Cupcake Capers

Key Lime Cupcake

Italian Coffee

Write-up in the San Mateo Times

Key Lime Sauce in the center

Cute bicycle owned by my partner in crime

Yesterday evening, Jess and I went to Vanilla Moon Bakery for our new joint project of taste-testing cupcakes once a week. To our dismay, it was closed! (Well they have to get rest sometime don't they). Our dismay was short-lived, as we quickly thought of a plan to go the next morning. Yes, they open bright and early and this would be perfect. Cupcakes for breakfast!

So there we are this morning at 8am, peering through the glass cases and wondering what would be appropriate for breakfast. Of course they have cinnamon buns and freshly baked scones, but we do need to taste cupcakes. The chocolate looked a little heavy, and I had the vanilla last week, so a Key Lime Cupcake it was ~ for both of us it turns out.

It smelled heavenly. I touched the meringue frosting to my lips and it was so soft. I took a bite. Oh did I pick a good one! The cupcake was similar to vanilla but had the essence of key lime zest throughout. The frosting was light and creamy. Then I hear an excited voice from my partner in crime. She has discovered gold in the center. I took one more bite to discover that it's key lime sauce, which has the feel of custard but a very distinct key lime flavor. As we ooh and ahh to the Perego family about this creation (I think they might like us), we hear about the story of their delicious coffee.

It's Doge Rosso coffee, imported directly from Italy. We learned there is a Caffé del Doge in Palo Alto, but it is very rare to find as the company is very strict about who sells their coffee. As Christie Perego is charming and speaks Italian, she was able to convince the company to let her sell their Doge Rosso coffee in her cupcakery. A representative came over to make sure she had the right equipment and spent hours teaching them all how to make it, so it was represented perfectly. Well they did a darned fine job because it is absolutely delicious.

Jess cheerfully rode off on her bicycle to write her review, and I went to work, happily knowing that I was probably the only person in my office who had cupcakes for breakfast. Until next week's capers...