Chicago is home to a bounty of cupcake-only bakeries, as you might remember from a recent cupcake test I performed. I enjoy most cupcake bakeries, but among the most daring and creative with their flavor combinations has to be a proper bakery, not a cupcake shop at all: Bleeding Heart Bakery at the corner of Damen and Belmont in Chicago. While catching up with a good friend, we decided to indulge in a few cupcakes from Bleeding Heart. Our choices for the day were the chocolate cupcake w/ peanut butter frosting, and a tres leches cupcake. And maybe a few pieces of chocolate covered bacon that were not photographed because I ate them in 3.5 seconds. Maybe. I must say this: Bleeding Heart knows how to make some rich-freaking cupcakes. Which isn’t a bad thing, just something that is good know so you don’t pick the TWO RICHEST FLAVORS to eat on the same day like we did.
Our favorite was definitely the chocolate with peanut butter frosting. The chocolate was rich and dark, and the frosting tasted like it was made with homemade peanut butter.
If I had my druthers, there would have been a teeny bit of frosting inside the cupcake, but overall, a great RICH cupcake to split with a friend. The second cupcake we tried was the tres leches cupcake.
Whoa. This came highly recommended by the lady behind the counter, but overall, I felt like this was just a big old pile of sweetness. The cake was certainly drenched in several kinds of milk, but the only flavor I could really taste was sugar. Even the frosting lacked flavor, and the pineapple chunk in the middle wasn’t enough for a contrast of flavors. Personally, I prefer my tres leches with a bit more coconut and pineapple flavor to help balance out an already rich dessert. Thankfully, Bleeding Heart Bakery has a couch for customers to pass out on after eating. At least, that is what we used it for. I will definitely be back, but perhaps for some of their lighter flavors. They are too creative for me not to come back! ~LTG! *************************************************** Bleeding Heart Bakery 1955 W Belmont Ave Chicago, IL 60657-2024 (773) 327-6934 www.thebleedingheartbakery.com
