Chocolate Red Wine cupcake from Cupcakin' in Berkeley

Cupcakin' Bake Shop on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Is it just me or has comfort food during quarantine or shelter in place, whatever you want to call it, become more of a thing this month? 

Or is it food for comfort? 

Either way...from new doughnut flavors to homemade soups, drizzling local honey over juicy seasonal fruits in full fat cottage cheese, New York style pizza and a grown up version of a childhood favorite, boysenberry jam, I won't be the first to admit that comfort food is quite delicious. 

Cupcakin' Bake Shop on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

One day while in Berkeley on a nannying adventure, me and my 4 year old compadre were perusing up Telegraph Ave when a cute store front caught my eye across the street. I had never seen it before, granted I don't remember when I perused Telegraph Ave last but I had no idea that there was a cupcake store there. Dark windows lined both sides of the streets, hardly any places were open and even fewer people were out and about. We'd come back down the other side of the street after lunch and check out the cupcake place I said. 

Low and behold it was one of the only places open that faithful day and we both wanted a cupcake. 

Cupcakin' is the name of the cupcake place on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. Just a few blocks away from the UC Berkeley campus, it's been there since 2010 and it is minimalistically cute. It's small walk up counter situation has tiers of different cupcakes on display with the different cupcake names and flavors written on the glass in front of them. Their selection includes gluten-free, vegan, mini cupcakes and day old cupcakes for $1.00. 

The girl who helped us was very friendly giving my little 4 year old friend a Cupcakin' sticker and patiently answering all of my questions until we left, each with our own cupcake in their own little box. 

Cupcakin' on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I went home with a Chocolate Red Wine cupcake. 

If you've ever read any of my cupcake reviews of a chocolate based cupcake you know that I'm a snob when it comes to chocolate cake. Yep I am and I am not ashamed about it. 

I've said it before and I will say it again, good chocolate cake, as in cake that actually tastes like chocolate, is hard to find. 

But come on. A chocolate red wine cupcake?! 

I have never seen or heard of a chocolate red wine cupcake before, have you? 

How could I not try the Chocolate Red Wine cupcake from Cupcakin'?! 

Naturally, I ate the big, juicy blackberry off the top first. I could smell the red wine from the little droplets that were sprinkled all around the top of the frosting. Other than it being red wine, I'm not sure what kind of wine is used: Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz. Cupcakin' doesn't disclose and I don't know much more about wine other than red, white, rose or sparkling. I do know that the buttercream frosting itself is the most buttery buttercream frosting I think I have ever had. It quite possibly might be the most buttery buttercream frosting ever. 

Chocolate Red Wine cupcakes from Cupcakin' 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The chocolate cake was the moistiest cake I think I have ever had. I could hear it squish as I bit into it and it literally melted in my mouth. And the chocolate cake was...chocolatey! Not as chocolatey as some flourless chocolate cakes I've had but chocolatey enough. The cake was moist and chocolately but not rich. No, the richness was all in the buttercream frosting. 

At first when I couldn't taste the red wine in the frosting I thought maybe it's in the cake but I don't think it was. As I got closer to finishing the cupcake is when I started to taste the wine. I could smell it the whole time I was eating it (which didn't take long at all) but it wasn't until the end that I tasted it. Maybe there's so little of it mixed in frosting with all that butter that it took a while for my pallet to detect it. 

I'm not sure but I'm happy that it did. 

Some people find red wine and/or chocolate comforting: unwind with a glass of wine, indulge with a satisfying piece of chocolate. And, both are aphrodisiacs' which can help to get you in a feel good mood. I found the Chocolate Red Wine cupcake very comforting all around. From the flavors to the colors to the freshness and the textures. 

This really was one damn good cupcake. 

Chocolate Red Wine cupcake from Cupcakin' 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

This isn't the cupcake for those who don't drink but the chocolate cake from Cupcakin' is where it's at, so any of their other chocolate cupcake options will surely do the trick, too!