Miami cupcake lovers Sugar & Spice visited Cupcakes Nouveau in Coral Gables, Florida. The owners of Cupcakes Nouveau will be featured tonight on "Cupcake Wars".
We recently visited Cupcakes Nouveau a gourmet cupcakery located at 4712 South Lejeune Road in Coral Gables. The shop itself is small and simple with tables to sit down and eat in the air conditioning (which is much appreciated in our 90 degree Miami weather). They offer minis for $1 and standard sized cupcakes for $2.75. We sampled several of their signature flavors including vanilla elegance (in standard size), Moulin Rouge (in mini), Romeo & Juliet ( in standard), Chocolate Chic (in standard), caramel bonbon (in mini), and Southernmost cupcake (in mini).
The vanilla elegance was the first we tried, and it rocked our cupcake world! It is a very dense and moist cake, similar to a cream cheese pound cake, flecked with vanilla beans and topped with a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. The flavor and texture of the vanilla cake is sublime. Swiss meringue buttercream is the complete opposite of an American style buttercream in that it is mostly made of butter (lots, and lots of butter) and some melted sugar and egg whites. It produces a very smooth, non-crusting frosting. It is not for the faint at heart and many people may have an aversion to the texture, Sugar called it a bit slimey. The focus of the vanilla elegance is the cake and the Swiss meringue buttercream is simply an accompaniment.
The Moulin Rouge is a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. We found it to be a bit dry and mostly a chocolate cake with a hint of red color. The cream cheese frosting is lighter than your average cream cheese frosting and even had a slight crust to it, which is unusual for a cream cheese frosting. Cupcake Nouveau's asthetic seems to be feature the cake and accent with frosting. The caramel bonbon is a vanilla cake filled with a delicious homemade dulce de leche and topped with the vanilla SMBC. The flavor and texture of the homemade dulce de leche is much more creamy and firm that the storebought varieties. There was a tremendous amount of dulce de leche in the cupcake, and although it was delicious it definitely dominated the flavors of the cake and buttercream. The southernmost cupcake is a key lime cupcake filled with a creamy key lime center, which reminded us of key lime pie filling. Key lime pie filling is essentially a custard made with key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. It is a native dessert of the Florida Keys, which are just below us. Nouveau's version of this South Florida delight is creamy and zesty, with a bit too much filling. The chocolate chic is a dessert experience. It is an uber dense chocolate cupcake with a chocolate chip filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. It is reminiscent in taste to a black bottom cupcake and almost cheesecake like in texture. Cupcake Nouveau's more American style vanilla buttercream is sweet and compliments the rich chocolate creaminess very well. Chocolate Chic is more like a layered truffle dessert that you could split with someone after a gourmet meal. It is truly decadent. The Romeo and Juliet is an almond flavored cupcake with guava pastry filling and cream cheese frosting. The almond, guava, and cream cheese compliment each other nicely. The guava filling is delicious, but a bit overpowering due to just the amount of it in the cupcake.
Cupcakes Nouveau offers a unique and interesting perspective on the Miami cupcakery scene. It is as though pastry chefs have been given cupcakes to play with. These are not your kids' cupcakes; they are decadent, rich, and indulgent. It is nice that a Miami cupcakery is utilizing a Swiss meringue buttercream, as it is something different around here. These indulgent cupcakes would make a nice treat to share at the end of a romantic date!
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