Happy Chicks Bakery’s Fall Cupcakes
Happy Chicks Bakery opened with a mission greater than just providing delicious food and sweets, including 100-percent vegan options. “Our thing is creative flavors,” says co-owner Jana Douglass. “We’re way more than just a vegan bakery.”
Creative flavoring abounds in their Caramel Apple Cider cupcake. With Angry Orchard hard apple cider baked into the cake and a dollop of apple butter hiding under the generous I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-buttercream icing, this cupcake will delight even diehard dairy fans. The caramel drizzle on top kicks up the sweetness without being overpowering.
The Fall Dream cupcake, also featuring the aforementioned apple butter, is surprisingly spiced with orange and topped with pumpkin-butter icing. Orange might not be a standard fall flavor, but the citrus ties the mix of pumpkin and spice together in a new way, cutting through some of the heavier autumn flavors. Pro tip: Take the time to let one of the Happy Chicks bakers warm up your cupcake. On a cold day, nothing beats a warm cupcake. 4035 Hamilton Ave., Northside, happychicksbakery.com.
Coffee Emporium’s Pumpkin Pie Latte
Move over pumpkin spice latte: The pumpkin pie latte from Coffee Emporium is the new sheriff in espresso town. Snowville Creamery’s whole milk, sourced solely from grass-grazing cows, gives the latte a silky smooth texture. Topped with housemade whipped cream, the latte’s espresso comes from beans sourced directly from South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Coffee Emporium will also be securing a new round of coffee beans from Papa New Guinea, so in theory you could warm up this fall with a Papa New Guinea pumpkin pie latte.
Looking to try something totally new? While it’s not on the menu, customers frequently ask for a pumpkin chai latte, blending Coffee Emporium’s signature chai tea with the pumpkin pie latte ingredients. 110 E. Central Parkway, Downtown, coffee-emporium.com.
Schneider’s Sweet Shop’s Caramel Candy
If you haven’t felt the urge to sit down on a kitchen floor and pile drive through a pound of sugar since you came home from trick-or-treating as a kid, try Schneider’s Sweet Shop’s homemade caramel candy. Each individually wrapped piece tastes like warm autumn sunshine. The sweet shop was founded in 1939 and still uses the same recipes for its candy today.
They sell their caramels by weight — one usually costs all of 34 cents. To shake things up a bit, the sweet shop offers cherry-, vanilla-nut- and licorice-flavored caramels along with traditional vanilla. (They also use the same caramel in their version of turtle candy, known as pecan carmelettes.)
The unique cherry caramel has a vanilla base, which lets the natural cherry flavor shine. And it’s no wonder that nothing tastes artificial: Schneider’s makes almost every type of candy and ice cream on the menu in-house themselves with fresh ingredients and old-fashioned recipes. 420 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue, Ky., schneiderscandies.com.
The Eagle’s Sweet Potato Crock
While everyone else is swapping out their menus for seasonal delights, Over-the-Rhine’s Eagle isn’t making a single change to its soul food selection. And it’s easy to see why — the menu already reads like Thanksgiving at Grandma’s (minus the turkey, plus chicken). With the winds getting a bit colder, stop in for their sweet potato crock.
The dish’s use of toasted mini marshmallows mimics my Southern mother’s recipe so closely it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were hiding her somewhere in the back of the kitchen. All the normal notes of sweet potato are there — the sweet, the potato — but with one special ingredient: ginger.
While it might sound strange, the mix of the ginger with black pepper in the mash pairs perfectly with the sentimentally sweet marshmallows to create a dish sophisticated enough for OTR and instantly nostalgic to anyone who grew up eating soul food. 1342 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, theeagleotr.com.
Assorted Seasonal Sips
Rumor suggests that looking for fall-themed brews at midnight on Sept. 1 while trying to finish an article for a local alternative weekly is “strange.” If donning a pumpkin hat and dancing to the Ghostbusters theme song while drinking spiced ale is wrong, who wants to be right? Forget those haters and head to Northside if you need your seasonal sips when it’s still 80 degrees outside.
The Northside Tavern is #blessed with Rhinegeist’s Oktoberfest Franz and Cidergeist Dry Hopped Hard Cider, along with Rivertown’s Pumpkin Ale. Franz embodies the soul of the ideal Oktoberfest beer, meaning that at 5.4 percent ABV, it is devilishly easy to drink. It’s lighter on the hops with a rich aftertaste and something uniquely “fall” about it. While there isn’t necessarily a signature flavor, there are notes of caramel and cider woven throughout each sip.
If you want a true cider experience, order Rhinegeist’s Dry Hopped Hard Cider. Weighing in at a sturdy 6.2 percent ABV, the cider is as crisp and juicy as the first bite of a handpicked apple. Rhinegeist sources its cider apples from Washington state and brews the drink here in Cincinnati.
The first sip of Rivertown’s Pumpkin Ale tastes like warm pumpkin cookies. The addition of molasses adds a deeper body than run-of-the-mill seasonal pumpkin beers — nothing new for Rivertown, which consistently explores old flavors in new ways.
Also coming soon to Northside: Urban Artifact will be revealing a seasonal beer at the end of September named Orgone. “The name came from our interest in historic pseudo-sciences — we have other beers named Palmistry and Phrenology,” the brewery’s Scott Hand says. Orgone will be an apricot crumble ale, flavored to taste like pie using bready yeasts and malts.
Also returning is the Northside Yacht Club’s droolworthy hot apple cider. The bar sources the cider from family-owned McGlasson Farms in Northern Kentucky. Northside Tavern, 4163 Hamilton Ave., northsidetav.com; Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock St., artifactbeer.com; Northside Yacht Club, 4231 Spring Grove Ave., northsideyachtclub.com.
