Sweet Indulgence at Cupcakes Gourmet

The shop was exquisite—immaculately clean and upscale like a Parisian chocolate shop, yet welcoming with warm, earth-colored walls and outdoor tables. All the cupcakes ($3.25 each or $36 per dozen) and mini cupcakes ($2 each or $24 per dozen) are made from scratch on the premises. Natural, high-quality ingredients like Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, Belgian Dark Chocolate, Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil and organic milk are used exclusively.

Jars holding colored sugars, mini chocolate chips and other decorative toppings were displayed behind the counter. A friendly server asked what we might like. Overwhelmed by so many tempting options, we decided to try one of each of the minis after she reassured us that all of the flavors were available in either size cake. We asked for them to be packaged to go although there is a small table inside and several on the covered patio. She carefully packaged our selection in clear plastic containers specially designed for the mini cupcakes and wrapped them with a chocolate brown-and-pink label.

Each little work of art had its own unique look. Some had piped frosting while others were coated with ganache. Various colors of sugar crystals or a mini chocolate chip were used to further individualize the cakes and give a hint of its flavor combination. We approached the tasting like that of fine wines and moved from the lightest to the darkest, so we would not overwhelm our taste buds with a rich dark chocolate before a light lemon white cake.

The Classic Vanilla with piped vanilla butter cream frosting and green and purple sugar would make a show stealing wedding cake. Wonderful flavor from the Madagascar Bourbon vanilla graced both the light, moist cake and the rich, but not cloyingly sweet frosting.

Lovely Lemon had a hint of citrus flavor in both layers of sweetness. Red Velvet Cake was the classic Southern version of red brown cake with just a hint of the cream cheese in the frosting, topped with red sugar crystals. Pink Lemonade is a seasonal flavor that hits the mark. The pink lemonade flavor of the frosting would be a hit with kids of any age. Cinnamon Bun is available on Mondays as part of the daily offerings. Cinnamon in both the yellow cake and the sweet cream cheese frosting gave specks of color and flavor to this mini topped with cinnamon sugar.

Chocolate Vanilla would be great for an adult’s birthday cake. The rich but still mellow milk chocolate cake is reminiscent of those homemade cakes served at family picnics from years past. Vanilla butter cream is topped with round mini balls. The Milk Chocolate, topped with milk chocolate butter cream frosting and chocolate mini balls, would make an equally good choice for an upscale party cake.

Peanut Butter—another daily special—was a good blend of chocolate cake and peanut butter infused butter cream with a mini chocolate chip on top.

Just to raise the bar higher, a Ganache line gives each cake a dip in Belgian white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark chocolate ganache.

White Chocolate Vanilla is for those who favor the sweet creamy white chocolate. We prefer the Black and White’s vanilla cake with dark chocolate ganache. For those who want more chocolate flavor, the Dark Chocolate Vanilla includes a layer of vanilla butter cream between dark chocolate cake and ganache. On the intensity scale, the Double Dark Chocolate tops dark chocolate cake with ganache. For the ultimate chocolate lover, Triple Chocolate adds a layer of milk chocolate butter cream between the cake and ganache of the Double Chocolate. We also tried the daily flavor of Dark Chocolate Mint with mint flavored butter cream between dark chocolate cake and ganache.

With daily and seasonal special flavors, the mini cupcakes at Cupcakes Gourmet provide decadent three-bite treats for your sweet tooth.

Nobb Hill Shoppes, 288 Lancaster Avenue, Malvern

Telephone: 484-318-8057

Website: cupcakesgourmet.com

Hours: Mon - Sat, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; closed Sun

Cost: Minis $12 half dozen; regular $3.25 each or $36 dozen

Credit cards: VISA, MasterCard

Special Features: Gluten-free available with pre-order, natural, organic ingredients