A few years ago, Whole Foods came out with a line of “Two-Bite” confections: two-bite cupcakes, two-bite brownies, two-bite macaroons. As someone who truly wants only a bite or two of sweets, these were the perfect treats! I regularly purchased the chocolate cupcakes – they were moist with a perfect crumb, and the buttercream frosting was rich and creamy – perfect! I developed a pack-a-week habit. I would bring them to friends’ houses for after-dinner treats, or keep them around my place for a mid-day sugar kick.
To fill this demand, Whole Foods went into mass production and that’s when the quality dropped off. On several occasions, I would get home only to discover the cupcakes’ expiration date had already passed. I started double checking dates while still in the store, and always alerted the store manager when I found some past their prime. Phase two of the downfall – I would get home with unexpired cupcakes and they were already stale. You can tell from the crumb – it was dry. Again, I would return to the store and alert the manager.
After a few more purchases of pre-expired stale cupcakes, I stopped buying them. Clearly, all my attempts to help them with quality control fell on deaf ears.
Fast-forward two years… I’m at Whole Foods again, craving sugar, and notice a beautiful display of the famed (or is it, infamous?) two-bite chocolate cupcakes. Whole Foods continue to sell them; obviously people must still be buying them, so surely they must have gotten their acts together.
Not a chance! Stale, with two weeks to go until they “expire.”
I was too tired to complain again; previous attempts achieved nothing. But I didn’t want to waste them either.
The solution: BABKA! I mushed up the cupcakes…
…and used them as a filling for a challah with chocolate swirls. How’s that for recycling?