Main Street Cupcakes Hudson, Ohio Date of Visit: 01/14/12 http://www.mainstreetcupcakes.com/ Many moons ago one of our culinary
cohort hand delivered a cupcake to me in class just as the tiny cake
craze was moving into the Midwest. I remember it fondly. It was a
French Toast Cupcake with a Cream Cheese Icing and Bacon. Was
Fabulous. I have been waiting to sample some of their other
concoctions and a couple years later we arrive in Hudson for the
second weekend in a row. The website highlights well over a hundred
flavors, a few of which they have available each day. I also found
we could order by phone since they do have regular sell-out days, so
I ordered a dozen, nearly one of each available for the day. |
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The shop is in a quaint
little building which was closed when we arrived since they close
when the cases are empty. Good thing we had called and our little
treats were waiting for us at the toy store next door. We had a huge
dinner and decided to save them for a four person tasting the next
day. Each was cut into eighths so we could directly compare them to
each other. While there was some difference in opinion in most cases
we felt the same way about each confection.
Below I will include the 12 from my
least favorite to my most and will include the description their
website gives for each cupcake. They look pretty good in the box;
don't they? Some of us had difficulty with the thickness of the
frostings (they are thick) etc. but this will focus more on the
flavor of each offering more than anything else.
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Red Velvet
Southern style red velvet cake smothered in white buttercream frosting. When we first tried this one and everyone remarked how dry it was. I excused it thinking we had held all dozen for a day instead of trying them fresh. Once we started tasting others it was obvious this one was way dry by comparison. Not only was it dry but it was, well, boring. Strawberry Daquiri This one had the most negative visceral
reaction from our group and it appeared it had a lot to do with the
amount of rum flavor which left room for nothing else, especially
strawberries. Pretty. No Payoff. |
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Pink Champagne & Strawberries
Couldn't find a sense of champagne anywhere. There was so little of it that we kept going back to the list to try to find out what other type it might be. Disappointing. Half Baked Not Bad. Nothing
outstanding. The chocolate chips were nice. |
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You Must Be Chipping Me
Had more chocolate by description than the Hot Cocoa but didn't taste anywhere near as chocolatey. French Vanilla Good Solid Cupcake. Vanilla. |
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Chocolate Peanut Butter
Excellent marrying of peanut butter and chocolate flavor. Peanut butter is seldom the first thing I go for in desserts. Would definitely order these again and again. Hot Cocoa
Chocolate punch in the
face, rich and dark. Great. |
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Pink Lemonade Exactly as advertised without that astringent thing pink lemonade does to your throat making you more thirsty. Really nice and bright balance of flavors. Cinnamon Roll Faulty people don't like cinnamon and oozy tangy cream cheesiness. Nothing wrong with this combo at all. |
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Caramel Covered Apple
What a great seasonal option. Stupendous with little bites of apple and the cinnamon and caramel notes. Lavish Lemon Love Lemon. Loved the Cupcake or else the Apple would have been #1. Perfect balance of tart and sweet with a serious does of citrus. Do they make whole cakes like this??? |
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Whoa! Lemony Goodness! |
Leftovers...for Later...At Least Some of Them |
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Main Street Cupcakes does a pretty nice job but I have to admit that at the end of the adventure I was way less dazzled than I had hoped to be. Our trip to A Cookie and a Cupcake found much more inventive, varied and tasty treats. There were some good options at Main Street but they were all tried and true combinations of textures and flavors. New is not always better but when you pull it off like some you have the most excellent surprises and feel less like the box held a great deal of filler. If back in Hudson and looking for a sweet bite I would definitely return to Main Street for a cupcake but I wouldn't take a box home with me. Maybe next time they will have some of the other hundred that might be more fun to try. Til then I'll stick to lemon...or caramel and apples...or cinnamon roll.... |
Evidence |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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C+ | B | ? | B | D | C+ | ||
Couple of Great Combos | Some Preschool Moms Bringing Same if Not Better for Snack |