Georgetown Cupcake - Butterscotch Pudding Cupcake

Merry Christmas everyone!  I thought it would be appropriate to post a holiday flavor from Georgetown Cupcake!  This Butterscotch Pudding cupcake is a new one in the holiday lineup, which makes it extra fun, haha.  It is a "Butterscotch cupcake filled with butterscotch pudding and topped with a butterscotch-infused buttercream frosting, a butterscotch star, and a fondant holly leaf".  

So... I know I say this about a lot of the cupcake flavors - but this one was AWESOME.  The butterscotch pudding inside the cupcake tasted more like a vanilla custard to me, which I LOVE. It might sound like a complete overload of butterscotch flavor, but I really thought the flavors were balanced well and really delicious.  I hope they keep this one in future the future holiday lineup! 

This will be my last post for 2012 - here's to lots more fun and great food in 2013, everyone! 

Lunchtime Links for December 24th, 2012

• Table for Two: Caramel stuffed chocolate chunk cookies. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: 5 minute Nutella pudding. 
• BGSK: The best way to pack homemade goodies. 
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies. 
• Serious Eats: Food52's sweet potato and pancetta gratin. 

Starbucks 2012 Ornament

Every year I look forward to different stores offering limited edition Christmas ornaments, particularly Starbucks.  I have a few of these cute coffee cup ornaments, and it's fun to have something that I collect every holiday season.

This year, Starbucks offered two different cup designs. One was a gold-painted cup, and the other was this winking snowman. I went with the snowman, mainly because my other Starbucks ornaments are the "red cup" theme as well.  It is a cute little stocking stuffer or gift for anyone that is a fan of Starbucks!

Lunchtime Links for December 21st, 2012

• Cookies & Cups: Brownie pudding. 
• Buzzfeed: 25 funny Auto-correct texts. 
• Serious Eats: Chocolate mousse cake. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Quick and easy vanilla fudge. 
• Cupcakes for Breakfast: Cinnamon roll cupcakes. 

Georgetown Cupcake - English Christmas Cupcake

In addition to the usual holiday offerings at Georgetown Cupcake, they introduced two new flavors this season- one of them being English Christmas.  This cupcake is "Georgetown Cupcake’s version of the traditional English Christmas spice cake, baked with fresh cranberries and orange zest and topped with classic vanilla cream cheese frosting and a fondant holly leaf".

As you can see from the cross-section of the cupcake, there are lots of cranberries (and orange zest, if you look closely) throughout.  Although I can't say that this is a favorite of mine given my general dislike of fruit desserts, I actually liked the cranberries which added some tartness to the cake.  Fortunately, this tastes nothing like a dreaded fruitcake, haha.  It's a very pretty addition to the holiday lineup!

Lunchtime Links for December 20th, 2012

• Two Peas and Their Pod: Mini hot cocoa cookies. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Ad Hoc fried chicken. 
• Cookies & Cups: Crock pot candy. 
• How Sweet It Is: Salted dark chocolate truffle cookies. 
• Gossip Girl: 26 memorable style moments. 

Shake Shack - Gingerbread Custard + Ornament

Mmm... yet another delicious trip to Shake Shack!  Here we have the Gingerbread custard, which is available on Saturdays in December.  It has a strong, spicy flavor that definitely tastes like a real gingerbread cookie.  Anyone that is a fan of gingerbread cookies will love this one! 

In addition to the tasty dinner, I also came in for another reason - to get this year's Shake Shack ornament!  This little beauty is free with a $25 gift card purchase during the holiday season.  Since I would very easily spend $25 at Shake Shack, this was an easy decision for me haha.  It's a cute scene of the original Madison Square Park Shake Shack with the Manhattan skyline in the background.  I'm excited to have this ornament for future tree decorating :o)