Cupcakes are the ultimate treat

Janis Saunders, Democrat Food Critic

Things are looking up in Hudson Oaks. There are new places to eat and more to come. Perhaps the most unusual one to open lately is Ultimate Cupcake.

I had been watching the storefront where their shop was going to be. Finally, it opened two weeks ago. The premise of the Ultimate Cupcake is of course, cupcakes.

They aren’t your run of the mill cupcakes. These are made with the finest of ingredients and you can taste the difference. Real butter, the best vanilla, Belgian chocolate, real strawberries and other fine ingredients are incorporated into the special recipes of Tony Monje’s wife, Malgosia.

She and Tony spent many years in the movie theatre business in Weatherford. Tony had 20-plus years in the business and I had to think of all the great and not so great movies he had seen in those years. But, when the theatre was sold, he and his wife decided to get into another business.

There are several cupcake shops around the USA and they visited quite a few of them, but they just weren’t what they wanted for their business. Malgosia experimented with recipe and after recipe until she found one that whispered to her, “I’m the ultimate cupcake. Use me.”

Before they opened their shop in Hudson Oaks, they had an online business with the cupcakes. They began to get some notoriety of the best kind when several show business people discovered how delicious these cupcakes are. Rosie O’Donnell (who certainly knows good food when she eats it), Lisa Loeb, Seal and Cyndi Lauper have discovered these cupcakes. Now, they can count Janis Saunders who has discovered them. Let me tell you how it all happened.

Last week, Jim had to go to one of the Hudson Oaks businesses and I told him to go by and scout out the cupcake place a little bit before I visited. He returned home carrying a smallish box with, as he said, “here’s a black and white cupcake from the shop. It’s really nice inside and the cupcakes look good. I brought one home for you to taste.”

Excited, I opened the box and there, nestled in it, was a piece of a cupcake about the size of a half dollar. I asked him what happened to the rest of the cupcake ? He sheepishly said he had pinched off a couple of bites before he got home. A couple of bites? I could barely get a taste of the cupcake. What I did taste though was primo. I knew I would have to make a trip to the Ultimate Cupcake and get my own.

I dropped in this last Saturday and talked to Tony and Malgosia. As we went in, there were three women who were carrying out what looked like seven or eight dozen cupcakes. I thought to myself, there goes some good eating. I wonder if they left any?

There are seven flavors of cupcakes which even sound yummy. Dark chocolate, red velvet, lemon poppy seed, strawberry, pumpkin, black and white and vanilla. Each cupcake is $3.25. Now, you can buy cupcakes that are cheaper, but I always say you get what you pay for and Ultimate Cupcakes are fantastic. The best I can describe them is they have dense cake batter with full rich sinful frosting. It’s hard to eat just one. The lemon poppy seed is sooo good. It’s refreshing to eat, but the chocolate they use is very, very good also.

The more you buy, the bigger discount you can get. Tony also showed me their water (with their name on the bottle). They are into recycling, so if you return your plastic water bottle you can get a discount.

They are open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They are closed Sunday and Monday. If you want a peek at the cupcakes go to their Web site, www.ultimatecupcake.com.

Their shop is located at 3316 Fort Worth Highway and their phone number is (817) 596-9090. Give them a call to place an order or get more information on their product. The Ultimate Cupcake is in the strip shopping center that has Pulliam Pools and Cowboy’s Bar-B-Que in it.

I can see Jim and I dropping into the Ultimate Cupcake and picking up one of our favorite flavors. You can be sure I’ll get a whole cupcake next time. Stop in and see Tony and Malgosia and prepare yourself for a treat.

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Janis may be reached at jks4417@aol.com.