Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/33511
COVER STORY THE TASTING PANEL took Cupcake on a Southern California road trip, visiting four restaurants and putting them to the tastiest test we could come up with: Pair a Cupcake Cocktail with a specialty dessert. The results were nothing short of sweet success. Café Fiore: Berries and Cream V Executive Chef David Weiss. CHARANTAIS ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 2 oz. Cupcake Frosting Vodka 1 oz. Cupcake Chiffon Vodka 4–5 sprigs fresh basil, torn 3–4 squeezes fresh lemon Splash of simple syrup Splash of fresh lemonade Grille, a dessert that classic could only be complemented by a Cupcake cocktail of equally classic proportions. Bright and fresh, Mark Lofvendahal’s Sparkling Chiffon cocktail exemplifies an ideal dessert pairing, according to Arturo Briones, Executive Chef at Wildfish. Wildfish: Frosted Fruit P ineapple upside-down cake is as classically American as it gets, and at Newport Beach’s Wildfish Seafood “Dessert and cocktail pairings are fun and really com- plete the meal,” says Briones. “Having a drink that is fruity, sweet and fresh and pairing it with something warm in your mouth, like this flambéed pineapple upside down cake, is a great balance at the end of your meal.” FROSTED CUPCAKE ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 1 oz. Cupcake Frosting Vodka 1 oz. Cupcake Chiffon Vodka ½ Chambord ¼ oz. half-and-half Squeeze of fresh lemon Bartender Mark Lofvendahal and Executive Chef Arturo Briones. 60 / the tasting panel / june 2011 entura, CA, is a typical California beach town with a laid-back vibe and quaint downtown. There, Italian-born Anna and Maria Fiore treat locals and visitors alike to an authentic Italian meal at Café Fiore, where a relaxed setting is the ideal backdrop to a cocktail program that empha- sizes fresh and seasonal ingredients. When we gave Mixologist Candice Erickson and Executive Chef David Weiss our Cupcake Challenge, they found easy inspiration in the sweetness of summer fruit, pairing a berry chiffon crêpe with a cocktail Erickson calls the Charantais. Together, cocktail and crêpe are a complete course tied together by Cupcake; Weiss macerated his fresh summer berries and soaked them in Chiffon Cupcake, which is echoed perfectly in the drink, and both dessert and drink offer an indul- gent creaminess, thanks to house-made Chantilly cream in the crêpe and Cupcake Frosting in the cocktail. “The Frosting is soft, creamy and a little floral,” muses Erickson. “It blends really well in dessert-style drinks, and you don’t have to add any cream.”