Courtesy of Lola's Cupcakery
As
far as desserts go, what's better than a cupcake? Think about it: these
morsels of goodness are self-contained, portable, portion-controlled,
and, when done right, can taste pretty swell. And now, they're showing
up on Las Olas. Lola's Cupcakery is
a new venture from Toronto restaurateur, Donald Kaplan, and his wife
Laura (she's the "Lola"). The pair wanted to bring high-end cupcakes to
an area that really has none, and their new storefront at 1523 E. Las
Olas Blvd. will do just that. The store opens this weekend, and, as of
now, will be take-out only. (The Kaplans have already applied for a
change of use permit to allow in-store cupcaking.) Lola's will also
deliver for orders of two dozen or more to just about anywhere in
Broward, to the tune of $82 (a single cupcake runs $3.25).
We
took them up on that offer this week, and ordered a pre-release sampler
box of two-dozen filled with Lola's upscale take on classic cupcake
flavors. They call this batch their classics collection: There was
peanut butter and jelly, rocky road, French chocolate, strawberry, red
velvet, and a host of others, in addition to a couple quirky selections
like mojito and margarita. Lola's bakes all these cupcakes daily, and
-- the best part -- doesn't even use a base batter. No, each cupcake's
batter and icing is custom tailored and crafted in small-batch mixers
from high-quality ingredients only. Result: the French chocolate
cupcake actually tastes different from the other chocolate varieties,
the base on the mojito is distincly different from the other yellow
cake ones, and so on.
Be sure to check out the photos on Lola's site: The cupcakes are
exquisitely beautiful creatures, and our photos do them no justice.
So
the $82 question: Were Lola's mini-cakes any good? Well, there were
definitely some hits and misses in that big box. To touch on a few, the
French chocolate was extraordinarily rich, with an ultra-thick icing
derived from "very expensive" chocolate. The chocolate raspberry
cupcake was also on the top of our list, with a gooey, jelly-like
raspberry interior. A couple people commented that these were the best
cupcakes they'd ever had, though I can tell you I wouldn't go that far.
For me, some of them were a bit too dense and not quite as moist as I
like them. What I did love, however, was the margarita. It was
definitely not the most popular choice, but the salt-topped tequila and
lime icing really struck me as brilliant. I can't say the same for the
mojito, which left a sort of minty gum aftertaste in my mouth. Other
big hits at our cupcake party included the cookies and cream, Canadian
maple syrup, carrot cake, and key lime.
Donald Kaplan poses with one of his creations.
The Kaplans plan on adding a number of "collections" to their repertoire in the near future. Aside from a cupcake du jour ,
they will also add a catalog of savory cupcakes (Donald likes the
idea of a pizza cupcake). And, for the high rollers, Lola's has a
Tiffany's & Co. cupcake, a $1500 confection topped with a 24-carat
gold pendant in the shape of -- what else -- a cupcake. In the mean
time, give them a visit starting tomorrow and try them yourself.
