They're real, and they're spectacular

It is hard work being in a long-distance relationship, what with Chet wanting to break up all the time, telling me about his dates with other girls, saying our relationship will only work if I send him lunch money, and then this conversation: "Today I had these Reese's Cupcakes. They were soooo good. Chocolate cupcakes with Reese's cups in the cupcake, plus peanut butter frosting and a Reese's cup on top. They were the best cupcakes I have EVER had! Have you mailed me the check for this month?"

The best cupcakes ever. What statement could be more insulting? My baking is pretty much the only thing I have going for me, and these cupcakes sounded a bit too perfect. Better than mine? I started quizzing Chet: Did the frosting have real butter, not shortening? How was the cake to frosting ratio? Yada yada yada. He identified Eleni's Rivington cupcake as the offender. I checked out the specs of the cupcake on their site, hence my own peanut butter cup cupcake trials last month.

Last weekend I got the opportunity to try out these cupcakes for myself. I went to the Chelsea Market - a great place for a foodie to find herself - which is home to multiple bakeries, eateries, and the Food Network offices. Everything in the Eleni's store was very cute. There is no photography allowed in the store; I assume that is a testament to the cutthroat competition between all the New York City bakeries.

There were so many cute cupcakes on display. I might have gone a little bit overboard by buying twelve cupcakes. I bought a couple of the Rivington (Reese's); and the George (Oreo), a "brownie cupcake with marshmallow and cookie crunch, topped with vanilla buttercream and an Oreo cookie;" and the German Chocolate; and the Peanut Butter & Jelly; and some of the Obama variety, which is chocolate, of course; plus a couple of chocolate with chocolate ganache variations. It was embarrassing to be in possession of that many cupcakes, but they looked so delicious that I wanted to try them all.


I guess I don't have to tell you again that these cupcakes were beautiful. I sat down and halved one of the cupcakes. My observations were that first of all, I was pretty sure it wasn't a Reese's cup on top of the cupcake. I am ashamed to admit that I'm somewhat of a Reese's expert. Sometimes I eat the things by the handful for dinner. Anyway, this pb cup was shorter and wider and the pb filling was softer and more golden. There was more than one pb cup inside the cupcake. The cupcake smelled buttery and chocolatey, had a perfect crumb, and was very moist. The frosting was perfectly proportioned and had great peanut butter flavor, wasn't too sweet and didn't taste like cream cheese. Eating half a cupcake and chasing it down with some milk was enough to make me feel completely satisfied.


That was the best cupcake I've ever eaten. I still have delusions of perfecting my own recipe and beating them at their 'A' game. Any volunteers to taste the samples? I like constructive criticism.