It’s chocolaty, it’s nutty; it’s a cupcake
They come in all shapes, sizes and flavours but perhaps the best loved of them all will always be the humble but undeniably heavenly dark brown version, which can only mean one thing and you know what it is-chocolate cupcakes! This is what Tarini Thomas, the home baker behind Urban Delights finds herself regularly whipping up for orders. “I could introduce as many flavours and toppings as I want,” she laughs. “But 90% of the time they’ll go for the chocolate.”
Tarini Thomas
It’s not that she minds. Tarini, who started baking at the age of 12 (she launched her career with the old favourite, a butter cake), is a great chocolate lover herself. She found herself baking in triple doses when she initially started off with brownies and cookies also included in her repertoire. These days she’s given up the latter two and focuses exclusively on her cupcakes which have proven to be the most popular out of the trio, but that won’t stop her from deftly introducing the other two into her creations. She does a dark, gooey brownie cupcake and one with nutty cookie dough sandwiched in between. It keeps her happy and more importantly, it drives her clientele to venture into unchartered territories.
The chocolate based cupcakes come in several varieties. There’s the Dark Black Magic Ganache and its less evil sister the White Midnight Magic, a chocolatey cupcake topped with silky smooth white chocolate ganache. A coffee infused dark chocolate cupcake topped with mocha ganache makes a Perfect Pair while the Nutella Swirl incorporates a gooey Nutella centre and Nutella cream frosting into a dark chocolate cupcake. Triple Chocolate Nut takes the crown, a dollop of chocolate buttercream and nuts perfectly complementing a dark chocolate cupcake. (They’re all priced under Rs. 150) If you’re feeling Christmassy, there’s a particularly delicious date cupcake with butterscotch sauce, perfect for tucking into on a blustery evening.
Tarini doesn’t take on orders for children’s cakes, but she will do little themed topper cupcakes for parties. While she has a standard set of toppers (inedible ornamental cupcake banners in case you were wondering, like we were), she can customise and print according to requirement. Urban Delights does take orders for what she likes to call ‘dinner party cakes’-“it’s mainly for the older ones with a sweet tooth,” we’re told. There’s the Chocolate Diva, a basic chocolate cake with rich ganache topping, and the Chocolate Truffle Cake, a dark ganache-covered chocolate cake topped with another dose of glossier chocolate ganache and decadent cherries. Don’t be fooled by the Dark Angel, a sneaky creation with an angelic white chocolate layer giving way to a gooey, dark chocolate base.
If chocolate’s not really your cup of tea then you could try the newbie Caramel Cake, a vanilla cake topped with luscious caramel buttercream, homemade nougat and a generous drizzle of caramel sauce. All these come in 6 or 8 inch sizes and are priced between Rs. 1600-2500.
Chocolate based cupcakes come in several varieties. Pix by Mangala Weerasekera
As for orders, you have to make a minimum of 12 and preferably, three days before you need them. But Tarini is flexible with her time-give her a ring on 0777227791 and you might be able to sort something out at short notice. Urban Delights hasn’t quite got to the delivery stage yet but they can arrange for easier pick-up if possible.