Saturday Night Foodies: Whipping Up Some Frosted Goodness in the Windy City - Flirty Cupcakes

I had several business trips that took me to Chicago in September, so we looked for Gourmet Food Trucks and funky food joints that I could try while I was there. The Gourmet Food Truck movement has not taken off in Chicago like it has LA, NY and other metropolitan cities. However, I was able to find Flirty Cupcakes. Flirty Cakes, is the first gourmet food truck (actually it’s a van) to hit the streets of Chicago.

Since Jason and I are going to be guest judges for the Cupcake Camp Inland Empire competition, a fundraiser benefiting the Susan G. Komen foundation, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to “practice” my critiquing skills. (☺)

Thanks Jessica!

I began following @flirtycupcakes on twitter. They are really good about tweeting their daily schedule/times so you know exactly where they will be. When I approached Big Blue, what they lovingly call their cupcake delivery vehicle, I was greeted by Jessica, the driver. I was having a hard time deciding which cupcake to try so she suggested the mini sampler which would allow me to try a variety of their cupcake offerings. It included: Devil in Disguise – red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, No Plain Jane – vanilla cupcake with Italian buttercream frosting, The Curious George – banana chocolate cupcake with a light salted caramel buttercream frosting and CBFF – chocolate cupcake with Nutella ganache frosting.

I’d like to think that I am pretty discerning when it comes to cupcakes, not too rushed in my judgments but I have to say these are probably the moistest cupcakes I’ve ever had! The frosting tastes like sweet, slow-churned butter that is whipped to an airy lightness with just a dash of sugar. The frosting has a subtleness that doesn’t overpower but enhances the cake, and you can really taste the butter or the cream cheese used in the frostings. It’s not the dry, crumbly thing that the cupcakes become when bakeries use too much confectioners’ sugar. The cakes are super moist, really rich, and surprisingly, not too sweet.

I had to go back to Chicago two weeks later so I decided to hit up Flirty Cupcakes again to make sure that the first experience wasn’t just a fluke. I touched down at Chicago O’hare and hadn’t been in the city one hour before I was at the Flirty Cupcakes van once again. They were sold out of the minis so I had to pick up the full-size cupcakes. Oh darn. I grabbed the banana chocolate, red velvet and one I hadn’t previously tried, the mocha chocolate cupcakes(?). I had the banana chocolate that day and the red velvet the next morning for breakfast. The third one, I decided to bring home so Jason could experience it. They were as delicious as I had remembered from my first visit, and still super moist. To further demonstrate, the third cupcake was purchased on a Tuesday and then traveled 1700 miles from Chicago to Orange County on an airplane, and eaten on Friday morning. It tasted the same as if it had been baked that day! How many cupcakes can you say that about?

They would be a great contender on the next season of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. But don’t just take my word for it, if you are ever in Chicago, I highly recommend you hit up Flirty Cupcakes.