White wedding mini cupcakes by Baked by Melissa, June's flavor of the month

Yesterday I stopped by the Baked by Melissa shop on 14th Street off Union Square, one of multiple Manhattan locations, and bought one of their mini cupcake flavor of the month: wedding cupcakes. They get their cake whiter than any cake I've ever seen! The cupcake was pretty good, the best part being the Bavarian cream filling inside; obviously, these are small cupcakes, so there wasn't much in it, but there was enough. The white chocolate shavings are a nice touch too. They're $1 each, with price breaks the more you buy. Baked by Melissa also does mail order, and I learned that they sell colorful gift cards (see below) and that owner Melissa Bushell is getting married this month! Visit bakedbymelissa.com and their Facebook page for more information.

Review: peanut butter and jelly filled cupcake to make you feel like a kid again

I was taking a walk yesterday and stopped in at Empire Cake in Chelsea (Manhattan), lured in by the sign outside touting peanut butter and jelly cupcakes. On the top, there's only a small round dollop of jelly, but inside there's a lot, which is just the way I like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or cupcake. The frosting was actually very light and whipped and didn't taste as strongly of peanut butter as I would have suspected. The jelly was, I think, grape jelly, and that was thicker and I wound up scooping most of it out with a knife and pairing it with small amounts of cake and peanut butter frosting. A deconstructed cupcake is still a cupcake, right? I wish the frosting had been a bit stronger tasting, but other than that, this cupcake was definitely worth it.

Review: very crumbly but delicious chocolate red velvet cupcake at Crumbs

Today I passed by a Crumbs Bake Shop I hadn't seen before, even though it's been in Chelsea on 6th Avenue for 6 months. It was very clean and while they didn't have the candy that other Crumbs are offering, they had an array of cupcakes. I bought 2 cupcakes for a total of $7.90, the 550 calorie chocolate red velvet cupcake and the cherry blossom cupcake. I'll review the cherry blossom separately in a comparison post, but I liked the idea of chocolate red velvet because I'm not a cream cheese frosting fan, and usually that's what's paired with red velvet.







This red velvet cake was very moist and taste, and went well with the sweet and chooclatey-frosting. I'd say it's among my favorites at Crumbs, however, it was very crumbly, as evidenced below. I used the stirrer to scoop up some frosting (I didn't see any knives out) and the red velvet cake got all over my table, my hand and my Nook! Visit crumbs.com for location and cupcake information.

Review: s'mores and marshmallow cupcakes at House of Cupcakes in Princeton, New Jersey

I stopped in at Cupcake Wars winners House of Cupcakes in Princeton, New Jersey today, and bought a marshmallow and a s'mores cupcake ($2.25 each) to compare them. The s'mores had chocolate cake that I found pretty tasteless, the marshmallow had a light, spongy cake that was almost angel foodesque. What's funny is that I liked the topping on the s'mores cupcake better; the marshmallow frosting was sortof like marshmallow fluff but less sticky, and it had little crunchy sweet bits (not sure what they were) and a dollop of chocolate frosting on top. The marshmallow cupcake was good but, as marshmallow tends to be, extremely sweet, so only those with a very high sugar tolerance would I recommend that to. I've been there before and like the range of cupcake flavors they offer, and will be back, but I'd love to see the s'mores topping on a different cake. For more information, visit thehouseofcupcakes.com.


s'mores and marshmallow cupcakes

Brooklyn blackout chocolate pudding cupcakes in Manhattan

Empire Cake, located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood at 112 8th Avenue, where Lulu's Cake Boutique used to be, is selling this Brooklyn Blackout cupcake ($2.75), a chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate pudding. I stopped in yesterday and was intrigued by it. The liquidy pudding inside is delicious and sweet, while the chocolate frosting is a darker and less sweet chocolate, and all of it, including the chocolate cake, go wonderfully together. Highly recommended!

Spotlight on one of my favorite cupcake bakery discoveries: Buttercup Cakes in Santa Cruz, California

A quick spotlight on the wonderful Buttercup Cakes in Santa Cruz, California, one of my favorite bakeries I've visited on this two-week trip to the West Coast. I'll post more about them soon, but I was charmed by the old-fashionedness of the shop and the incredible taste and flavor range of their cupcakes. Blood orange/earl grey! Hibiscus! Lemon/mango! They were colorful and moist and not that expensive, and they had as many mini cupcakes as they did large ones, which is great because the minis were decently sized and, at $2, priced fairly, I believe. I think the regular size cupcakes were $3.50 but I have to check. Almost all flavors were available in both sizes, and they do custom orders.

They were very creative and carefully decorated and all the ones I tried were delicious and basically tasted like they were freshly baked and very much whatever they promised to be. Less is more, and it's their simplicity combined with their beauty that had my friends raving about them. I especially liked the German chocolate and the lemon/mango but the chocolate frosting was my favorite; it was the kind that was so rich it tastes like chocolate pudding, and the mini one I had had a raspberry on top. Thank you so much to my friend Susie for introducing me to them. I look forward to going back to Santa Cruz to try more someday. My one complaint is that they should open earlier! (Facebook says they open at noon every day, but Yelp had told me 11; phone number is at bottom of this post, I'm just used to bakeries opening early so maybe it's just me.)



From their Facebook page:

We are a local, organic cupcakery specializing in creative and seasonal flavors, custom cakes, and homemade Farm House Frosting. We also carry vegan and gluten-free options daily.

I forget what kind of berry cupcake this was but it was delicious


blood orange/Earl grey mini cupcakes (special order)





Buttercup Cakes
109 Locust Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-466-0373
sbbuttercupcakes at gmail.com

Guest Post: My Delight Cupcakery Review

Today's Guest Post is brought to you by my friend and fellow blogger, Liliana Plemons! We've known each other since high school and recently reconnected to run our website, Chronicles of a Foodie! She's a fellow foodie and was my guest at Cupcake Challenge LA back in February. We recently interviewed My Delight Cupcakery on here on CTTC but here is Lili's review on My Delight Cupcakery's treats! Her original post can be found on our website here.

When I picked up this mini cupcake from my box, I took a moment to appreciate the beauty and simplicity that went into designing a dessert that lived up to its flavor. The picture I took mostly captured the frosting and toppings, which in my opinion made My Delight one of my top three picks for best bakery.

The first bite wasn’t even about the red velvet; it was the frosting that highlighted the whole flavor experience and party in my mouth! The frosting had the classic cream cheese taste but was swirled with visible little black dots that came from the fresh vanilla bean the bakers used. However, what really captured the cheesecake-like theme were the crunchy golden graham cracker crumbs that covered the entire surface of the creamy and decadent frosting. These elements alone would have sold me and given me enough reason to decide that this cupcake was glorious and the brilliant artists behind it deserved praise, but the awe wasn’t over yet. There was a middle ingredient I wasn’t aware of at first, between the frosting and the red velvet cake. They had been glued them together with a slightly tart raspberry jam that oozed out from under the frosting after each bite. The fruit with the vanilla and the cocoa from the cake was the trifecta that all cupcakes should strive to achieve. 

On a side note, I hope this wasn’t too biased of me but a few days after the LA Cupcake Challenge I discovered that My Delight had a food truck and they were going to be in my area. I thought it would be well worth it travel to them and try out some of their other flavors in full-sized form, and man was I glad I did.

Pictured above from left to right are the vegan cookies and cream, the snickerdoodle, and finally their flavor of the week the chocolate covered strawberry. Unfortunately the snickerdoodle flavor was not for me so I have no input on it other than its appearance made my mouth water. Anyways, as I’ve said in my ‘about me’ section of this blog, I will try anything vegan if it is available on the menu because I’m curious to see how vegan recipes can evolve and how creative chefs can get with them. This vegan dessert was outstanding and by no means did it shine any less in flavor compared to their dairy-filled options. It was creamy, light and crunchy and the frosting was an exact replication of the cream filling in a Nabisco Oreo. I was impressed and now have a whole new level of respect for their craft but that wasn’t the star of my night. The chocolate covered strawberry cupcake was fantastic and damn near evil. The chocolate cake and strawberry frosting met my high expectations of indulgent flavor, but the surprise was the fresh strawberries that hid so neatly and unexpectedly in the middle of the cake. Everything was a combination of juicy, soft and a little bit messy but I’m sold on these bakers and their ideas and in the future I will be going out of my way to stalk their truck when it drives through my town.

I'm officially a fan of the compost cupcake (and a hint on how to enjoy it best)

I made it over to Cupcake Royale in Capitol Hill the other day, though I'm hoping when I go back to Seattle I will get to visit another of their stores just for some variety. Reminder, Seattle, Sunday from 11-2 is CupcakeCamp Seattle.


mini compost cupcake and whiskey maple bacon cupcake

Anyway, I was excited to try the compost cupcake with coconut, coffee grounds, oats, potato chips and more at Cupcake Royale, which comes in big and mini sizes. I chose the mini and I also bought a whiskey maple bacon cupcake. [Official description: "Moist vanilla butter cake, hand-frosted with Irish Whiskey Maple Buttercream. Made with Jameson Irish Whiskey and real maple syrup, this malted maple swirl truly takes the edge off…a sweet tooth, that is. Dusted with or without bacon crumbles from Zoe's Meats, it's true to its Irish heritage down to the tiniest tasty detail."] Sad story: I was full from my coffee and mini compost cupcake so got a to go box for the maple cupcake and a coconut one and...managed to leave them somewhere. So those I will also have to try again.


mini compost cupcake, post-bite





The compost cupcake is great for chocolate and salt lovers. There's a hint of saltiness from the potato chips that worked really well and I did sneak a little piece of bacon off of my maple bacon cupcake and that really upped the saltiness. I liked the texture on top and have to say I might go back and get a big one and just eat the top off. The cake was delicious too and the mini compost cupcake was perfect in every way and more than satisfying, though it did make me want more. I find that with any kind of cupcake that's a little less sweet, whether because it has salt or maybe fruit or whatever, I have the capacity to eat more of them versus something that's just pure buttercream or sugar overload.

Other photos from Cupcake Royale, which now sells vegan and gluten-free cupcakes daily. Visit cupcakeroyale.com for more information.

Is $33 a lot for a dozen cupcakes?

Cupcake prices have come up here before, and I will fully admit that I often pay $3.50-$3.75 in New York and other cities for a cupcake, but when I'm buying one or two at a time, it doesn't seem so high. Yesterday I bought two dozen cupcakes from Let's Cupcake SF at 2255 Judah Street in San Francisco and I guess I had a bit of sticker shock at the $66 price. What do you think?

I did not get to try such unusual cupcake flavors of theirs as pear, so I can't speak to that one, but I will be trying more soon, but I will say that the people I was bringing them to devoured them and seemed very happy. I tried a cookies and cream one that had a graham cracker bottom that was a bit crumbly but was otherwise delicious, with a very moist and sweet cake, very good frosting and a few M and Ms embedded in the frosting. I also like the name and turning "cupcake" into a verb! I found them through Yelp and had never heard of them; I didn't stay long, but it looked like a spacious local bakery and had some interesting flavors, though they also had staples like chocolate and red velvet, but more of an emphasis on more creative flavors.

I had been planning to go to Mission Minis but they are closed on Mondays (closed bakeries when I need cupcakes make me sad, but I understand needing a day off). I'm hoping to try more of their cupcakes and other Bay Area cupcakes while I'm in town this week before I head back to Seattle for CupcakeCamp Seattle. You can visit Let's Cupcake SF on Facebook and reach them at 415-702-9649.