I'm obsessed with cupcakes.
In fact, for my birthday this year, I did not want cake - I wanted cupcakes from Oakmont Bakery. I love the individuality of the cupcake, the portion control (not that cupcakes are all that good for you in the first place, but it's a good compromise), the variety - and I didn't want to hear any whining about the cake or frosting flavor that I chose.
Before James and I visited Tamari, we passed Dozen Bake Shop, which is a few doors down from Tamari. I have followed Dozen on Twitter since I began blogging, mostly because of all of the attention that they were getting at the time due to the fact that they were closing on July 9th. As a result, I discovered on Boring Pittsburgh that they had posted two recipes from the store - one for Elvis cupcakes (cupcakes with peanut butter, banana, and bacon), and another for vegan cupcakes.
A few days later, I was bored. And I happened to have all of the ingredients for vegan cupcakes (minus coconut, which I don't even like, so I replaced it with almonds). And I baked. And you know what? They were delicious, according to me and everyone with whom I shared them in the main office at Kennywood (including one from the corporate office). *Sigh* What a shame.
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| Vegan cupcakes I made over the summer from Dozen's recipe |
Despite the disappointment, this is what got me to be ✔ *Burgh Verified*.
But wait! About a month later, it was announced that Dozen would be REOPENING under new ownership on September 12th! HOORAY! Exciting news! Maybe I WOULD be able to try more of their cupcakes!
James did not want to stop in Dozen before going to Tamari, as we would be tempted to buy cupcakes, which we really didn't NEED...
...ugh, he was right. I guess.
Luckily, I convinced my mom to stop in Lawrenceville 3 days later after we visited Handmade Arcade at the convention center. Not only that, I was hungry and convinced her to eat lunch there.
I love the décor & pastry displays inside...
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| Chalkboard menu |
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| The chandeliers are AWESOME! |
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| Doggie cupcakes! My mom bought some for my aunt, uncle, and cousin's dog |
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| *drool* |
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| *double drool* |
My mom and I decided to try the Pick Two - we wanted the Fresco & Mozzarella on Ciabatta, but they were out, so I chose the Smoked Turkey & Cheddar with Bacon, while my mom chose the Ham & Cheese on Baguette. We both chose the Pumpkin Soup.
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| Smoked Turkey & Cheddar on Sundried Tomato Bread, Pumpkin Soup, chips (didn't eat those at the time) |
Wow. I make pumpkin chili, and I love anything with pumpkin (as you may know from previous posts), but nothing - NOTHING - beats this pumpkin soup. Creamy, savory, perfectly spiced. Love love love!
My sandwich was better than anything I could make at home, and the bread was especially fresh and delicious - it was a sundried tomato bread, which was not overpowering of the smoked turkey flavor at all (yay for smoked meats!) I wasn't too impressed with the cheddar, but it was definitely a better option than my go-to cheese at home - Fat-free Kraft Singles (not even real cheese - it looks like plastic when it melts!) My mom was also quite impressed with the soup, and she enjoyed her sandwich immensely.
So when James found out where I was - can you guess what he asked?
[In my best Dora the Explorer voice] Can you?
He's lucky I like him...and that I really wanted a good excuse to get cupcakes.
My mom figured we'd just get a 1/2 dozen - 1 for me, 1 for James, and 4 for her to take home to my dad, brother, and grandparents...
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| Clockwise from top left: Pumpkin Chai, Chocolate Maple & Bacon (mine), Milk Chocolate, Vanilla Vanilla (for James), Vanilla Vanilla (again), Vegan Mostess |
As soon as we got back to my house, James and I tried our cupcakes. I have heard through various websites, tweets, and word-of-mouth comments that the cupcakes at Dozen are dry, but I beg to differ. My cupcake wasn't the most moist cupcake that I've ever had, but it definitely wasn't dry. James didn't seem to think so, either, nor have I heard that complaint from my family members.
Now I have two excuses to visit Lawrenceville more often - Tamari and Dozen Bake Shop (for cupcakes AND lunch!)
Dozen Bake Shop
3511 Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15201 (Lawrenceville)
417 S. Craig St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (Oakland - Cupcakes only, no cafe)
Website: http://www.dozenbakeshop.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/dozenbakeshop
Love the new Dozen! The old cupcakes were dry, but the new owner said she heard the comments and tweaked the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing as Susan - the new owner tweaked the cupcake recipe. They used to be dry, or just dried out quickly. I'd like to try them now to see how they compare. Plus, pumpkin chai sounds pretty darn good!
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