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I wouldn't call myself a cupcake fan - frankly, I don't quite understand the cupcake craze that has swept Chicago, and I certainly wouldn't pay $6 for one - but I do love pumpkin bread. So for $2, a pumpkin cupcake from Alliance seemed like the perfect treat to have with the first cappuccino made by our brand new espresso machine.

It was delicious! The cake part had an amazing melt in your mouth texture (moist, but not clumpy) and had the perfect amount of pumpkin spice flavor (neither bland nor overwhelmingly nutmeg). The light and fluffy cream cheese frosting added just the right touch of sweetness to offset the incredibly rich cake. I had half a cupcake, and was completely sated.

They are a seasonal delicacy, so don't wait too long to try one! Yum.

Alliance Bakery
Division just west of Paulina.

Alliance Bakery is the shiz-nite.
Thanks for heads up on the Pumpkin Cupcakes--
On another pumpkin note, Edy's is currently making a Pumpkin Swirl Ice Cream in their Light "Double-Churned" line. Its really pretty damn good--I brought some home expecting to hate it--I generally don't like light ice cream, and tend to not like most grocery-store brands, but uh, I have to admit, its pretty darn tasty. Pumpkin pie-ish, nicely spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and really pretty creamy for something that's only 100 calories for 1/2 a cup. Of course, it would help if I only ate half a cup, but we all know how that goes.

Damato's is making its "squares" (of cherry and apple fame) in pumpkin for now. They are always sold out by the time I get there after work, but my husband's eyes rolled back into his head when he told me about the one he ate.

Damato's Bakery
1123 West Grand
(312) 733-5488

I just had the pumpkin custard at Scooter's. It was really yummy! Scooter's is open until 10 pm most nights and is located at the northeast corner of Belmont and Paulina.

While we're on the subject of pumpkin anything, if you can snag the pumpkin custard at Avec, go for it. It was a special dessert when I was there a couple of weeks ago, but given the season, I imagine it will be feaatured again, if it hasn't already.

It came in one of those Staub bake pans. It had a denser, firmer texture than a regular custard, and although it approximated flan, it wasn't quite the same (I suppose a corporate chain restaurant would have sold it as a "flan" which is a more trendy word now than plain-old "custard"). The texture was sublimely creamy. The pumpkin taste was at the forefront, with just enough spices to take anyway any blandness that a pumpkin dessert can have, but not enough to provide a potpourri-like taste like most pumpkin pies. On the night I had it, it was served with raw pear as a garnish - the crunchiness and purity of which provided a nice contrast.

I too had a pumpkin cupcake from Alliance Bakery. The cupcake was moist and had just the right amount of pumpkin taste. The sweet cream cheese frosting was pure heaven. I do note that the cost of cupcakes seem to have increased slightly in past month or so.

Another Alliance favorite is the red velvet cupcake which has the same frosting as the pumpkin cupcake. (No, I am not a cupcake fanatic... I just prefer not to have a whole cake staring at me each time I want something sweet.)

I ordered a red velvet cake from Alliance Bakery for Aschie 30's birthday it was even better than the cupcakes.

I also saw a pumpkin cheesecake at Alliance that looked delectable.

I had the frozen pumpkin custard at Scooter's twice last week! Delicious!
I tried the pumpkin square at D'Amato's but didn't really care for it--I prefer a thinner crust. I love the cannoli, tho, at D'Amato's. I never liked cannoli until I had theirs. The shell is perfectly crisp and the ricotta is lightly sweetened. To my palate, it's a perfect combination! I wonder if pumpkin cannoli would work?