I had a call from work this morning - they were overstaffed for the late shift and would I like the day? Uh, yes please! Since I've used all my annual leave in lieu of sick leave, I opted for a leave-without-pay day. This turned out to be the perfect opportunity to try out Carousels Cupcakes & Coffee in Chermside (on the north side of Brisbane). I rang my Mum and invited her along, so she drove to my place and we set out across town through driving rain.

We'd both had breakfast a lot earlier and wanted 'real food' before caking it, so we were very happy to see that Carousels offered a limited snack menu. Mum and I shared a toasted ham/sun-dried tomato/cream cheese panini and drank excellent coffees while we decided which cakes to have. In the end, neither of us could decide so we ordered 4 cupcakes to start with. We halved each of them and stuffed our faces in a very scientific way. We initially tried Strawberry Fields, the Gidget, the Marilyn and Very Cherry.

• Strawberry Fields - sweet, moist vanilla cake with a gorgeous texture. Not much strawberry flavour in the cake, although there was a very welcome "strawberry surprise" in the bottom. The frosting was sweet and pink with a good crust, and although the chunks of fruit could be seen, it didn't taste much of berry. Both Mum and I really enjoyed this one.
• Very Cherry - This was a vanilla cake with chunks of cherry and dark chocolate through the batter, iced with chocolate frosting and a pink fondant heart. This one had a good overall flavour but was disappointingly dry. The frosting tasted like cheap compound chocolate.
• Gidget - I *loved* this cupcake! Light, moist cake with banana, pineapple and coconut topped with cream cheese frosting, dipped in plenty of scrummy coconut. Tasted home-made, a definite plus.
• Marilyn - White chocolate mud cake iced with white chocolate ganache and topped with a perfect glace cherry. We made the mistake of having this straight after the boldly-flavoured Gidget and initially, the white chocolate flavour didn't make itself known. After a good swig of coffee, we tried again and were pleasantly surprised with the subtle flavour and dense texture. The last few bites were a delight. Because I am such a good and loving daughter, I let Mama Bear have the cherry.

From left to right, the Gidget, the Marilyn and Very Cherry. Strawberry Fields was already in our bellies before I remembered to take a photo!

When we'd sampled the above cupcakes, Mum confessed she'd like to try a couple more flavours. In the name of research, we forced ourselves to try the Wascally Wabbit and The Fonz.

• Wascally Wabbit - moist, dense, not-too-sweet carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and finished with a tiny fondant carrot. 'Nuff said. Mum loved that it wasn't too dry, a problem she's had before with carrot cupcakes.
• The Fonz - chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream swirl. A fairly average cake with a generous swirl of very sweet chocolate buttercream. Sweet and chocolatey, great for kids and those who don't like their cupcakes too rich. I prefer a richer choc cake but can't really fault this one. I loved the tiny stripe of white in the brown of the frosting.

By this point we were both cupcaked out. Mum and I were feeling ever so slightly guilty until I thought it through and decided we'd only had 3 cupcakes each, which is about how many we would have eaten had we baked them ourselves. Our server checked on us a couple of times to make sure we were enjoying our cakes and asked for comments. We told her all the things we loved, then she said, "We welcome crtiticism too". We told her about the dryness of Very Cherry and she took it on board very pleasantly. We also suggested a guided cupcake experience - one where cupcakes are suggested in a certain order to avoid missing the more subtle flavours by eating a delicately-flavoured cake after a more robust one. A cupcake degustation menu, if you will, each cupcake paired with its perfectly-suited beverage (Earl Grey tea, espresso, lemonade etc). Our server seemed to like this idea. When we told her how far we'd come just to sample their cupcakes, she asked if we minded having our photos taken for the Carousels website "Wall of Fame". Being attention whores, of course we said yes. Keep your eyes peeled for two fat ladies without makeup and with chocolate cake crumbs in their teeth!

 The service was excellent, with the cakes presented on a large plate and both of us given our own plate, knife and cake fork. When I explained that Mum and I would be having lunch first then sharing many cupcakes, our server immediately offered to open a tab so we wouldn't have to make multiple debit card payments. The coffee was  delicious and judging by other customers' reactions, the tea was pretty good too. The shop is a sugar-sweet pink experience with plastic-fantastic multicoloured chandeliers and 50s retro vibe. Carousels sell books and cute photo frames as well as coffee and cakes, many of which I would have loved to take home. Speaking of taking things home, Mum and I both chose Ava cupcakes to take home. I got one for B (who honestly believes that all cupcakes are made from the same batter and are therefore indistinguishable from each other) and Mum got one for Eamonn. I would have loved to take Eamonn with us, being the little cupcake fiend he is, but Mum felt he'd be "beastly" if given cake in public. The total cost for our indulgent lunch and take-homes (1 panini, 2 coffees and 8 cupcakes) was $44. Not bad, considering the ridiculous amount of food involved.

As we were leaving, about 15 women entered the shop, eyes glittering at the sight of so much cake in such a pretty venue. Word seems to be spreading fast about this wonderful new business. I can highly recommend the Carousels experience to any in the Brisbane area. I'll be dragging my friends there as soon as humanly possible.