‘Sweet Retreat’ Cupcakes and Wine Pairing

So I wandered into my favorite old joint last nite for the first time in a long time, except for the same smiley face that I was used to behind the counter sipping coffee and grinning ear to ear with cheese in his beard, wasn’t there.  Instead, I found pink and frilly, poofy colored frosting’d cupcakes now behind the windows that I once knew filled with artisanal cheese and a young woman dressed in a pink apron eager to help me.  My friend, Ken Liss, owner of previous Premier Cheese Shop, was always the best person to find behind his shop counter, usually talking someone’s ear off about something, but always happy to see you.  Today, my once favorite artisanal cheese shop is now ‘Sweet Retreat Cupcakes’.
Knowing that the transition had taken place, I decided to check it out and take my love for cheese in to trade it in for chocolate cupcakes.  I’m not the biggest fan, to be honest, of chocolate but I thought it would be a good ‘treat’ for the guests I have arriving in town for the weekend.
Here’s what I found… An almost empty showcase cooler of 4-5 different cupcakes.  Was it any different than any other ‘cupcake boutique’ I’ve been to outside of NY…not so much.  If you’ve ever been to NYC, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Magnolia Cupcakes on Bleecker Street is about  THE BEST of any CUPCAKE Boutique in the country, that is if you’re into cupcakes.  Here, even if you didn’t think you liked cupcakes, will walk out with a new obsession.
Not that I’m doggin’ out the shop in Edina, but I’m just not sure the demand for cupcakes galore is the right thing in that spot.  And, with a sort of ‘baron’ looking showcase, I wasn’t super convinced that they’ll be in the same spot a year or two from now.
The Sweet Treat, however, did offer (of what they had) some cool flavors, but again, nothing too unique.  So, I ordered four of the five flavors they offered:  S’mores, Peanut Butter, Red Velvet and Cookies n’ Cream.  And, as I stood there looking at their heavy frosting’d tops, I thought…I’m taking these home and pairing them up to wine!  And, that is exactly what I did.
Here’s what I came up with~
Red Velvet Cupcake: My take, it was okay…nothing like MY Red Velvet Recipe that came from a family friend’s grandmother born in the south.  OMG.  That’s all I have to say.  Sweet Retreat’s R V Cupcake, pretty good but missing the ‘cocoa’ taste.    Wine Pairing: My thoughts- a Fat Shiraz (yes, pronounced Shiraaaaaaz), like one from Australia’s Two Hands Winery.  Their wines are over the top, fat, sassy and often never balanced – over blown with saturated fruit and barrel.  However, peeerrrrfect for a R V Cupcake.  The cocoa velvet fruit, layered in raspberry smoke coming from this wine would fit perfectly with the cupcake.  I like the Two Hands Angel’s Share, nice but not too overblown.  I think really nice with this not too sappy c-cake, but perfect.
Cookies n’ Cream Cupcake: My take, creamy and reminded me of undercooked cookie dough.  I liked it.  Sweet, but again, creamy.    Wine Pairing: A Fat, Round, Creamy Chardonnay .  I think~ Napa Valley’s Pine Ridge Epitome Chardonnay.  Hell, it’s a Chard that is really over blown (when it comes to price and palate) but if it pairs to lobster tail dripped in butter, it will pair with this over blown, creamy, buttery cupcake.  Dip that baby in butter and away you’ll go.
Peanut Butter Cupcake: My take, my fav!  I loved the salty, creamy, slightly savory aspect of this very icing’d cupcake.  Overdone with icing, falling off the side of the cake, the ccake was impossible to contain.  Yes, very good.    Wine Pairing: A nice, rich, juicy, banana split-like Semillon.  The wine that I think of, Alpha Domus Late Harvest Semillon.  Called the Leonarda, which is the name of the winery owner’s grandmother.  Plus, I love the Alpha Domus story (of NZ) and this particular wine…juicy, banana-split like and honeyed.  Love it and the only real wines I feel like goes with peanut butter is rich honeyed Riesling and Semillon.  Good stuff.
Lastly, the S’mores Cupcake: My take, I likey.  The cupcake was finished with a ‘toasted’ marshmallow frosting (sticky as heck) and a baby Hershey’s chocolate bar.  I liked the touch.  Graham Cracker-like crust, fat chocolate center and creamy mallow topping, good job.  Wine Pairing: Something really chocolaty, and decadently, over the top.  I would say two wines come to mind.  One: Napa Valley’s Rombauer Zinfandel.
Here it is (to my favorite CRUSH PAD fans)…The Rombauer Zinfandel is one wine that I love to describe as ‘A Ho in Ho’s Clothing’. What does that even mean?!  Just exactly like what it sounds like, and it doesn’t belong in church with an alcohol percentage like that (often well over 16%).  You can’t even dress it up and make it look better…nothing would stay on this hot, slippery, contaminated, beast of a Zin.  It screams:  “Hey, here I am!!!!  Drink me, dang it!”  Over the top, exposed and ridiculously loose on the palate.  No boundaries.  And, definitely needs to be put into the ‘fortified section’ if you ask me. Need I say more?  But good, I’d think with this decedent cupcake.  See?  Every wine has its place!
My second pick for this cupcake: A smokey, rich saturated Cabernet from Chile.  I like the Root 1 Cabernet from Chile’s Colchagua Valley.  With just a smidgen of gooey Syrah (15%) added to it, the wine is chocolaty, rich, smokey and really sappy.  It’s perfect for a dessert this like.
One Old School Hard & Fast Rule: Always make sure your wine is one ‘titch’ sweeter than your dessert.  Does that mean ‘dessert wine’, NO WAY!  It just means…pick up one degree of any grape, hotter.  IE:  Australia, Napa, Chile – how hot does it get in some of those locations right?  And what does that mean?:  The hotter the climate, the higher the sugars, thus, the higher the alcohol levels and mostly, the sweeter the wine.
So…there you have it.   A quickie and a SWEET review on Edina’s new Sweet Retreat Cupcake Shop. BUT also, what to pair to these cupcakes if you’re taking them home to drink with.  Salut and happy cupcake-ing!