By Lynne Thrope
SAN DIEGO–I love it when I’m asked to participate in a blind taste test. I entered into one yesterday in preparation for my Passover seder. The contestants, this day, were Kosher-for-Passover cupcakes. Here’s how it went.
First, there’s the smelling ritual. Much better with eyes closed. Then, it’s on to a speck of topping on the tongue. Let it settle on the palate. Deciphering the first hint of chocolate charges the senses. Is it milk? Is it dark? Is it raw? Next, the cupcake’s body requiring a BITE for full taste. Teeth engaged. Lips, full on. Here’s where moistness is gauged and ingredients are measured for balance. No one ingredient should upstage another. Swirl. Swallow. Wait.
Then the winner is decided. Without hesitation, the winner was most decidedly the one made by Candace Nelson, Founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes ; its moist sumptuous dark chocolate taste still lingers in my mouth a day later. Yum!
Sprinkles Cupcakes is the new kid on the block at the Shops in La Jolla Village by Whole Foods. Accessible from anywhere, its clean fresh chocolate-scented décor welcomes you into your grandmother’s pantry as well as a time gone by. Just as she used only the finest ingredients, so does Candace. Her cupcakes are made with Callebaut cocoa and Nielsen-Massey vanilla. The variety of cupcakes is astounding! But, the ones that first caught my eye were the vegan and gluten-free red velvets. Who, these days, doesn’t have a friend or family member who is conscious of his diet? Bravo, Sprinkles Cupcakes, for your inclusiveness and sensitivity. And now Kosher-for-Passover cupcakes, too! After sampling one yesterday, it’s all I will order. Ok. So maybe I’d order the ginger lemon, too, or the mocha, or the peanut butter chip. At $3.50 each I’d order a dozen. Maybe a cupcake from Sprinkles is incentive for the kids to choose to remain at the table for a sprinkle of dessert?…B’Tayavon.
Sprinkles Cupcakes La Jolla
8855 la Jolla Village Drive
Open Monday – Saturday 9 – 7,
Sunday 10 – 6
858. 457.3800
Order online at www.sprinkles.com