The best bakeries are happy places. How could they not be? People come to them when they are in celebratory moods, to order cakes or share some brownies and coffee. Even those who come in sad are there because they believe on some level the sugar will brighten their mood. How they feel afterwards depends on how much sugar they actually ingest.
Alex had a craving for cupcakes, and a little research sent us to Plainsboro, NJ, to a bakery in a small retail strip. Upon entering, the pink decor and happy staff were instantly welcoming. The store itself was clean and homey, and the baked goods arranged in the glass case were tempting. So much so that Alex returned to the car with a dozen cupcakes and a cinnamon roll for the two of us and Amaya. Fortunately, she had woken from her slumber, so we took the warm cinnamon roll and his coffee back inside and added a lemon peel + ginger Mash soda and eventually a brownie. We ate and drank, and Amaya happily wandered throughout, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
When we got home, we discovered that the strawberry cupcakes were made with strawberry cake and frosting, which made us wonder why more places don’t flavor their cakes. Their frosting was not as heavy as it looked, which was a good thing. The buttercream had the flavor of real butter, and the chocolate-frosted white cupcake was pretty darned edible. They were hands down the best cupcakes we’ve eaten in quite a while. The strawberry ones actually have us thinking about the perfect banana cupcake. Would the frosting be chocolate, caramel, or peanut butter? In the meantime, we’ve found a new bakery relatively close to our favorite Whole Foods and that is a very good thing.
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