I am back in the "real world" (snowed out of Maine in Baltimore!) and am so excited to share with you the details of my culinary adventure in Charleston, South Carolina. One of my first stops was one of the ubiquitous, hipster cupcakes shops, Baked. I stopped in at the urging of my friend Elizabeth (Strawberries in Paris), who had recently 'done' Charleston and fallen in love with Baked.
Michael and I ordered some coffee and espresso (Stumptown) and two cupcakes: both chocolate, one topped with salty caramel and fleur de sel and the other with buttercream and crushed Oreo cookies. Now, I am not a big sweets girl, so I have a hard time being blown away by dessert. The salty caramel cupcake was a good fit for me, since the salt cut the sugary sweetness of the caramel and chocolate well.
We were both disappointed in the brews we ordered—Michael's espresso was very bitter and my coffee was watery. But overall, we enjoyed our quick stop in to Baked and saw their beautiful cakes all over town after our visit. I am definitely inspired to incorporate salty caramel in my cooking and, well, to drink better coffee.
