On one trip to celebrate turning in my thesis, I decided to go a little splurge-y and try five different flavors, though only one was an actual regular size. The rest?? the perfect little mini cupcakes - a great way to try a bunch of flavors without feeling your waistline expand with each bite. Especially good if you aren't sure if you'll like something and don't want to spend for the whole thing. I sadly didn't take any individuals for any of the Kara Cupcakes, so starting in the little container we have:
Raspberry (pink frosting on top) - While the cake was moist and the raspberry filling had good flavor, this is just not a good combination for me. I am learning quickly that I just am not a big fan of raspberry flavors, especially not the gel kind that makes up cupcake filling. If that's your thing, you may really enjoy this.
Passion fruit (below the Raspberry) - I really enjoyed this cupcake. Delicious vanilla cake.... then BAM - you’re hit with this passion fruit taste as you bite into the filling.
Going over into the Kara's Pink Box, you have:
Vanilla Chocolate (regular sized cupcake) - The base is wonderfully moist and flavorful... the frosting? it was a bit too sweet and rich for me. The chocolate flavor was also not quite right for me, though I’m not sure how to describe it (it could be chalked up to texture though as I don't like really dense frostings...)
Then, at the top you have a Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache, which tasted like eating a peanut butter cup almost. The peanut butter flavor was strong but not overpowering the chocolate.
Then finally you have the Kara's Karrot, which was SOOO not what I was expecting. I had ordered another banana caramel and, after a really rough day, I got home and wanted to enjoy my delicious little bite of joy only to find it was NOT what I ordered... Was moist, but since I’m not a fan of Karrot, I was more annoyed to have received this instead of a mini banana caramel like I ordered. C'est la vive....
My final trip to Kara's was bittersweet and a treat from a friend who was back in town for his thesis defense and graduation. Than got the gluten free cupcakes (I believe just the vanilla) and really enjoyed those (no flavor)... He also bought me a mini Sweet Vanilla which, after hearing my friend SR rave about the two times she had them... to put it into perspective, she bought a mini the first time and as we were driving home, she took a bite and began to rant about how she should have bought a large it was just THAT GOOD!!! Every time after that, when I'd bring her a cupcake or she'd go with to get her own, she'd get this huge smile on her face and was just sooo excited to have another one in her hands. With reviews like that, I just had to try it and I have to admit that, while I'm not overly crazy about vanilla, these were REALLY good. The cake (as is the trend with Kara’s and is why I love them so much) was super moist and flavorful... the vanilla frosting was just right and the little vanilla sprinkles on top just gave it a wonderful third level. I don’t think I could eat a large in this, but would be quite content to eat it again as a mini..
For the cupcakes pictured, the one on the left was a larger version of the Passion Fruit, which was just as good full sized... the only issue was I refrigerated it and the frosting ended up falling off the cake, which dried out a bit
The one on the right was a seasonal special for Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican Chocolate. I loved the cake and could definitely taste a hint of cinnamon in the chocolate ganache frosting, but again... that frosting just did not appeal to me since it is the same type as on the Vanilla Chocolate. It was again very thick and sweet... not what I want on top of my cupcake, though I’m sure it would appeal to others.
Finally, what was in fact the FIRST of these visits to Kara's was for my birthday... I went specifically to get the seasonal Bailey's cupcake, but as you can see from the picture, there was some issues with transit. A failed cupcake suicide if you will with the frosting falling off and making the cupcake a bit more difficult to eat. That being said, it was A-MAZING!! Moist chocolate cake, Bailey's cream frosting... I wish I had gotten a second of these and that they had traveled better. I would go back for one of these every chance I got if I could.
The other in the box is a Java cupcake. It sounded great in the store, the coffee scent was stronger than I expected. When I finally tried it, I was only able to try a bite or two before I just became overwhelmed and had to stop. If you like coffee flavor, this may be the cupcake for you.
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