Cupcake Quest: Dulce Cupcakery

The Cupcake Quest continues yet again. I recently discovered Dulce Cupcakery, based here in the Coachella Valley. They are quickly becoming a popular provider of positively palatable cupcakes. (Dulce is the Spanish word for sweet, and is pronounced "dool-say"). In this photo above left, is a variety of mini-cupcakes, they are packaged so nicely here in this box, don't you think? I placed the box on the passenger seat as I drove home. As I stopped at one of the traffic lights on the way home I reached over, picked up the box of Dulce cupcakes and stared though the window pane. My mind ran away for a moment as I dreamed about their flavor...HONK!! HONK!! blared the car from behind. The light had turned green. I carefully placed the box down again and continued driving. I could hardly wait to get home and dig in. Using my hand-free heads set, I called home and reported that I had the cupcakes in my possession. "Don't eat any before you get home" John scolded me. I told him there was no way I would do that anyway, as I still had to take photos of them for the blog. Welcome to my world of nonsense. Anyway, here are a few close-ups of these wonderful mini-cupcakes from Dulce:

above: As soon as I got home I put a few on a serving plate so I could savor them. They all looked delicious. I first had one of the chocolate ones, which was quite good.

above: then I had a "Dulce Corazon" which was a vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling and butter cream frosting. It was really delicious, especially considering I am a chocolate fiend.

above: I went to the Dulce website to look around. Check out this Mermaid Cupcake they have on their website, now doesn't that look fun? As always, this is not a paid post, but I should thank Loretta from Dulce for letting me taste her delicious cupcakes. It was hard to decide which ones I liked best. If you live in the Southern California, particularly the Palm Springs area, Los Angeles or San Diego, Loretta told me she can deliver her delectable cupcakes to your home or event. I was so impressed with the variety of cupcakes Dulce makes, I went to their website and copied their menu so I could share it with you. Call Loretta if you live locally and want to order some. All photos and descriptions below are from the Dulce website:
Dulce Cupcakery Menu:

cupcake traditionales:

• la crema -vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting

• muy chocolat! -chocolate cake with lots of chocolate chips & buttercream frosting

• el coco-nut -coconut cupcake with coconut buttercream frosting topped with coconut flakes

• citron - orange cupcake with cream cheese frosting topped with white chocolate

• chocolate pretzel – a little salt & sweet twist on a chocolate cake

• polka dots – this cupcake has both chocolate and vanilla chips!

• dulce’s red velvet –we don’t want to be like everybody else, so we add chocolate chips to our red velvet! Just want to make sure these are extra rich!

cupcake especiales:

• the maya -chocolate and chipotle - sweet and spicy! dulce’s signature cupcake!

• el bon bon - chocolate cupcake filled with a creamy chocolate center, topped with buttercream frosting

• cola & chip – cupcakes for a movie night in! Real coca cola baked right into the cake and topped with a chocolate covered potato chip!

• dulce corazon - chocolate or vanilla cupcake filled with a cherry or rasberry center & buttercream frosting

• pb no j -yes, that would stand for peanut butter - no jelly :-) (unless you reeeeeally want it, we can add it just for you!). topped with peanut butter buttercream!

• chocolate orange -chocolate cake, mini chocolate chips and and an orange stick smack dab in the center. orange butter cream topped with an orange stick chunk - (are you kidding me?!!!) we would never kid you about chocolate! It is the bomb!!

• the bada bing – rich chocolate cake with a bing chocolate covered cherry on in the center and on top!

• moon pie - this one is oooey, gooey and oh so good! Chocolate cupcake, marshmallow in the center, covered in more chocolate and topped with more mini marshmallows, a moon pie!

• whopper crunch - bite into this cupcake and crunch right into that ol' candy favorite, a whopper! It’s in the center and on top too!

• banana cream pie – heavenly! banana flavor galore and topped with a chocolate covered banana chip!

• the betsy (as in ross!) – simple and sweet; white cake, chocolate dipped blueberry and strawberry slice on top. dulce’s red, white & blue! this sweet thing is seasonal~

the breakfast collection:

• coffee espresso - perfect for breakfast! coffee and chocolate baked together and topped with a chocolate espresso bean!

• captain crunch -remember that?!! captain crunch with crunchberries! a saturday morning cereal type of cupcake.

• bacon & chocolate -if you luv salt & sweet, this is your cupcake! rich chocolate cupcake baked with bacon bits and topped with a nice bite size bacon piece that has been dipped in chocolate on one side. Makes my mouth water!

SUPER especiales:

• cupcake sandwiches "a cupwich" - yes that's right, a sandwich! pick a flavor of cake and we shmear the center with buttercream filling and dip it in chocolate - yyyyyyum!
• cupcake pops, "popcakes" -the dessert on a stick! mini's made into a pop or "paletas" in spanish, dipped in chocolate! A HUGE hit with the kids :-)

Cupcake Quest: Joans on Third

You may recall a prior post about some cupcakes from Starbucks that disappointed me- or should I say fell short of my expectations. I've now embarked on what I am calling the Cupcake Quest, a search for the best cupcakes. Like my friend Bee, I love cake. In my case, cupcakes are the subject of my fascination. It goes back to childhood when I used to buy those Hostess chocolate cupcakes with the white swirls on the top that sort of looked like the cursive letter "e" written multiple times. In fact I always called them "e's" instead of Hostess Cupcakes. Well anyway the point is that was where my love affair began with cupcakes. As I matured I discovered that wholesome, home-made baked goods were better than mass-produced junk with artificial ingredients, and suddenly those e's didn't taste good anymore. Add to that the growing popularity of "gourmet cupcakes" in many cities, and voila! my interest in finding delicious cupcakes was intensified. A few years back I was in Los Angeles and discovered a wonderful little bakery/cafe/deli restaurant called Joan's on Third. I saw their bakery case of cupcakes and decided I must have found Heaven on Earth. Being a chocolate fiend, I sampled the varieties with chocolate anything. They have always been on my mind, so whenever I have the opportunity I go back and treat myself. This one in the photo above top left is called "Cloud". It is dreamy.

above: I tore into the "Cloud" cupcake and remembered to take this photo to show you what was inside the pointy swirl, resting on top of the rich chocolate cupcake. The white stuff is an delicious marshmallow egg-white fluffy something or other. It is incredible!

above: I decided I needed to buy some to take home. Here is the bunch I bought. Mind you, they make lots of other flavors, but if it isn't chocolate I'm not interested.

above: another view of the pedestal cake dish I have at home. It enables me to "worship" them and drool while I decide which one to enjoy next. From this perspective you can see that the one with the white vanilla buttercream frosting is actually a chocolate cake, so it meets my chocolate criteria. So I'd say that Joan's cupcakes do meet my Cupcake Quest quality standard, but the true Quest goes on...I shall continue to seek out the best cupcakes and feature them here. As a reminder, this is not a paid post, just me writing about what I love...
-Rick Rockhill