, we were cool!  (Well, not in temperature, but in popularity.)

First time I've had fish tacos and now, I'm
hooked for life! (That was actually an
unintended pun. Seriously.)

After supper, because we went at 4:30 it was still nice and early, we drove over to another part of Georgetown to Sprinkles and found easy street parking just up a few blocks.  There are several cupcake places nearby but honestly, no, I'm not waiting 40 minutes in the extreme heat to get into the one that has the show on TV.  Plus, I have it on good authority from my friends that half of the hype for that place is the show instead of the cakes and that other places are actually better.  One day I'll find out and post my first-hand opinion, when the line is shorter or the temperature is more reasonable, if that place is worth the line.  As for that day, the Sprinkles' queue had about five people in it before us.  (Instead of 45!  That's crazy!!!)

Simple storefront.

The case inside was very modern looking.  The cupcakes were uniform in size and decoration, save for different colors, and in sectioned out holes in a board.  Extremely orderly.

The decision: so hard! I'd like to try salty
caramel or banana chocolate one day.

Everyone was getting two.  (Apparently I will give in to some peer pressure and follow suit in certain circumstances.)  I got one for myself and the other to bring back for a friend who couldn't make it out with us.

And a bottled water because, I'll say it again, it
was HOT! They had wood forks to help you eat
your cupcake. Might as well be neat.

Seeing as I was so full (feel free to scroll back up to the plate of fish tacos for a reminder of why), I took them home and refrigerated them.  The next day, I visited my friend and had taken them out to room temp before eating.  Mine was the one on the left - key lime.  With bits of lime zest in the cake and the icing.  Oh my, it was scrumptious!  I try to diversify my flavors when I get the chance, so I don't always order red velvet, and I was not disappointed.  My friend is a marshmallow fiend (borderline obsessed to be honest), so I got her chocolate marshmallow.  It had a core of the white fluff inside.

Don't bother to eat the fondant dot on top.
Yucko! For decoration only! (And for them to
mark the type of cupcake. It's code.)

I think we locals just assume that going into Georgetown means shelling out the big bucks.  Untrue!  Tacos were $9.95 (generous portion!) and the cupcake $3.50.  Not bad at all!  It's good to go on recommendations from friends and to see where you can go that is not super fancy.  The best food can be found in the craziest of places!