A Cupcake for Cupcake Day

The past three years on National Cupcake Day (December 15, today!), I've had some failed attempts at trying to bake cupcakes. And last year, I avoided the problem by not baking or eating any cupcakes. Well, today, I tried again and only found mediocre results.

Yesterday I went to a local famous European bakery to do some research on the black and white cookie (more on that in the future). Alessi Bakery has been a Tampa Bay staple for over 100 years. On a busy Sunday afternoon, I could really feel the love for this bakery after witnessing crowds of people grabbing seasonal and traditional baked goods. (I even saw a real live fruitcake on display).

located at: 2909 W Cypress Street, West Tampa, Tampa, Florida

With my black and white cookie in tow, I decided I couldn't leave the bakery without a cupcake as well. There were about 5 flavors available yesterday at $2.49 each and I decided to order a plain chocolate cupcake adorned with Christmas-shaped pretzels.

After a busy day, I completely forgot to sample the cupcake and so it greeted me this morning on Cupcake Day, which was so fitting. The cupcake was a triple chocolate attack: chocolate cake, chocolate ganache topped with chocolate frosting. If the pretzels were chocolate covered, it would have been a chocolate overload!

The cupcake was moist but a little to sweet for me. Even after the pretzels helped scrape off most of the frosting, it was still too sweet. Overall flavor was ok but I found myself grabbing the delicious cookie instead.

Regardless of still not sampling a delicious cupcake on National Cupcake Day, I'll enjoy my day thinking about all the great ones I've had over the years.

Happy Cupcake Day!