ShopCrazy

By now, everyone would have heard too much about cupcakes and how they’re not plain little pastries in plastic packets anymore. Not to me, though—I’ve always had a special spot for cupcakes in my heart because they’re my all-time favorite merienda treat—from the cheese cupcakes with burned strips of cheese on top I used to buy from a sari-sari store when I was a kid, to the jam-filled ones I keep in my office drawer just in case I get too lazy or busy to go out for a snack. Cupcakes never fail to make me drool, and I’m always in for all kinds of this timeless treat.

So, I guess you could count me as one of those people who rejoiced in the cupcake craze. And just when I thought cupcakes couldn’t get any fancier, I was pleasantly surprised with the arrival of Cuptails ‘n Dreams.

Mix cocktails and cupcakes, and you get Reena Francisco’s Cuptails: heavenly cocktail-inspired cupcakes minus the hangover. Call me silly, but when I first heard of Cuptails, I seriously thought I could get drunk eating them, but Reena assured me that wouldn’t happen because her cupcakes are just inspired by these drinks, and while they do have a bit of liquor in them, the cupcakes don’t have enough alcoholic content to make anyone feel drunk.

Of course, I just had to ask how Reena came up with such a great idea. Like most genius things that come up by accident, her cuptails came to be when her sister-in-law requested for non-traditional cupcakes to serve her wedding guests. Reena thought of giving her cupcakes a little kick by flavoring it with cocktail drinks, and the idea clicked: here were the most unique cupcakes to date, and something that adults would surely love.

And indeed, from the names alone, I couldn’t help but get excited about tasting Reena’s top five Cuptails! There’s the Cosmopolitan, the lemon butter cupcake with cranberry buttercream frosting, every inch of it living up to the name of everyone’s favorite ladies’ drink. It was as sweet as it was pretty, and satisfying, too. There’s also the Margarita, another ladies’ drink-inspired lime butter cupcake with Triple Sec and Jose Cuervo Tequila, topped with Lime buttercream frosting, which was a very nice combination of tang and sweetness.

Screaming O, with Piña Colada and Margarita in the background

When asked about nearly everyone’s favorite, though, Reena presented me with her Screaming O (yes, that Screaming O): a rich chocolate cupcake spiked with Kahlua, topped with Bailey’s buttercream frosting. This, I thought, definitely means heaven for chocolate lovers and Bailey’s fans!

But what really made me swoon was the Mojito, a vanilla butter cupcake with light rum, topped with Crème de Menthe frosting. This one definitely had a subtle kick, and I fell immediately in love with the frosting’s minty feel on my tongue. I would have to say, too, that the Piña Colada is my second runner-up: a distinctly pineapple butter cupcake with coconut rum, and topped with pineapple buttercream frosting. Very tropical, very flavorful, and so cute with its cocktail umbrella to boot!

Margarita, with Mojito and Piña Colada in the background

For those who don’t want to leave the kids (or anyone who’s not into cocktails) out, however, Reena offers her Dreams collection, cupcakes without the kick, but yummy and hearty just the same.

I’ve fallen in love with cupcakes over again after I’ve tasted Reena’s cuptails, solid proofs that something as classic as the cupcake can be reinvented and even elevated to something that everybody truly appreciates. If I had those cheese cupcakes to treasure as a childhood memory, now I have these cuptails to long for as an adult. Cheers to that!

Orders should be placed three (3) days in advance. Please contact Reena Francisco at 0927-565-3261, or e-mail cuptailsanddreams@hotmail.com. Below is a list of her products:

Cuptails (P55)

BJ Vanilla butter cupcake with Absolut Vodka, topped with Bailey’s buttercream frosting and caramel

Tequila Sunrise Orange butter cupcake with Jose Cuervo Tequila, and topped with pink buttercream frosting

Lemon Drop Lemon butter cupcake with Absolut Vodka Citron, topped with lemon buttercream frosting.

Dreams

Vanilla Sky (P40) Classic vanilla butter cupcake topped with Vanilla buttercream frosting

Pink Lemonade (P45) Lemon butter cupcake topped with Pink Lemon buttercream frosting

Mandarin (P45) Orange butter cupcake topped with Orange buttercream frosting

Don Cappuccino (P45) Mocha cupcake topped with Vanilla buttercream frosting and cinnamon

Tuxedo (P45) Vanilla butter cupcake topped with Dark Chocolate buttercream frosting

Napolitana (P50) Vanilla butter cupcake topped with Chocolate Hazelnut buttercream frosting

Black Mandarin (P50) Orange butter cupcake topped with Dark Chocolate buttercream frosting

The Original Sin (P55) Dark Chocolate cupcake topped with Dark Chocolate buttercream frosting

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 6:00 am and is filed under Food and Drink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.