Having recently visited Heavenly Cupcakes in Kent Ohio and driving in circles in the Tremont area of Cleveland trying to find a place to eat as our target destination was closed, we passed A Cookie and A Cupcake maybe two or three times. In the car it was decided as we pulled into Fat Cats, we would forgo dessert and opt for some cupcakes instead. Even though we were stuffed with a great lunch we meandered back to the little shop and gazed through the glass at the little treats. Not being able to maintain any sense of self control we picked out half a dozen to take home and snack on for the next three days.
 

Serious Box of Goodies
 

From the case we chose the Grasshopper, a chocolate cake topped and filled with mint buttercream. The Salted Caramel is chocolate cake filled with liquid caramel and topped with caramel butter cream and Hawaiian black lava salt. The Lemon is a lemon cake filled with raspberry mousse and topped with vanilla buttercream. The Vanilla is filled with vanilla bean custard and topped with vanilla butter cream. The Strawberry is a vanilla cake filled with vanilla bean custard and fresh strawberries and then topped with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. The Signature consists of a chocolate cake filled with vanilla custard and then topped with a buttercream monster face eating a chocolate chip cookie.

All of the cakes were moist and none were overly sweet even with the fillings and frostings. The flavors were subtle and pleasant without being weak. My two favorites were the salted caramel, how can you not like salt and cooked sugar together, plus chocolate cake and the strawberry as the fresh berries inside were a bit of a surprise, a scrumptious one at that.

In the great scheme of things A Cookie and A Cupcake evidences what places like Heavenly Cupcakes just don't quite get, like innovation and balance. While I wouldn’t drive to Tremont for a cupcake, if I find myself in Cleveland I could easily find myself making a little detour to A Cookie and a Cupcake.

If there were any question as to the inventiveness of this crew we stopped back after dining at Sokolowski's University Inn and picked up a sampler of tiny cakes which contained the following varieties...so good.

Check Out the Innards, Fun Combinations
 

Notice the New Flavors in One Week?
 

• Hazelnut - Chocolate cake, hazelnut crunch, and hazelnut frosting

• Date - Brown sugar date cake, mascarpone mousse, pepper pecan crunch

• Passion Fruit - Chocolate cake, passion fruit custard

• Coconut - coconut cake, pineapple gastrique, line crème fraiche frosting

• Vanilla Bean - Madagascar vanilla bean cake, and vanilla frosting

• Ginger - chocolate cake, apricot center, ginger frosting

• Strawberry - Lemon cake, strawberry marmalade, balsamic frosting

• Salted - Chocolate cake, liquid caramel center, sea salt, caramel frosting

• Pistachio - Chocolate cake, orange marmalade, pistachio frosting

• Banana - Banana poppy seed cake, maple frosting

• Hot Chocolate - Orange Cinnamon chocolate cake, cinnamon chocolate frosting, marshmallow

• Blueberry - Blueberry financier cake, lemon curd frosting, candied violet