baked

And on one other weekend note: I found a new favorite cupcake place. For a few years now I've been saying that the Cupcake Cafe, which is conveniently located next to the amazing children's bookstore Books of Wonder, makes the best in the city, but after trying Baked during a Sunday grocery shopping expedition to Fairway, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, I think that my mind has officially been changed. I got a sweet and salty cupcake that was super delicious: dark chocolate cake with a caramel center, topped with caramel chocolate ganache frosting and sprinkled with sea salt. The cake was perfect, the frosting was fantastic and there wasn't too much of it, the caramel center was a delicious surprise, and as sea salt always seems to improve the taste of caramel, especially when there's also chocolate involved, I don't think I could have asked for a better cupcake. I can't wait to try some of the other flavors, some of which include red velvet, lemon drop, green tea, caramel apple, coconut, different chocolate and vanilla combinations, and plenty of other seasonal varieties as well. Yes, it's definitely out of the way, but for anyone venturing down to Red Hook, it's well worth the visit.