A Dollop will do ya !

Okay, so who doesn't love a cupcake ?  Through Twitter chatter, I heard about a custom cupcake business in Rochester NY, Penfield to be exact.  I heard of champagne cupcakes and became intrigued, nay, obsessed with visiting this shop.  Since my daughter goes to college at the University of Rochester, this was a definite possibility !
  When it came time to pick her up for Christmas break, what better way to start the journey homeward than with a stop at this  curious cupcake shop called Dollop ?  We left the U of R and GPSed it right to Penfield and easity found the tiny shop.  I was so excited, would they have champagne cupcakes ?

The shop was much smaller than I had expected, but was incredibly cute.  We were ably assisted by the lovely Sarah, whose shirt also informed us that she was a Zumba instructor, totally understandable for someone who sells gourmet cupcakes.

There was a board on the wall that listed  the current cupcake, filling, and frosting flavors.
This is a build-your-own cupcake shop, you tell Sarah how you would like your cupcake, and she constructs it for you !  You can also customize your cupcake with assorted candies and toppings as shown in the picture.

To my utter disappointment, champagne cupcakes were not currently available !  Sarah informed us that they were more likely to be in stock on a Saturday,  or for a holiday, not the usual Thursday fare.  Well then, I had to make a rapid change of plan , but that was no problem since there were a few delicious seasonal options to pick from.  I chose a gingerbread cupcake, with whipped cream filling and cream cheese/cranberry/clove icing.   I decided that I had enough going on with the frosting to bypass any added candy toppings.  For my son  I attempted to re-create a Boston creme donut, so his cupcake was vanilla with Boston creme filling and chocolate icing.  My daughter went with chocolate mint cake with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles, my husband with vanilla cake, lemon filling and cream cheese icing.

The cupcakes were individually constructed by Sarah, and packaged in a box well designed to hold them upright and safe.   I also got an additional four cupcakes to bring back to work with me, all red velvet cake with chocolate ganache filling and cream cheese icing.
  We thanked Sarah, who kindly obliged me by letting me take a couple photos, and headed out for our 5 hour journey home.  Once we were home, it was time to dive into the cupcakes.
The gingerbread cupcake was delicious, dense and more full bodied than I had expected, and the cranberries were a nice addition to the cream cheese frosting.  The only quibble I had was that I had waited hours before I ate it and I think that the whipped cream filling absorbed into the cake.  I could see where the cake was removed and reinserted but the filling was no longer visible.
My son proclaimed that his cupcake tasted just like the Boston creme donuts that he loves, and my daughter was very happy with the chocolate mint one.  The lemon filled cupcake passed my husband's taste test, nice since he is not really a cake lover, pies are his thing...

   I was able to sample one of the red velvet cupcakes the next day at work and it was really fine, good flavor to the cake and creamy frosting.  These cupcakes are not for dainty eaters, they are rich and filling, one will leave you well satisfied.  The chocolate ganache hardened a bit and looked more like a plug of chocolate, but I think that is more a function of waiting a day to eat it.  Such custom cupcakes really should be eaten as soon as possible, I don't think that I did them justice by not wolfing them down as soon as I got them !
   All in all, I was very pleased with the Dollop experience, there is something really fun about being able to custom make your cupcake.   Someday, the champagne cupcakes will be mine !