Mon Petit Cupcake of Winona, MN

Becca Dilley / Heavy Table

If you go to the address listed on the Facebook page of Winona, MN-based Mon Petit Cupcake, you may be disappointed to find not a charming small-town bakery but the Bluff Country Co-op, out of which these cupcakes are sold.

The disappointment wears off fast. These cupcakes, which have a burgeoning national and statewide reputation, don’t initially shock and awe — they’re modest. In fact, that may be the overall reason that they’re so good — baker Jennifer Rogers imparts a sense of balance and proportion that is graceful and understated. The slightly crunchy frosting is pleasingly sweet but not dagger-to-the-brain sugary. The cake itself is moist and flavorful, but holds together beautifully. (It’s always nice when a cupcake wrapper peels right off without taking any hunks of dessert with it.)

We sampled two varieties during a recent trip to Winona: a creamy, mellow, White Wedding cupcake featuring vanilla buttercream on a bourbon vanilla cake and Oh Scarlett!, a cream cheese-frosted red velvet Dutch cocoa number that was luscious, rich, and not a ghastly face-staining red. In both cases, the cupcakes (which were $2.50 a pop) were Zen-like in their sense of harmony, and adept high-end interpretations of straight-down-the-middle American homemade cupcakes.

Mon Petit Cupcake
Available at Bluff County Co-op
121 W 2nd St
Winona, MN 55987
507.358.8504