What would a family date night be without cupcakes? Probably still fun, but cupcakes make everything better, right? When my husband and I heard that the shopping center where Snickerdoodles Bakery is located would be celebrating their anniversary and offering special deals from the tenants, including free cupcakes between 5pm and 7pm, we decided that it was time for a family date. It had been almost 8 months since we’d taken our daughter, Leah, out to dinner with us. We were still scarred by an attempt to have dinner out when she was 2 months old, which ended with my husband and I eating separately while we tried consoling our screaming baby in the kids’ play area of Chick-Fil-A. But, with her eating more “grown-up” foods and being on a solid sleep schedule, we thought a family date night was long overdue.
Baby in tow, we headed to Hampstead, MD. During dinner Leah behaved brilliantly. She smiled at the staff and other patrons, ate her food and ours, and chatted everyone up like she owned the place. We left with smiles on our faces because we were so proud of our daughter (and maybe, just a little, because it was cupcake time).
Prior to leaving for our family date, I saw on Facebook that Snickerdoodles had a margarita cupcake (for Cinco de Mayo) and Java Chip, a flavor I hadn’t tried before (which is hard to believe after the 12 or so flavors we’d already sampled). We picked up those two flavors, as well as our free Vanilla-Vanilla cupcakes.
(I couldn’t resist taking a peak at our selection on the way home. The free cupcakes were normal size, but one of the things we love about Snickerdoodles is their super-sized cupcakes!)
Vanilla-Vanilla
Snickerdoodle’s vanilla cupcake with vanilla American buttercream frosting is the perfect birthday cake cupcake. The sweet frosting took me back to birthdays growing up, and the moist cake packed ample vanilla flavor. I rarely purchase the classics because I’m so intrigued by fancy flavors, but this is one I’d go back for!
(Don’t be fooled by its unassuming looks. This cupcake was anything but ordinary!)
Margarita
Since this was a margarita cupcake, I was really hoping to taste the flavor of tequila…and I got it! There was plenty of tequila in the lime filling. It complemented the lime cake and whipped frosting, giving the true taste of a well mixed margarita (minus the salt). The green cake was also very festive for the occasion. My husband and I really wish this cupcake was a summer offering, but it was just for a limited time. However, Snickerdoodles does have a key lime flavor for the summer, which I was told is pretty much the same, without tequila in the filling.
(I wasn’t sure if they rimmed the cupcake in salt, but it was actually sugar.)
(Tequila lime filling…yum!)
Java Chip
Margaritas may be one of my favorite cocktails, but I love anything that is coffee flavored. Add chocolate and it’s a winning pair! However, the java was a little lost amidst the chocolate in this cupcake. While I did miss the coffee flavor I’d been looking forward to, it was easy to forget once you were submerged in decadent chocolate. The java chocolate chip cake was filled with chocolate ganache and topped with chocolate buttercream and chocolate covered espresso beans.
(My husband told me I should have eaten the chocolate covered espresso beans with the cupcake, but I opted not to, otherwise I’d be up all night!)
(I’m speechless. All I can think is, I want another one.)
Leah has been on many, many cupcake excursions with me, but this was the first one that occurred after 5pm, and it was a success. I have no doubt that she’ll become used to all family date nights ending with cupcakes!
- Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)
