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Something Sweet
177 1st Ave, East Village
One beautiful afternoon following a delicious brunch, my friend Amanda and I decided to hit a little bakery in the East Village aptly named “Something Sweet”. We were in the mood for, well, something sweet (not sick of the puns yet?). Most of the baked goods looked delicious. The cupcakes? Not so much. They just did not like look right, but I had to take the risk. I checked out the cupcakes and they were light brown. Bad news bearcats. I knew by the color that the cupcakes were overbaked. Ick. After very little pondering (there weren’t many options), I chose the vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing. Besides the fact that the cake was dry and indeed overbaked, the icing made the cupcake even worse. There is a huge difference between icing and frosting even though sometimes people use the two interchangeably. Icing is stiff and hard, whereas frosting is usually softer and creamier. For example, when icing dries and you were to pick at it, your finger would still be clean. With frosting it is usually the opposite. I do not approve of icing on cupcakes. Icing is meant for decorating cookies. Anyway, the cupcake was $1.50- cheap, but I’d rather shell out more money for a cupcake with real frosting. Next time I want something sweet, I’ll go somewhere else.
peace, love, and cupcakes
michy
One Girl Cookies
68 Dean St, Cobble Hill
I trekked all the way to Cobble Hill, Brooklyn to test out this place. As per the name, the basis of One Girl Cookies is, obviously, cookies. What a happy surprise that they have created such delicious cupcakes also. I had the vanilla with vanilla buttercream as well the chocolate with vanilla buttercream. The cake parts of both cupcakes were very moist and delicious. The frosting designs on the cupcakes are really original. The cupcakes are decorated with spikes and several different colors of frosting, which is completely different from the basic designs of most other cupcake shops. The design also allows for less frosting to be used, which is a nice change from the bakeries that put 20 pounds of frosting on one cupcake. Cupcakes need to have the perfect icing to cake ratio. Too much or too little of either can wreck a cupcake. The cupcakes cost only $2-which made me very happy. Not too cheap, but not too expensive where I would have felt guilty if I didn’t enjoy it. One Girl Cookies was out of the way but so worth it. I’ll be sure to stop here anytime I’m in the area.
peace, love, cupcakes
Michy
Burgers and Cupcakes
458 9th Ave, Hell’s Kitchen
While I enjoy burgers and I (obviously) love cupcakes, the concept of eating them together or one after the other is completely unappealing. Despite this, I had to try this place. This restaurant actually has a decent amount of cupcake options but none of them really stood out either time. During my first visit I had a red velvet cupcake which was served with a glass of a water in a mason jar. Cute. Sadly, the cup of water was more mouthwater than the cupcake. The cupcake was just OK. A bit dry, kind of tasteless, but the cream cheese icing was decent. The next time I had a hardcore chocolate chocolate cupcakes with heart sprinkles (it was Valentine’s Day). The cupcakes were $2.50…although I believe they have larger cupcakes that are more expensive. These cupcakes aren’t that great so I wouldn’t shell out anymore than $2.50 for them. The cupcakes are mediocre, but the décor of the restaurant is even worse. There are lots of tables and seating but you feel like you are sitting in an unfinished basement. Doesn’t make you want to stay in there for longer than it takes to purchase the cupcake. Next time, I will skip the cupcakes and have a burger instead.
peace, love, and cupcakes
mishila
Spot
13 St. Mark's Pl, East Village
This hidden café on St.Mark’s Place is very welcoming once you "spot" it. There are lots of yummy looking Japanese desserts on display. During my first visit, I chose the Vanilla Caramel Viatnamese Coffee cupcake. The coffee flavor was too domineering. For $2.75, I was not impressed. I commend their original flavors but I am a basic vanilla/vanilla kind of girl. The second time, I decided to give the cupcakes another try. I had the vanilla coconut almond cupcake. The cake part tasted like an irresistible sponge cake. Very different from the other vanilla cupcakes I’ve tried. I’m not really a fan of coconut but you could hardly taste it in the cupcake (is this good or bad? I’m not sure). I also had a bite of my friend’s cupcake…a Mocha Molden Salt Caramel cupcakes. I could taste the mocha part but not so much the salt/caramel-which, again, was fine with me. This cupcake, unlike the Viatnamese Coffee Cupcake, didn’t have such a potent coffee flavor which made the cupcake all the more edible. All of the cupcakes are very visually appealing-almost all of them have a pretty design make out of edible luxuries. Next time, I may cheat on my cupcake s and have an ice cream sundae-they looked absolutely sinful.
Peace, love, and cupcakes
Michy
Cupcake Café
18 W 18th St, Flatiron
Striking cupcakes. Striking bakery. Not so striking taste. The designers of the cupcakes at Cupcake Café are truly artists. The floral patterns on each cupcake are detailed, beautiful, and colorful. The cupcakes, however, are not as delicious as one would hope. What distracts you from the taste of the cupcakes is the layout of the bakery. Cupcake café on one side, children’s library on the other. There are tons of tables to sit at and chat with friends. There are dancing cupcakes hanging from the ceiling (see above). Anyway, back to the important stuff. The first taste I took was of a vanilla/vanilla cupcake. The whole cupcake was just…tough. I didn’t feel the immediate sugary rush of moistness when I bite into a well-made cupcake. My second taste was of the chocolate cupcake with mocha buttercream. Just as bad. I had a few bites and threw the rest out. Oh the risks I take for my cupcake adventures. When you cut into a cupcake, it should crumble a bit-not stick together uniformly. This is possibly partly due to the cupcakes being refrigerated. I understand that these cupcakes in particular need to be refrigerated so the intricate designs don’t melt but taste should never be sacrificed for appearance, especially when it comes to cupcakes. The $2.50 price tag is way too high for a tiny cupcake. This bakery had such potential. What a shame that the bakers are more preoccupied with outer cupcake beauty rather than inner.
peace, love, and cupcakes
michy
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
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
