Death By Chocolate

Cupcakes, they’re the “trendy” dessert food of the moment, found in so many various forms and flavors that it was only a matter of time before vegan cupcakes became avaliable on the commercial market. Now I’ll admit, these aren’t just standard brand-name products that can be found anywhere so it’s not quite the same, but they’re still vegan baked goods that aren’t found in one specific bakery and require no baking on your part. Thus, it seemed worth investigation.

Originating from Whole Foods and sold in packs of six, these double chocolate cupcakes were a rather surprising find. Of course they would be more aware of veganism / vegetarianism, serving a more health-conscious and specialized market, but I would have assumed that these would still contain eggs or what have you. For the sake of all you lovely readers, I tried not to let my preference for non-chocolate items get in the way of the product review. Chocolate is not what I would generally reach for, but I wanted to give them an honest try, so I hope that my bias did not affect the overall impression too much.

My first thought was that the frosting is very cute swirled so professionally on the crown of the cupcake. It looked just like any other standard cupcake, so after a few minutes of hesitation, I dug in.

The frosting tasted just like pure chocolate. In its solid state, it was a bit harder than I had been expecting, so I opted it nuke it in the microwave for 20 seconds, and it oozed all down the sides, dripping like I had just melted a full chocolate bar across the top. I was relieved that it really wasn’t sweet, just intensely cocoa; a very decadent, adult flavor.

Moving downwards to the cake, I noticed immediately what a fine, soft crumb it had concealed on the inside. Very moist and again, chocolatey without being sugary, I was actually quite impressed with caliber of this cupcake. I’m sure you all know how difficult vegan baking can be – Cakes that are dense, but much more fudge-y than would be desired or even raw at the center. Whole Foods has really put some serious work into this one. An easily accessible, very decadent treat that will not disappoint any chocoholics. Talk about instant gratification.

If you have any skeptical omnivorous friends, one bite of this cupcake will dissolve every last doubt in an instant. Definitely not for the chocolate-shy though… I’m not so sure this is one I would buy again for myself, although I can assure you that it’s only due to my personally preference, which tends to be at odds with about 95% of the general population on the subject of chocolate.

This is one tasty way to spoil yourself after a difficult day, without the usual time necessary for baking.