Smallcakes

My daughter is a bit of a cupcake fanatic. Really sweets in general, but she is easily lured in by cupcakes. When she saw that there was a new place in Broad Ripple, she wanted to try it right away. Sadly, the first time we went there, they were totally out of cupcakes. Still open, but no cupcakes. It was kind of a bummer. I guess they also service ice cream, but we were in the market for cupcakes only.

The next time we went early, and luckily, they were fully stocked with everything. We had people over, so we got an assortment of flavors. We had pink chocolate (which is really just chocolate cake with pink buttercream icing, vanilla and chocolate (yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing), lemon drop, chocolate cream, a dulce du leche, and one with caramel and pretzels that was a special. Oh, and a strawberry one for the daughter’s boyfriend.

The best of the lot was probably the chocolate cream—which looks like a fancy hostess chocolate cupcake with a little cream filling inside and some on top of the fudge icing as well. I liked this one a lot because the cake was one of the moistest of them all and the icing was super rich and fudgy. My next favorite was the lemon drop because it was really fresh and lemony—I was surprised by its tartness, but it was a pleasant surprise. 

The dulce du leche was a favorite as well—I think the caramel and cream added moisture too. The regular ones with buttercream were the least exciting and also the dryer ones of the lot. They didn’t have any filling either, which added to the dryness.  I love a vanilla cake with chocolate icing, but I would have preferred a fudgy icing likes the one on the chocolate cream. 

All in all, a tasty addition to Broad Ripple, with some tasty options that I would get again. If you’ve had any of the special flavors, let me know your favorites.

Smallcakes

930 Broad Ripple Ave

Indy 46220

317/389-5447

www.smallcakescupcakery.com

The Milky Way (Lebanon)

I'm back! For a minute anyway. I’m writing this one with just my left hand pretty much so it’s gonna be short and sweet (I know, you’ll all really miss my wordiness right?). Me and my son went to Lebanon to meet my friend @indyfoodswap and her sons to see about a certain milkshake. It was all in the name of research. It didn’t pan out as we thought (long story, but don’t ask for a chocolate and BBQ potato chip milkshake.)

But we had lunch—we ordered a bunch of stuff and shared. The main dish, described as a hand-breaded pork tenderloin sandwich ($5.73) was a disappointment. I am not so sure it was hand breaded. If so, maybe it was awhile ago and then frozen.  

What was really good though? The onion rings ($2.95). They were easily my favorite item of the lunch. They were thin cut onion with a super crunchy (I mean SUPER crunchy) battered coating. Really fresh and hot and just the right amount of greasy. These could be a problem for me if I lived closer.

Also strangely addictive were the fried rolls ($3.99). Ok, so I am pretty sure they were some kind of dinner rolls that came refrigerated in a tube and were then cut and thrown in the fryer. But serve ‘em with little packets of apple butter and I was happy and so was my son. These things were super tender with just the nice crisp exterior.

The Milky Way’s extensive menu heavily focuses on various dairy products (shakes, sundaes, soft serve, etc. etc.). The kids all partook of the goodies and enjoyed it. It’s a cute little old fashioned kind of divey place and it’s pretty reasonably priced. Oh, and get the onion rings.

Look for another guest post from my friend @wibia on Monday! I'll be back full time soon.

The Milky Way

836 Indianapolis Ave

Lebanon, IN 46052

765-482-1940

http://lebanonmilkyway.com/ 

BRICS

I don’t usually do dessert places, but lately, for some reason we have been hitting several of them a lot.  It started this summer with BRICs—we have been before, but there is a growing obsession with it in my family.   It’s right on the Monon Trail too, so several times recently, after dinner somewhere in Broad Ripple (usually Brugge); we take a walk down to BRICS.

I have to admit, a lot of dairy doesn’t sit particularly well with me, but it is hard to resist at BRICS—the first time we went, hubby and I split the caramel x 3 which I am pretty sure is my favorite flavor to date—although it is hard to choose.  This is caramel ice cream with caramel swirls and little caramel filled chocolates mixed in.  Well worth the heartburn I often endure after too much dairy.

The most recent time we went with the kids, and I just had a bite (ok, several) of everyone else’s.  My daughter had the yellow cake batter which is rich golden ice cream that really tastes like cake batter with chocolate swirls throughout.  This may very well be my second favorite so far.

Hubby had one of the rotating flavors which involved lots of toffee—it was tasty too, but loved the caramel more.  My son went with chocolate chip cookie dough.  I love raw cookie dough (one of the main reasons I ever make cookies), but I am not as big of a fan of it in ice cream—something about the coldness takes away from the dough angle—but still tasty. If you are into cookie dough ice cream, I am sure you would like this one.

yellow cake batter

cookie dough

toffee

On this trip we also discovered the “briclet” which is a smaller-sized scoop than their normal scoop (which is huge).  The briclet is $2.70 and the regular scoop is $3.20.  Trust me, the briclet is enough.  We also got our cones chocolate dipped, which added $.60.  They have a ton of different cone options as well, from huge waffle cones (made in house), to the traditional cake and smaller waffle cones.  The people who work there are super friendly and happy to give you a free sample of any of the flavors.

They have a large list of regular flavors that they always carry as well as a rotating list of various special flavors. I like this so you don’t get bored—but thank goodness the caramel x 3 is one of the regulars!

BRICS

901 East 64^th Street

Indy  46220

317/257-5757

www.bricsindy.com