With a Name Like "Kick Ass.."

The Salted Cod has made it known we have a weakness for cupcakes. We've been eagerly awaiting the opening of Kick Ass Cupcakes in Davis Square since that eye-catching sign first appeared some months ago.

Arriving late in the evening, the door was just minutes away from being locked so our selection was minimal. We purchased two cupcakes. The Lucky was our first, a lemon cake with white chocolate frosting and a few small pieces of candied ginger. As an added bonus, it comes with a small fortune on top, similar to one found in an actual fortune cookie. Also purchased was The Super Chocolate, a chocolate cake (obviously) with a dollop of rich chocolate on top, reminiscent of a thumbprint cookie from childhood and a few chocolate shavings to complete the look.



Over all, both cupcakes were much smaller than we hoped for the price of $2.75 each. They were also on the dry side but this might be due to purchasing so late in the day. Both had great presentation but fell short on flavor and consistency. With a name like "Kick Ass," we were really anticipating a tastier product.

The highlight for us was the fresh milk for sale from Shaw Farm in Dracut, MA. We'll be more likely to stop by again soon just for some milk.

The Salted Cod understands they are a new local business and we plan on giving Kick Ass Cupcakes another shot down the road. Next time we'll be sure to arrive earlier in the day and try a few different flavors, hopefully a Red Velvet if they have one.

Red Velvet

As the newest member of the Salted Cod (and the only one with the patience for baking), I was inspired to make a red velvet cake from the delicious cupcakes found at Tonnie's minis. The recipe is quite basic, mainly consisting of cocoa, vinegar, buttermilk, lots of sugar and of course red food coloring. The most important step in baking this cake was creating a paste of unsweetened cocoa and 1 oz. of food coloring to be folded into the batter. As seen in the photos below, the color becomes freakishly red after a few turns.


In the end I realized that the red velvet formula is far more superior as cupcakes. Don't get me wrong, this cake was baked with love and definitely gave me my chocolate fix, but I think because of its intense sweetness it fairs better in smaller doses.