I decided to put my post about finding locally made cupcakes into action. You can read the post here. I chose three places to try: Dazzle Cupcakes, My Brigadeiro, and Sweet Creations.
Dazzle Cupcakes
The Store:
Dazzle Cupcakes in Lebanon, NH has its own little parking lot, so finding parking was easy. I went in and it smelled wonderful. She was just frosting some chocolate cherry cupcakes when I arrived. Inside the store you can buy party favors like specialty cupcake candles and kitchen items like aprons for kids and cute teapots.
The Cupcake Flavors:
On display was a selection of about five or six cupcake flavors: strawberry frosting with a vanilla cake, a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, a red velvet cupcake, a traditional vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting and rainbow nonpareils and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting and cookie crumbs and a piece of oreo on top. The best part is that the flavors rotate, which keeps you coming back for more. You can see their daily flavors here. It was a tough choice. The vanilla cupcake with strawberry frosting and a slice of strawberry on top looked amazing, but I am a chocolate girl, so I decided for my first cupcake outing to stick with chocolate. I chose two for my husband and I to share: cherry chocolate and cookies and cream.
The Tasting:
The cupcakes looked amazing. I didn’t want to eat them. Both cupcakes had a wonderful creamy and fluffy frosting. It was light, airy, and not too sweet. We both liked the cookies and cream cupcake the best out of the two. It had a nice chocolate cake flavor and texture and the frosting had a nice soft flavor to complement the cake. We liked the flavor concept of the cherry chocolate but found the cherry a bit strong for our tastes. I loved the cherry on top though. There are so many other flavors I’d like to try so I look forward to going back. I’d like to try the lemon, raspberry cheesecake, organic strawberry vanilla, and the salted caramel are next on my list.
My Brigadeiro
The Store
My Brigadeiro is in the same building as Citizen’s Bank, across from Molly’s in Hanover. There are stairs outside on your left and there’s the store. I love that when you walk out after your visit there are pictures of chocolates on the stair panels. Fun! The store is cozy. There’s a long glass counter filled with chocolates and a nice seating area to enjoy chocolates and specialty drinks, or other tasty desserts.
The Chocolates and Cupcakes:
She recommended the raspberry lime, which definitely sounded appealing, but I had already bought the chocolates and the salted caramel was calling my name. You can learn more about their chocolate flavors here.
The Tasting:
The chocolate cupcake was moist and had a soft texture. I really thought the milk chocolate filling was a nice addition. The frosting was light, airy, and perfectly sweetened, just like Dazzle Cupcakes. It’s hard to get the balance of sweet and salty just right and I think she did that. I was expecting more of a caramel flavor, but it was still a lovely cupcake.
Later, my husband and I tried the chocolates. All the flavors were excellent. The crème brulee was my favorite. It tasted like a smooth caramel with a hint of a buttery flavor. My husband’s favorite was the peanut butter brigadeiro. We both loved the flavor of the dark chocolate cherry, called cherry valentine. The dusting of cocoa was a bit much for our tastes. but the filling made it worth it! The crunch brigadeiro was fun to eat with the little white chocolate and chocolate rice balls on top. I wouldn’t call it a traditional chocolate in the middle. It had more of a fudgy caramel type center and not a strong chocolate flavor in the ones I tried (which you can see in the picture of the cupcake filling – that’s the filling in the chocolates). I’m not sure if that’s the case in all of them because people comment on the great chocolate flavor in the reviews, but I didn’t care because it was great! So if you go in with an open mind you won’t be disappointed! They receive rave reviews online too.
Simply Sweet Creations
The Store:
Simply Sweet Creation’s bright pink store front welcomes you on Pleasant Street in Claremont. Once you enter there are plenty of sweets to enjoy like cupcakes and fudge. Enjoy some coffee with your sweet as you sit on their patio or inside at one of their cozy tables.
The Flavors:
They had vanilla and chocolate cupcakes when I was there. Two had vanilla frosting and another had chocolate. The one that stood out to me was the dirt cupcake.
The Tasting:
I enjoyed the chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, but I especially loved the Oreo crumbs and gummy worm topping. The frosting was sweeter than the other dessert shops, but I didn’t mind because it was tasty. I also thought the cake part of the cupcake was well done with a nice moist and fluffy texture.
I think I’ll be trying the cupcake store Short and Sweet in Windsor and Pleasant St. Sweets in New London next.
What’s your favorite cupcake or dessert store? Have a favorite dessert?
