So much to love at Loving Cup!

My good friend Becky is sort of a foodie so when she recommended hitting up Loving Cup, a little place in the Marina District that specializes in Rice Pudding I could hardly wait! 

A place that specializes in Rice Pudding?! YUM.  

True, it is not a cupcake but it is a treat in a cup and you know what? That's close enough for me!

 

It was love at first sight when I walked into the cozy little dessert café at 2356 Polk Street.

Flooded with a warm splash of sunlight from it's store front window and chicly decorated with fresh bouquets of Ivy Roses and Purple Dahlias, Loving Cup not only specializes in "homemade" Rice Pudding with optional toppings (for an additional cost), it also offers hand churned to order fro-yo!

 

WHAT?!

YEAH.

 

Then, low and behold, as I studied the display case of 6 different flavors of Rice Pudding there they were...cupcakes...

Damn you Loving Cup.

You got me.

 

 

 

On the day of my visit there were six flavors of Rice Pudding to choose from: Lemon, Cinnamon Rum Raisin, Cookies & Creme, Coconut, Green Tea and Madagascar Vanilla Bean.

Naturally, I chose a pairing which most closely resembled that of a cupcake;  Coconut Rice Pudding topped with Chocolate Ganache. Oh my what a delicious pick!

 

 

 

 

Made from 6 simple ingredients: non fat milk, arborio rice, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla bean Loving Cup's Rice Pudding has the amount of smoothness you want from a rice pudding, not too much but just enough. Delicate and subtlety sweet, the coconut flavor was anything but overpowering as hints of it lightly tickled my taste buds bite after bite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rich chocolate ganache, which I must say acted as a frosting quite well, was simply divine. 

Try as I might not to eat in all within the first few bites it was gone before I reached the bottom of my cup. The bites with both pudding a ganache were just too good! 

 

Though the ganache was thick and rich this treat still remained light, refreshing and so satisfying.  I really loved the cool creaminess of the rice pudding as I sipped hot black coffee in the warm San Francisco sunshine on a brisk Autumn afternoon. It was a great hot to cold ratio all around.   

 

 

 

And....yes, I had to go back for a cupcake...the next day!

The Cupcakes that Loving Cup carries are from Moonbaby Cakes: a San Francisco bakery that specializes in custom made to order organic, free trade, local ingredients.
 Red Velvet was the only option that day and I was quite ok with that.

 

 

 

 

The red velvet cake was buttery and moist yet it wasn't heavy and the classic cream cheese frosting added the right amount of sweetness to the cupcake. I am not sure how the bakery dyes the cake but the color of the Red Velvet didn't scream artificial coloring like some others I've seen. Yes it was red but just barely.

The frosting wasn't lemony as some Red Velvet Cream Cheese Frostings tend to be and the fact that it was all organic made this cupcake that much more yummy!

All Moonbaby Cupcakes can be made to order vegan too!

 

 

Their homemade Rice Pudding is a delectable cupcake alternative and their friends at Moonbaby Cakes bake a lovely cupcake.

 I got to go back to tackle the third threat and try the Fro-yo. Who knows, there could be a cupcake al-a-mode review in the near future. We will see!

  If you're like me and you love sweets, you're really going to like Loving Cup. You may even dare I say, love it.