Sunday, September 25, 2011

Cupcake Showdown: Bleeding Red Velvet (Part 2) - Cupcake Central

Cupcake Central
Level 2, Dining Hall
Melbourne Central (City)
(Also in Hawthorn)

Opening Hours (City): Mon - Thurs 10am - 7pm; Fri 10am - 9pm; Sat & Sun 10am - 6pm

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I ‘found’ Cupcake Central via a Christopher Columbus moment:

1. I had no idea what I was looking at;

2. I definitely had no idea it had already been ‘found’ (many, many times); and

3. I foolishly felt self-important in ‘my’ discovery.

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It happened some months ago as I was having a Grill’d burger with long-suffering friend MS.

Peering out the window, I announced “I see cupcakes.”

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Burger mid-way to mouth, MS lowered it slowly. Unfortunately, the row of cupcakes I had spotted on the floor below was not visible from where he sat. As far as he could tell, I was staring at a deserted Hoyts and some very bored teenagers. “What?”

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“I definitely see cupcakes. Strange!” At the time I was sure there was no direct competition for that awful The Cupcake Bakery in Melbourne Central.

“Are they...talking to you, these cupcakes?”

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It took some heated discussion and fervent Googling to establish that

(a) Cupcake Central had indeed put up sticks in the shopping centre; and

(b) I was not having schizophrenic visions of confectionary.

Please. I would so much more likely take instructions from some dancing rare steaks.

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But I’ll admit these cupcakes might have world domination in their sights yet.

Tastings are scored according to an appropriate Thank-Cake-It’s-Almost-Friday! structure: T for texture, C for Cost, I for Icing, A for Appearance and F for Flavour.

Texture: So moist it’s almost as fudgy as a brownie, but with a pleasing smooth crumb.

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Cost: $4 per regular cupcake; $2 per babycake (vegan and gluten-free available).

Icing: Like great date dialogue: lightly (cream) cheesy, and lighter still on the sweet.

Appearance: Simple as pie.

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Flavour: Full of it. And I liked it that way.

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Overall Score: 9/10: out of this world.

Due to absence of forethought, there is no allocated category for wonderment of flavours available. If there were, Cupcake Central would certainly take the cake:

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Jam Donut

Choc Malt Milkshake

Vanilla Vanilla

And of course I couldn’t begrudge the new reigning ‘Red Velvet’ queen a chance to prove herself in some other ways:

Note: A takeaway box will set you back an additional 50 cents!

Bonus for hauling it home: no forks or plates if you're eating in.

Two bad boys for the road: Devils Food Chocolate & Salted Caramel

As we leave Little Cupcakes bleeding in our wake, any suggestions on where I should take this battleground next?

Cupcake Central Workshop on Urbanspoon

19 comments:

  1. do you think they sell red velvet cupcakes without the icing? i hate icing!

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  2. Michelle: Ooh no, I don't think so but I'm sure they could whip one up for you if you ordered the day before (or scrape the icing off, since it's not embedded inside like some other places!

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  3. The red velvet looks delicious. Is it raspberry? I love the icing part of the salted caramel- so delicate!
    btw do people think $4 is too expensive for a cupcake?

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  4. Thanks. Nice blog entry.
    Having a Vienna Coffee (long black with heaps of whipped cream on top) with cupcakes sounds like too much of a good thing?

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  5. AT: It's actually beetroot and cocoa! Unscrupulous places will use red colouring though. And personally, I think it's pricey but has become the standard; I suppose like $3.50 for a cup of coffee? ;)

    DJ: No such thing as too much of a good thing. And yes I remember the description of the Vienna coffee that you've been requesting; they'll start naming it after you soon hopefully haha!

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  6. Wuuu wahhh the cupcakes looks so plain but sophisticated! Great find, great find...! I'm not much of a dessert/cupcake person but the flavours are interesting I'd love to try them now. And why I've never noticed this place near Hoyts/Grill'd for the longest time is beyond me. Starting to make me think if my head actually swings past all things non-savoury, yikes! Hopefully not... Good stuff, Vee! =)

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  7. Winston: Haha well it's been blogged so many times I can hardly call it my find now. It's actually on the floor directly below Hoyts and Grill'd, in the dining hall, you're not blind, don't worry!

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  8. TOLD YOU TOLD YOU TOLD YOU! Now you owe me a red velvet cupcake! HOHOHOHO

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  9. Oh beetroot.. I must try a bit then. Can't imagine the taste. Must be very different from the terrible stuff in the can I guess?

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  10. msihua: Totally, any reason to go again haha! :)

    AT: It doesn't taste like beetroot at all, don't worry! Mostly cocoa :)

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  11. Love the unique flavour combos they tweet - esp the peanut butter and jelly.

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  12. Adrian: I know! Can you believe I only saw that when I was looking at the pictures I took?! Totally regretted not getting one!

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  14. Vegan cupcakes? Perfect! Great scoring. Can't wait to try. And yes the last time we were in Central you were exclaiming something about a new cupcake place that I didn't think was very exciting.

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  15. Yunny: They WERE exciting. I feel so defensive!!

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  16. the cupcakes look sooooooo yummy!!!!

    http://www.katejunemcleod.blogspot.com/

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  17. That's an entertaining post but your information is incorrect. The first red velvet was red due to chemical reactions between the vinegar, buttermilk, and cocoa. Later on, to amplify the unique red colour, bakers added red food colouring. Using beetroot was thought to be because there was a shortage of dye at one point.

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