Sweets

I don’t venture out of my neighborhood of Inman Park to often, but the other day I was in Oakhurst, a neighborhood in nearby Decatur, and I went to Sugar Moon Bake Shop. If you know me you know I have a huge sweet tooth, but that I’m picky about my sweets. I like sugar to play a role but not be the star. Sugar should be used thoughtfully. This is a tricky balance for bakers. It’s even harder when you’re making caramel cake. Caramel is, after all, sugar, butter, and cream. Sugar Moon had a full caramel cake that hadn’t been cut, it’s one of my favorite cakes. I ordered a slice and also bought two cupcakes. Sugar Moon is all about cupcakes. They make over 30 varieties. (yes I know cupcakes are over and yet people still want and love them…moving on) The cupcakes I’ll go into later, right now it’s all about the caramel cake. I love cake. Anyone who doesn’t love cake is untrustworthy in my opinion. I also don’t want just any cake. It has to be moist and the frosting can’t be too sweet. I also hate art cakes. Cakes should look like a cake, not a dragon or bookshelf. Anyway, I digress. I took my bounty home and like any good blogger, I photographed it as artfully as my skillset allows and then dug in. I wasn’t disappointed. It was delicious. The caramel frosting stands up and is sugary without showing off. It’s soft, yet thick and chips off the cake. Underneath all that delicious caramel frosting is the cake. It’s yellow cake that’s uber moist and delicious. I am pleased and go in for another bite and another until the cake plate is clean. There is a piece of frosting that’s left behind and I greedily pick it up and pop it in my mouth. I didn’t intend on eating the whole slice but once I started I couldn’t stop myself. I’ll have those cupcakes I bought for breakfast.

Mmmm

Now about those cupcakes. They had several flavors, banana pudding, carrot, peanut butter cup, cookies and creme. But, I’m a simple girl. I went for birthday cake, which is yellow cake with buttercream icing and a salted chocolate caramel, salted caramel cake with chocolate icing. I woke up this morning and walked into the kitchen, ready for my hard task of cupcake tasting. I first thought that maybe I should have breakfast and have it for a mid-morning snack, but cupcake, so I ate it anyway. I’m very decisive in the morning. Everyone has a different way of eating cupcakes. Some bite the whole thing, while others scoop off some of the frosting, expecting it to be too sweet. I cut the cupcake in half horizontally creating two cupcakes and take half of the frosting off the top and divide it between the two. I’m a sucker for an equal frosting to cake ratio. Again, I was not disappointed. It had a vintage flavor that reminded me of being little. It was like biting into the best birthday cake of your childhood. It was exactly what I remember birthday cake tasting like. The frosting was a tad bit too sweet, but in a good way. I did some work and ate the salted caramel chocolate for my snack. This time I left the cupcake intact and just took a bite. What can I say? I was feeling crazy! The icing was dark chocolate and tasted like the best canned frosting you’ve ever had. Like frosting that, when you were little, you want to lock yourself in the bathroom with and eat with a spoon right out of the tub. It was shiny and creamy and chocolatey. The cake was moist and caramelly but the flavor didn’t stand up against the frosting. I still loved it and would buy it again. Next time I’m in Oakhurst I’ll have to go back to Sugar Moon Bake Shop and try something else, unless they have a caramel cake. Then I’m getting another slice!