DO YOU KNOW THE CUPCAKE (WO)MAN WHO LIVES ON BUTTER LANE?

Butter Lane
123 E 7th St, East Village

When you walk inside Butter Lane, you are transported to another era. There is the soft sound of 1940’s music in the background. Kitchen appliances and other domestic décor surround you. Immediately, you feel as if you have entered an episode of Leave it to Beaver. I was expecting June Cleaver to come out in her apron and present me with a sugary treat. This cupcake shop definitely has the most options, which would excite any cupcake enthusiast. There is a list of cake flavors as well as frosting flavors to choose from. You can mix and match basically anything you want. Since I was a bit overwhelmed by the options, I took the recommendation of an employee and had a vanilla cupcake with maple frosting. It wasn’t the best cupcake I’ve ever had, but I still enjoyed it. During my next visit, I had a chocolate cupcake with raspberry frosting. The cake was soft, but a little dry. The icing was a bit tangy-luckily, this worked very well with the sweet, chocolate bottom. The cupcake was topped with a fresh raspberry. Unfortunately, the cupcakes are a little overpriced…a small cupcake is $3. On the plus side, they offer frosting shots for $1. What a great idea, especially for those people who just want the frosting rather than an entire cupcake. I stop here very often…the cupcake combinations are almost endless. While recently wandering with my friends from college, we decided to stop inside. I was so full from dinner but of course I couldn’t resist the temptation. I had a delicious chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting. I am thrilled to say that I know the cupcake woman who lives on Butter Lane.


peace, love, and cupcakes
michy

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

Pinisi Café
128 E 4th Street, East Village

This place is a little hole in the wall that can be easily missed if you are not looking for it. At first glance, there’s an adorable cupcake sign sprawling up and down the door (see above). When you step in, you are immediately faced with a wide array of baked goodies. I was having trouble deciding between the red velvet cupcake and the rainbow cupcake. Decisions, decisions. The one employee behind the counter was of no help. He insisted that they were both equally delicious (soon after, I discovered said employee is a bad judge of cupcake character). I decided to be adventurous and chose the rainbow cupcake. First impressions were great. The cupcake had layers of fun colors with a chocolate glaze frosting. It was a pretty large cupcake for $3.50. I then proceeded to take a bite of the multicolored cupcake. It turns out adventure should NOT be my middle name. I didn’t realize that the cupcake would taste very much like Italian rainbow cookies. Now I know most people love those cookies, but I for one loathe them. The cupcake had a weird taste and was quite chewy-frosting included. I don’t care what type of taste you’re going for, frosting should not be chewy. It just wasn’t the type of consistency I look for in a cupcake. With that said, I would still give this place another shot-but next time, I will play it safe and get vanilla/vanilla.

peace, love, and cupcakes
Michy

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, MY (SOMETIMES) ONLY SUNSHINE

Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington St, Lower East Side

Sugar Sweet Sunshine is a quaint, cozy cupcake shop in the Lower Eastside. The first time my friend and I stopped here, I had a yellow cupcake with vanilla buttercream. The cake had just enough sugar in it….it didn’t taste overbearingly sweet. The icing was light but rich. My friend had a summer specialty cupcake-a strawberry cupcake which was absolutely delicious. The cupcakes all have original nicknames…so fun! Who wouldn’t want a Sexy Red Velvet Cupcake or a Sunshine Cupcake? The price is also great…$1.50 for a perfectly sized cupcake. Fast forward to a couple months later…thoughts of sugar sweet sunshine jumping in my head. I decided to get a red velvet cupcake this time…boy was that a bad decision. It was one of the worst cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. How could a place so great create such a heinous cupcake? The cupcake had buttercream frosting, which is rare for red velvet cupcakes. Most of the time they are dressed in cream cheese frosting. Red velvet cake and buttercream might just be the worst cupcake combination ever but regardless of the choice of frosting-both parts of the cupcake were disgraceful. Sugar Sweet Sunshine still holds a large place in my cupcake heart…just not all of it.

 

peace, love, and cupcakes

michy

“Who throws a cupcake-honestly?”-Dr. Evil

Babycakes
248 Broome St, Lower East Side

I have to disagree with doctor evil, I would like to (and have) thrown a Babycakes cupcake…in the garbage. I applaud this bakery for making gluten-free cupcakes but not only are they gluten-free, they are also taste-free. When I first walked in, I took a quick look at the choies and asked for a vanilla cupcake. The first question I was asked was “spelt or non-spelt?”. My response, naturally, was-“huh?”. Apparently, spelt is a regular flour cupcake while non-spelt is a wheat free cupcake for those with gluten allergies. I had a vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream for a whopping $3.25. I’m sure the high price tag is to recoup costs for expensive gluten free ingredients. The cupcake was well presented but it had a weird, grainy texture. It was very dry…it tasted more like a bran muffin than a cupcake. I tried my friend’s red velvet cupcake that I had gotten her and it had way too much cocoa in it. Big no no. You could practically taste pockets filled with cocoa in the cupcake. Being the nice person that I am, I decided to give Babycakes another try. This time, I got a specialty cupcake-the salted caramel cupcake for $3.50. I figured since it was a little more expensive, it would be a little more tasty. I was wrong. The cupcake had the same grainy taste as the first time. It tasted like unmixed pancake batter. Worst part of all, it leaves a horrible after taste in your mouth. Ick. I can see how this place is a lifesaver for cupcake lovers who are allergic to gluten…or dairy or eggs or soy or dairy. But, sorry Babycakers, a cupcake without milk, eggs, flour, or butter is not a real cupcake.

Peave, love, and cupcakes
Michy