SHOP TALK: Unusual flavors are the icing on the (cup)cake

LITTLE ROCK — WHAT: Cupcakes on Kavanaugh

WHERE: 5625 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, (501) 664-2253, www.eatacupcake.com

WHEN: Open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

IN STORE: Cupcakes. And more cupcakes. And bottled water, soda, organic milk. And more cupcakes.

The adorable store that bills itself as a "gourmet cupcakery" sells the creations of "cupcake artist" Christy Milligan. Customers can enjoy single cupcakes ($2.50 classic, $3 specialty, $3.25 "cocktail" made with liquor) in the girly, pastel-accented bakery by having a seat on the sofa, pulling up a polka-dot-cushioned chair at one of the tables or parking it at a window bar seat. Or they can take them home in brown boxes - large and petite - with the store's cute logo ($25 for classic dozen, $30 for classic specialty; the menu board advertised 15 percent off the mixed dozen price andtwo free cupcakes with the purchase of a specialty dozen).

The Saturday we visited, the store was full of customers getting their sugar on, and at first there were no available seats, but tables were quick to open. Cupcakes only take so long to eat, especially when they smell and look so tempting.

We couldn't make up our minds on which of the varieties - from the Kavanaugh Carrot to the Classic Vanilla/Chocolate, to the Raspberry Almond - to order, so we had the staff do it and assemble a to-go assortment that we'd share with family and coworkers (save for the two we sampled using plastic forks and plastic plates in-house) who used words like "good," "very heavy, "very, very sweet," "very, very rich" to describe them.

A Ghirardelli Square cupcake- chocolate with chocolate frosting and a half-square of Ghirardelli chocolate sticking out - was tasty, although strangely not that chocolatey. The cake had a very light flavor, and the icing tasted mostly of sugar.

A Strawberry Short "Cup" Cake - a strawberry/vanilla cupcake topped with buttercream and real strawberries - was fresh and fruity.

With all those inventive flavors, which is most popular?

The Classic Vanilla - a simple vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting and colored sprinkles.

"That's the most popular one, go figure," said the gentleman helping us.

SUCH A BARGAIN!

We already discussed prices.

So let's talk calories. That bottled water has none.

WHAT AN INDULGENCE: Fat gram-ically speaking, the Blackrock Bottom chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese "surprise," creamcheese frosting and chocolate chips has to be high up there.

SERVICE WITH A SMILE: We found the helpful people working the counter were just as sweet as the inventory.

Shopping tips? E-mail: jchristman@arkansasonline.com

Weekend, Pages 74 on 05/23/2008