I love food, I love to eat and I love traveling.
I do my best to find and try the best fare in town when I am there, wherever that may be. I'm also very fortunate to have friends from all over, who've been all over and who can point me in the right direction. This can get hard to do when traveling for work, when you work music festivals: days and nights are usually spent on-site either setting up for a show, working on show days or striking a show plus you don't have a personal car to roam freely even if you wanted to or had the time to.
 |
Peach Cobbler cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
My second music festival of this super whacky, "lets stack all the festivals that would happen through out the year on top of each other at the same time in the middle of an on going pandemic 2021 festival season" landed me in downtown Chicago for Lollapoolza. It was a far, and much welcomed cry from Rolling Loud Miami just a week before.
 |
Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
This was my third visit to the windy city and yet I haven't explored it too much for reasons listed above (more or less) but what I have seen of Chicago, I love and the food I've had there ain't bad either.
 |
Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
I haven't been going out of my way lately to find cupcakes because I didn't want my blog to become solely a cupcake review blog once COVID hit and my writings about music slowly started to tapper off when COVID fatigue really settled in. As fate would have it, on my travel day home after working my first two music festivals since the COVID pandemic started, I passed a cupcake shop en route to catch the red and blue lines to O'Hare airport. My original plan was to stop at Stan's Donuts for a blueberry fritter and iced coffee which happened to be just a few doors down. "I can't get a donut and a cupcake" I thought to myself as I walked by Molly's Cupcakes. Then I changed my mind, telling myself as I turned around and walked into the cupcakery "I can get a donut and a cupcake".
The Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location on Washab is a wide-open space with lots of seating and behind the register you can see where the magic is baked. Mainly filled with cupcakes, the bright display case which looks small in comparison to the rest of the place, was fully stocked with lots of colorful stuff. The handwritten description cards with little doodles are a cute, personalized touch.
 |
Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
There were a few people in front of me which is usually always a good sign at an eatery and it also gave me time decide what I was going to get. My eyes were automatically drawn to the pink and seafoam frosted cupcakes, then the flourless chocolate one caught my eye and was very tempting but I didn't go with any of those. As I approached the register my mind was made up and I got one Peach Cobbler cupcake to go.
 |
Peach Cobbler cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
Stone fruits are my favorite fruits and peak peach picking season is roughly May through September. Being that it was August 3rd it was prime time for this flavor. Also, when would I come across another Peach Cobbler cupcake? At the standard single cupcake price of $4.19, the lady behind the POS rang me up, boxed the Peach Cobbler cupcake in a clear plastic clam shell adorned with a Molly's Cupcake sticker and I was on my way. Next stop, Stan's Donuts followed by the O'Hare National Airport then home to San Francisco.
After practically inhaling the blueberry fritter and iced coffee I got from Stan's I decided to wait to eat the cupcake. I was nervous that it would get smooshed on my way home or that the whipped cream frosting would melt but it was still picture perfect by the time I got home. Pooped from working and traveling and craving nutrients, I made a decision I usually don't make with cupcakes, I put it in the refrigerator and saved it for later.
 |
Peach Cobbler cupcake from Molly's Cupcakes
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
The next night was the night for Molly's Peach Cobbler cupcake but as it turns out, by that point it seemed I had waited too long. Don't get me wrong, it tasted good but the texture was off. The vanilla cake had become soggy and to my surprise the whipped cream on top seemed to have hardened to a consistency of, well, frosting. It could be that it was indeed whipped cream flavored frosting all along, it's hard to tell.
I wish there was more of the smooth peach puree in the middle and that it was a bit thicker and chunky, never the less it was tasty and peachy enough. The slice of golden canned peach on top of the scoop of whipped cream "frosting" was appealing however it left my appetite for peach cobbler wanting more from this cupcake flavor. That said though, being that it was my first taste of a peach cobbler cupcake and only having peach cobbler to compare it to, I enjoy the creative novelty of this cupcake. It is definitely a sweet one with a mildly peachy flavor.
I'm happy that I was able to get a cupcake from Chicago and confirmed that boutique cupcakes are best fresh. The Molly's cupcakes location I went to is in close proximity to Lollapalooza which made me wonder why they don't have a booth at the music festival, that is, until I remembered a festival food operations professional once told me that cupcakes aren't music festival friendly. You'd think that they are right? A hand held, single serving treat but apparently they do not sell well at music festivals.
Summer isn't technically over yet and neither is stone fruit season so enjoy the tastes of the season while you can!
 |
Peach Cobbler cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes South Loop location
photo by Nikki DeMartini |
