Atlanta Cupcake Tour, Part 1 of 7: The Highland Bakery
October 21, 2008
Hi there!
Sorry for being gone so long, but Taste Tester and I were away visiting some friends in Atlanta last week. I thought I could pack it all into one post but there is just too much to write since we visited 6 different bakeries over 4 1/2 days. So every day for the next week or so, there will be a new Atlanta bakery featured on the blog. For the final Atlanta post, I will write up a neat little conclusion that lists the better cupcakes, so you can side-step the not so good ones. We also ate a lot of really great brunches and other meals on our trip, so the final post will also include a list of some of the really great places we had actual meals at (yes I do actually eat things other than chocolate and peanut butter!).
These posts are for you southern states that up to this point I have not been able to visit and write about. And by the way, if there’s a really great place in your city that you think is worth traveling to visit, please let me and the CPB readers know!
Disclaimer: I want to say for the record that I take no joy in having to bash pastries, so if you are a fan of or associated with any bakeries that I had a bad experience with, I apologize for any hurt feelings and am only trying to tell it like it is so that my fellow chocolate peanut butter addicts can find the very best treats that are available.
And so, here is part one of The Atlanta Cupcake Tour!
PLACES VISITED:
- Highland Bakery
- Sweet Pockets
- Atlanta Cupcake Factory
- Belly General Store
- Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse
- Metrotainment Bakery
TASTERS:
- Myself, of course
- Taste Tester
- Lindsay, aka Atlanta Cupcake Expert / Co-Cupcake Safety Captain
- Ryan, aka Co-Cupcake Safety Captain
HIGHLAND BAKERY 655 Highland Avenue, #10 Atlanta GA 30312
TREATS TASTED:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake
- Mini Lemon Cupcake
- Mini Coconut Cupcake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bar
- Peanut Butter French Toast
We were somehow able to control ourselves and managed to eat brunch at the Highland Bakery before attacking their tasty looking bakery display. Taste Tester and I had a difficult time with deciding what to order for brunch, but he eventually chose the Sweet Potato Pancakes (AWESOME), I chose the Ricotta Pancakes and we ordered Peanut Butter French Toast for tablecakes.
What are tablecakes you ask? Only the most brilliant concept to come to eating out, courtesy of Ryan. Tablecakes come into play when you find yourself feeling indecisive as you stare at a menu. You resolve your dilemma by ordering one dish for yourself and another to be shared by the entire table. This works especially well for brunch when you want to eat something hearty like an omelette but can’t quite get yourself to stop drooling over the thought of french toast. So you order the hearty option for yourself and french toast for the table. Everyone gets some and everyone’s happy.
This mound of Peanut Butter French Toast was nicknamed the “Thanksgiving turkey of french toasts” due to it’s absolutely massive stature. It had a nice bran flake crust and had a thick layer of peanut butter hiding in the middle of the stack. It was topped with carmelized bananas and had a healthy amount of caramel sauce swimming around the bottom of the dish. The sauce looked a lot less appetizing after Ryan deemed it “turkey gravy” but thankfully I ate my portion before he came to this conclusion. The french toast was super thick as I prefer it, though I would have liked the inside to be a bit more moist than it was. I think if I had to pick between the two, I’d order the Sweet Potato Pancakes over the Peanut Butter French Toast because the pancakes were basically flawless while the FT wasn’t quite perfect. It’s worth mentioning that their Ricotta Pancakes and Breakfast Potatoes were also really good.
We were stuffed from all that Thanksgiving French Toast, so we didn’t eat around to eating the cupcakes until we got home. Ryan and Lindsay made sure they made the trek safely, fulfilling their jobs as Cupcake Safety Captains. See? Even the box has a seat belt on.
Highland Bakery’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake was the first of the many cupcakes that we tasted on our trip. The cake wasn’t anything to write home about (just alright, not amazing), but that frosting - YUM! It was a super creamy, very peanut buttery frosting that was coated in a thin layer of a sweet, fruity tasting chocolate ganache. Unfortunately the others tried their mini coconut and mini lemon cupcakes and said they were alright but nothing special, so when you visit maybe you should steer clear of those.
See all that peanut butter icing hiding under the chocolate? Mmmm….
I kept nibbling away at that cupcake even after we bought cupcakes from other bakeries because it was just too good to let go of.
I also bought this fantastic Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bar (I don’t know if that’s it’s actual name - it’s not listed on their site) which was really different than a lot of C&PB treats I’ve had lately. And I have had a LOT of C&PB treats!
It had a really dense texture that was loaded with nuts and oats. It was a soft bar, but the chewy oats and crunchy nuts made it really hearty. The layers of chocolate and peanut butter in the middle gave a nice soft, creamy contrast to the dense bar. I wish I knew where to buy something like this in NY but it was such a unique treat, I may just have to try making it myself! On a quick google search I didn’t find anything like it though I did come across this recipe for Peanuttiest Blondies by Slow Like Honey that look just as awesome! I think adding some other types of chopped nuts, a layer of peanut butter and some oats would do the trick… hmmm…
The Highland Bakery was one of my favorite food experiences on the trip. If you are in the area, make sure you stop by for some delicious brunch and of course, brunch dessert!
Stay tuned in the coming days for more Atlanta pastry coverage!