{"id":16456,"date":"2014-12-03T17:37:53","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T17:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=16456"},"modified":"2014-12-03T17:37:53","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T17:37:53","slug":"dining-cream-by-crystal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/dining-cream-by-crystal\/","title":{"rendered":"DINING: CREAM BY CRYSTAL"},"content":{"rendered":"

CREAM BY CRYSTAL<\/h1>\n

A few years ago, I discovered these bite-sized cheesecake confections at a Gifting Suite. I immediately knew that my audience would love to know about them, so I subsequently featured them on my television show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue<\/em>, to rave reviews from my audience.<\/p>\n

Cream By Crystal has grown since then, with Crystal herself going on to be on the winning team of a Cupcake Wars<\/em> segment. So, everyone must love them, but you know me–I’ll be the judge of that!<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This is one of the pictures from the beautiful website.<\/p><\/div>\n

To that end, I assembled my own reviewing panel to break it down for you guys. We did a tasting of seven of the most popular flavors, of both the full-on cheesecake bites and the ones with a bit of cake added in. The group was Mr. X, Brad, Chris, and me. Rather than writing who said what, I’m just putting the top comments from the other three in quotes. If it’s not in quotes, it’s coming directly from moi<\/em>. Mr. X actually said, \u201cThey’re all<\/em> favorites!\u201d<\/p>\n

Here goes:<\/p>\n

Salted Caramel–This hottest flavor of the moment, topped with a dollop of vanilla bean mascarpone, was deemed \u201cfluffy,\u201d \u201cdelish,\u201d and \u201cscrumptious.\u201d \u201cThey really hit the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Velvet\u2014This was my<\/em> fave! The combination of red velvet-flavored cheesecake on a chocolate cookie crust was mouth-watering. (So much so that I ate all three of these tidbits by myself!)<\/p>\n

Chocolate Chip–\u201cYou can never go wrong with anything<\/em> chocolate chip! But to have several chips in one cheesecake bite made it really pop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strawberry–\u201cIt has a strawberry shortcake feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spicy Chocolate\u2014This flavor, that was a cheesecake\/cupcake combo, was too spicy for wimpy me, so I let the others eat all three of them. \u201cAlthough spicy usually doesn’t work for me, it sure did in this one!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pumpkin\u2014This is such a holiday treat. Paired with a cup of hot chocolate and whipped cream, (or better yet\u2014marshmallows,) it’s a winner. And it’s not available after the holidays, so you need to gobble it up now<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Original with Butterfingers topping– \u201cVery creamy cheesecake.\u201d \u201cThe creative topping made it special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since I was the first member of the media to feature these treats, (on my aforementioned show, and also in my daily column for Beverly Hills People<\/em>,) I’m so proud of how far Crystal has come. And it’s her birthday on Friday, too, so what better way to celebrate than to be celebrated<\/em> in print this way!<\/p>\n

I suggest that, if you’re interested, you get your order for the holidays in now. (And for my<\/em> bday! But you have till January 14 for that!) I do need to remind you that, even though the pictures on the site look like full cupcake-size treats, these are minis. Two-biters at most. And even though Mr. X deemed them \u201csurprisingly filling for their size,\u201d I suggest you order accordingly. They’re so delicious that I would order at least four or five per person. Unless you’re having a party with all models<\/em>. In that case, you don’t have to order any<\/em> desserts! Nor food, at all, actually.<\/p>\n

[Note: Trying these inspired me to do my own baking over the holiday. Of my results, let’s just say that now we know why Crystal<\/em> is the baker and I’m<\/em> the writer!]<\/p>\n

www.creambycrystal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CREAM BY CRYSTAL A few years ago, I discovered these bite-sized cheesecake confections at a Gifting Suite. I immediately knew that my audience would love to know about them, so I subsequently featured them on my television show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, to rave reviews from my audience. Cream By Crystal has grown since then, with<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-restaurant-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16456"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16463,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16456\/revisions\/16463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}