Hello, cupcake

I have a few passions. Mostly they relate to shoes and food, cupcakes in particular. Love the cupcakes.
I spent a recent Saturday night home alone with these.
Have you heard about Cold Stone Creamery's cupcakes?
The idea is pretty brilliant, actually. Layer cake with fudge, a fat scoop of ice cream and top it with light-as-air whipped cream frosting and stick the whole shebang into an edible chocolate cup.
Sounds great, doesn't it?
Which is why I obsessed about them for days after spying the sign in a window at a Cold Stone in Phoenix. When I got the opportunity, I brought home a six-pack.
You've got three options — sweet cream ice cream paired with vanilla cake; cake batter ice cream paired with red velvet cake and chocolate cake topped with chocolate ice cream.
After sampling, I'd give them a resounding, "meh."
Now, I realize that Cold Stone peddles ice cream, but still these cupcakes need more than a paper-thin layer of cake to go with all that ice cream. C'mon cake and ice cream are the perfect pairing. I found myself shattering the brittle chocolate shell and trying to scoop up a little with each bite of ice cream because it just needed something.
While I'm typically not a fan of whipped topping frostings, it worked well in this case because one of the worst things ever in a frozen dessert is rock-hard icing.
Apparently, the cupcakes are only available for a limited time, probably while Cold Stone gauges their popularity and whether it's worth it to add 'em to the regular menu.
The "cakes" sell $9.99 for a six-pack. In their current incarnation, I'm not rushing to get another batch. But, if Cold Stone tinkered with the cake-ice cream ratio, I could be lured back.