The Chocolate Tarte, Somerville

Almost a year ago, my blogging friend Rachel of Fork It Over, Boston!, in the middle of a quest for the best cupcakes in Boston, declared that she had found a winner (of course, that wasn't going to stop her from continuing on her quest). Her praise for The Chocolate Tarte in Somerville seemed too good to be true. Because, frankly, I've had a lot of bad cupcakes and some good cupcakes, but none that left me talking about them for days.

So when Linda of The Chocolate Tarte invited a few bloggers to her shop to try her wares, I was ready to see if her cupcakes could possibly live up to the hype. I walked into the store and immediately had delicious chocolates thrust into my hands. Pistachio white chocolate? Yes! Raspberry Anise? Of course! Tequila? Don't mind if I do! We were all so distracted by these little gems that I almost forgot there were cupcakes to be had.

Linda had lined up a whole bunch of vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet mini cupcakes, and I jumped for the chocolate. I couldn't have been more surprised to find the moistest mini cupcake I'd ever tasted. Anyone who bakes knows that it's tough to keep miniature versions of pastries as tasty as the full-sized thing, so this tiny little piece of cake was a revelation. The frosting on top was light and creamy, like whipped cream with a bit of Fluff thrown in for good measure.

There was also a whole red velvet cake that we went at like wolves, and it was as perfect as the cupcakes were. The Chocolate Tarte does beautiful cakes to order, and I know where I'm going the next time I need a tasty birthday treat.

Of course, there's more to The Chocolate Tarte than just cupcakes. As the name implies, tarts (chocolate and not so chocolate) are a specialty. We tried mini chocolate rosemary tarts (above) which were just fantastic. The rosemary was very subtle, and the chocolate filling was creamy and smooth. If I had to pick a favorite dessert of the night, it would probably be these tarts. There were also fudgy brownies that were so dense, you only needed a few bites to be sated.

So while I didn't believe Rachel when she said these cupcakes were THAT good, I do now. Don't believe me either? Head out to The Chocolate Tarte in Somerville yourself and tell me I'm wrong.

Full Disclosure note: The pastries were provided for free by The Chocolate Tarte. But I wouldn't write about them if I didn't like them.

Cape Cod Roundup

Besides our amazing dinner at Blue Moon Bistro, we managed to explore a little more of the Cape on our vacation. Some of the highlights:

Cupcakes from Cupcake Charlie's in Mashpee - While doing a little browsing at Mashpee Commons (my favorite store there is Maiden Voyage, which sells all sorts of mermaid themed items), we picked up a few cupcakes to eat later in the day. We picked the Chocolate Mint Madness (chocolate cake with mint buttercream) and the Orange Dreamsicle (orange zest cake with orange buttercream). The buttercream frosting is damn near perfect - creamy and smooth without being too buttery or too sweet. The orange zest cake was also excellent - moist, not too crumbly, and with plenty of orange flavor. The chocolate cake was a bit off to me - it had that weird aftertaste you get from too much baking powder or soda. But that orange cupcake - just heavenly.


Pain d'Avignon in Hyannis - We found Pain d'Avignon last year while exploring and have been waiting all winter to get back. It's a bit out of the way - you have to look for a sign that says "bakery" but doesn't have the shop's name - but so worth looking for. Since we went last year, the space has expanded from a storefront with a few tables to a much larger space with plenty of room to sit. We shared a turkey and brie sandwich and a croque monsieur, then a lemon tart with strawberries. But the real winner at Pain d'Avignon is their bread. They make some of the best bread around, stuff so good that it reminds me of Paris.


Pizza at Mezza in Falmouth - My parents had eaten at Mezza for dinner one night and enjoyed it, but they wanted to try the pizza sometime. So we stopped in for lunch on a weekday and were practically the only people there. I hope business picks up for this new restaurant because it has a unique concept (Armenian-Italian) and very tasty food. The baba ganoush ("Barber Ganoush" on the menu because the owners' last name is Barber) was delicious - different than typical because of goat cheese added to the mix. And while this picture of the pizza (Mezza Mix - mixed veggies with goat cheese and mozzarella) is pretty hideous, the pizza itself was fantastic. The crust was super thin and cracker-crispy, and the toppings were spread out evenly - a must with such a thin crust. Oh, and the pizza was HUGE - one was plenty for the three of us. I'd love to try more of their pizzas - guess I'll just have to visit again!

Girl Scout Cookie Creations 2010

As I mentioned last year, I am a Girl Scout. Like, still a Girl Scout. Like, a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. So when Girl Scout cookie time rolls around, I'm always excited to buy a box or twelve. (It helps that my niece is now a scout and gave me a box of Thin Mints for Christmas - like a drug pusher, she is. First taste is free...)

Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts has, for a few years now, put together an event called Girl Scout Cookie Creations. They ask local chefs to create recipes using Girl Scout cookies, and then they throw a big bash where people consume inordinate amounts of sugar. This year, they split the event into two nights - one in Salem and one in Boston. I only attended the Boston event, but from looking at the recipes, the night in Salem sounded just as delicious.

My friend Melody, who went through all 12 years of Girl Scouts with me, and I arrived right at the beginning of the event and quickly got to tasting. Our first bite was the Peanut Butter Terrines (featuring Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Shortbread) from Turner Fisheries (above). And from the first bite, it was clear that this was the dessert to beat. With the Shortbread as a base and the peanut butter puree on top, this was a perfect little treat. The puree was just sweet enough, and I loved the textural difference between the puree and the shortbread base.

Next up were Kickass Cupcakes' Caramel Delites Cupcakes. They were, like all of Kickass' cupcakes that I've tried, fine - a little dry and with waaay too much frosting. They used crushed Caramel Delites as a filling to the cupcakes, which added a nice crunch to the cake.

I was already feeling like I'd had too much sugar, and we were only 2 tables in! Some water cured me, though, and we proceeded to the Au Bon Pain table. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much of anything from the bakery chain, but their granola bars were fantastic. I tried the Caramel Delites bars, which were hearty, filled with granola, almonds, coconut, honey, and cookie chunks. I would most certainly buy this at an Au Bon Pain, and I might even make these at home. I didn't try the Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana bars (featuring Peanut Butter Patties) because I don't think bananas have a place in dessert, but Melody didn't like it as much as the Caramel Delites bar.

While enjoying our granola bars, we both thought we smelled something savory, like chicken wings. We took a swing by the cheese table in the front of the room, but there was nothing that looked like it would be giving off such tempting aromas. So we headed back to try the next sample, and lo and behold, Locke-Ober had ribs! Served with grits and sprinkled with crushed Shortbread, the ribs were delicious, but a bit of a cop-out. The cookies had almost nothing to do with the dish, making them an odd choice for a cookie-inspired event.

Ready for more sugar, we headed on to Aura's table, where they were offering something called the Layered Lemon Ice Box. The layered dessert was served in a push-pop, which made it all that more fun to eat. It consisted of layers of lemon curd, pureed blueberries, whipped ricotta, and crushed Lemonades cookies. The push-pops were fun, but they made it difficult to taste the layers together - instead, I really only tasted one at a time as I pushed the bottom up. Definitely tasty, though, and this has me wanting to make some citrus curd sometime soon.

Aquitaine was up next, and although I don't like bananas, I bravely tried their Boston Banana Cream Torte, featuring Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Daily Go Rounds. I can't say much beyond that it was good despite the bananas, and if this is your kind of thing, it looks very simple to make at home. But I do normally enjoy Aquitaine's desserts, so this is really just a personal preference thing.

Finally, we visited Tremont 647 for some Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Butterscotch Sauce, featuring Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies. After the first bite, I had a problem on my hands. Turner Fisheries had been on the top of my list the entire evening, and then suddenly, with a different take on peanut butter, Tremont 647 was turning everything on its head. I enjoyed the cheesecake, but the butterscotch sauce really tied the whole dish together.

Melody and I needed another break from the sweet, so we enjoyed some cheese and discussed whom to vote for. It seemed clear that we would vote for either Turner Fisheries or Tremont 647, and in the end, we went with Turner Fisheries because their dessert was something completely different. While Tremont 647's cheesecake was very tasty, it was cheesecake, which can take on any number of flavors, whereas the cookie puree in the Turner dish was something out of the ordinary.

And it looks like we picked a winner. Turner Fisheries got the crowd votes, and Aura won the judges over with their lemon curd push-pops. I was surprised that none of the chefs went for Thin Mints, the most popular of the cookies, but after stating that one of the mint offerings last year tasted like toothpaste, maybe I'm not so surprised. Is it sad that I'm already looking forward to next year?

And don't forget to buy Girl Scout cookies! If your local scout doesn't knock on your door, you can search for booth sales here. Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts also collect boxes of cookies for soldiers overseas, so buy an extra box to send to a soldier.

Cake, Lexington

Apparently the cupcake trend won't go away. This summer, the Back Bay's Sweet expanded into Harvard Square, and Todd English is about to open a cupcake bakery on Beacon Hill sometime soon. Quietly entering the cupcake market, on the other hand, is Cake in Lexington center.

Cake opened a few weeks ago on the first floor of a Victorian on Mass Ave, and their focus is meant to be on actual cakes, "made from scratch... using only the purest, finest, freshest ingredients available." But they seem to be doing a brisk business with their cupcakes. At $2 a pop, the cupcakes are a reasonable treat - a good size at a good price with delicious flavors.

For the sake of "research" (ah, the lengths I'll go to...), I picked up one of each cupcake when I was on my way to my brother's house for a full day of Beatles' Rock Band (we ended up playing for 8 hours, because the game is THAT awesome). We cut the cupcakes up into little bites so everyone could get a taste, but I still think I OD'd on sugar a little bit.

My favorites were the Midnight Delight (dense fudge cake filled with sweet chocolate pastry cream topped with Ghiradelli cocoa icing), the Berries & Gold (rich gold cake filled with fresh raspberry preserves and a whipped Chambord buttercream), and the Minuteman (moist gold cake layered with strawberries, fresh from Wilson's Farm, light whipped cream and topped with vanilla buttercream). The Midnight Delight was a powerhouse of chocolate - sweet, with just enough bitterness to highlight the cocoa flavor. The cake really was dense and super chocolatey. The Chambord buttercream on the Berries & Gold may have been my favorite aspect of any of the cupcakes. And the Minuteman was just a beautifully composed strawberry shortcake - yum!

I was not so fond of the Karat Topped (pineapple cream cheese icing set on a moist, full-bodied carrot cake), which I thought had way, way too many nuts (but really, I prefer my carrot cake with no nuts at all), and the Red Carpet (smooth, deep red velvet cake laid out with a decadent cream cheese icing), because I always find red velvet cakes to taste fake, no matter where I get it.

In the picture above, clockwise from the top, are the Karat Topped, Red Carpet, The Minuteman, Mocha Express (bittersweet chocolate cake iced in a cappuccino buttercream and garnished with a mocha espresso bean), Berries & Gold, Midnight Delight, Black Tie Affair (sweet vanilla bean cake filled with pastry cream and dressed in ganache), and in the center, chocolate with vanilla buttercream.

The full-sized cakes at Cake seem a little pricy (I think the sign said that they start at $20 for a 4-inch round), but the cupcakes are a fantastic deal at $2. Cake is located at 1628 Mass Ave in Lexington and is open Tuesday-Thursday, 10am-6pm, Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday noon-5pm, and closed Monday.