Holy headrush, the Times has a feature on the cupcaking of New York! Reporter Julia Moskin calls the sight people toting cupcakes around, the way one would a hot dog, a sign of a trend that entrenched itself, and covers how NY bakeries are making bank off teeny little cakes. Cupcakes analyzed come from Magnolia, Cupcake Cafe, Buttercup, Amy Sedaris, Polka Dot, William Greenburg, Yura, Kitchenette, Crumbs, and Downtown Atlantic, and who better to analyze them but food critics Eric Asimov and William Grimes (though Grimes admits "A 10 year-old should be able to handle the assignment"). The best cupcakes? Mitchel London, Amy's Bread, and Sage Caterers (pictured above, left to right) won out, but as Gothamist knows, if you eat your cupcakes cake first, then frosting, you're not thinking perfect marriage of cake and frosting, you're thinking "Mmm...sugar and butter..."
Where to find these cupcakes.
Related: Ben Wasserstein gives the skinny on milk vs. soy, rice, and lactose-free milks for Slate. [Via JW]
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I thought this was urine town?
The frosting is the best part of a cupcake, hands down.
I love it! It's true. NYC is cupcake-crazy. I have been thinking about them so much lately.
I just tried the Downtown Atlantic cupcakes this weekend. They are truly are wonderful, and also the size of softballs.
I know "foodies" get all snobby about the lack of taste of the cake part Magnolia cupcakes, and I think they are right, but I don't care. I LOVE LOVE the icing. It's the perfect sugar rush.
I don't know what it is with cupcakes these days... I have recently been obsessed with making crocheted cupcakes, which is almost as good as the real thing.... but at the end of the day all you want is a real one from Magnolia!
I love frosting to a fault, and I enjoy the Magnolia cupcake especially on a post-brunch stroll, but the last time I went, I could only have one bite, it was so sugary. So I gave it to the twins' dad.
We bring in Magnolia cupcakes and cakes to our office for celebrations and events. I have to admit that I don't like their cakes as much as he cupcakes...even though they're basically the same thing. Or maybe that's why.
Have you ever counted mixers laying around Magnolia's floor? There must be two-dozen of them.
magnolia icing makes my day. i think that the cake balances out the crazy sugaryness.
and i had one from the cupcake cafe the other day, it was the most disgusting icing i have ever tasted. it was like flaovorless slime. was it an off day or are they just like that?
magnolia icing makes my day. i think that the cake balances out the crazy sugaryness.
and i had one from the cupcake cafe the other day, it was the most disgusting icing i have ever tasted. it was like flaovorless slime. was it an off day or are they just like that?
cupcakes from two little red hens in park slope are pretty and oh so yummy. The brooklyn blackout cupcake is so good it should be a controlled substance except that it's so rich there's very little chance of anyone eating more than half of one in a single sitting.
Cupcake Cafe icing is a very strict version of buttercream, I think, which is essentially just butter and sugar, but heavy-heavy on the butter, and thus can be kinda yucky when piled on and at room temperature. Magnolia's icing is buttercream too but obviously they throw in a lot more sugar than C.C. Personally ever since I made buttercream icing myself I was so grossed out by the butter content, I've been wary of the cupcake craze ever since. Not that I don't love butter, but ya know.
New York may be more of a cupcake town than most but it's not quite a cupcake town in terms of easy accessibility yet--unless you live in the right nabe (i.e. Park Slope, E Village or W Village) cupcakes are still pretty hard to come by in this city.
Cupcake Cafe frosting is worse than flavorless: it tastes like strict buttercream with _a tablespoon of food coloring in it_. Remember when you were a little kid and you dripped some food coloring straight onto your tongue from the tiny plastic bottle because you thought it would taste as good as it looked? It tasted bitter and evil, right? That's CC frosting flavor, right there. Amazingly, their full-size cakes are even nastier.
The first time I went to Magnolia Bakery, I didn't understand the appeal: "But it's just like the cakes Mom used to make for our birthdays." On the second visit, though, I got it: "It's just like the cakes Mom used to make for our birthdays!" I usually get the coconut layer cake, though--not cupcakes.
Mmm, cupcakes.
I'm a cupcake cafe fan, and I say it's the icing that's the best. You can't overdo it. One must respect the true butter cream. My friends don't all like it as much, but they like the frosting, but not the cake (which they find too dense).
CC is where I make people get my birthday cakes from.
I'm a big fan of Williamsburg / Green Point's P5. P5 who is also singer/drummer of Mz. Pac Man. Makes a mean cupcake - and delivers! The minty chocolate ones are to die for!
magnolia gives the best cupcakes in NYC but they offer the worst customer service. I was treated so badly that they didn't help me to put boxes in the bag,they didn't fold the bags and no thanks! ....is it because of my asian ethnicity? I called them up complaining and they simply said please don't come here anymore then!
Uprising in park slope has the BEST cupcakes the secret is in the "cream cheese frosting" sounds gross but it is amazing!!!! go try one.
'Wichcraft has the MOST exquisite cupcakes. They are super rich and have buttercream hidden inside. They are to die for! Everyone should try them as they put Magnolia's cupcakes to shame.
I thought I was crazy until I read hitesh's review. I think the Magnolia Bakery is biased--I was treated badly (in comparison to the caucasian customers) when I visited (I am south asian). The people in front of me got stickers on their boxes, their purchases bagged, and smiles and "have a nice day." I was handed my purchase silently; when I asked if I could have it in a bag I was given a dirty look and the bag was handed to me (no sticker either). I haven't returned since then and discourage friends from going.
Thank you so much for the honest comments. I recently moved to the east coast from California and have been disappointed by the racism I've experienced so far. Cupcakes are my passion but I'd rather take my business elsewhere if the Magnolia Bakery is racist. What's next, a white and a colored line?
Zaro's New York Bakery makes a cupcake out of the same dough they use for their chocolate babka. In the 40s and 50s every bakery in New York had a Chocolate Babka on its shelf. Now they’re hard to find and most are cheap imitations. Zaro's makes Chocolate Babka the same way people did way back when. The dough is made from butter, milk, eggs, sugar, orange paste, and other all natural ingredients. Folded into the dough are chocolate chips, liquid chocolate marble, chocolate cake crumbs and some nuts.
It's veritably impossible to support a business model on good cupcakes. Good cupcakes are prohibitively expensive to make for retail. They are, though, a delight and a treat to make at home.
Make sure you use a madeleine batter (orange genoise) for the cake. The idea of "yellow cake" is gross. Flavor yours with orange zest.
For the buttercream, use a good european butter and Scharffenberger semi-sweet chocolate. Do it the traditional way, by beating hot syrup into the whipped butter. And then beat in the melted chocolate.
The result will be the best cupcake you'll ever have. And unless your mama likes to bake, there's no other way you're going to get it.
I much prefer Cupcake Cafe cupcaked to Magnolia's. Not only because of the service problems (Magnolia is so crowded and they rush you like crazy), but also because the dense cake of the CC cupcakes is, I think, the perfect complement to their traditonal buttercream forsting. The first time I had a CC cupcake I, too, was disappointed that it wasn't sweeter-- but now I am a devotee. Their frosting takes exactly like the best truffles I have ever tasted (Mendocino chocolates) which, likewise, use a heavy not-so-sweet buttercream base for their fillings. Is it an acquired taste? Maybe. But it's by far a superior, surprising, unique experience to eat a CC cupcake!
I am thinking that the Magnolia cupcake icing is not only heavy on the butter..but perhaps they use salted rather than unsalted butter? There is something 'hot buttered popcorn' savory about that frosting...not so sweet and it leaves a greasy aftertaste....I am not a big fan of the cake either, super dry and verging upon stale even in the middle of the day. My favorite is now Eleni's...and they are half-price after 6pm. Perfectly sweet but not too sweet. Can't beat that and it's on my subway line. I am also a fan of the Whole Foods kids cupcakes...$1.29 and all natural ingredients. I also have to say that the Cupcake Cafe frosting has an odd maple taste to it and the cake stinks. They look 100x better than they taste. Thumbs up for William Greenberg too. Great frosting and nice cake too. Just my 2 cents...well maybe 5.
I don't know what you guys are talking about with Magnolia and the "racism". Have you even realized that half of their staff is african american? I love how "caucasian" people are always the ones accused of being favored. Couldn't there be any other people favored out there? Just a thought
PS) I have been there so many times. I am white, and was "helped" once by a white person. it's in quotes because she barely felt like ringing me up, and didn't tape the box or give me a "sticker". oh, and I bought one dozen which required two boxes and she didn't offer me a bag.
The point? Perhaps they just give bad service. I've had this type of service there from every race.
I agree that Magnolia Bakery has no sense of class in dealing with customers. They are so confident that they are set that they don't care if anyone comes and is treated well or not.
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I visited magnolia bakery for the first time a few wks ago. The place is cute but a little too small, considering the large crowd and the long line. I was with my friends and two gay ppl in front of us started bitching bc they thought we cut the line (which was not true btw). Theyre just cupcakes for Christ's sake!!!! Anyway, the cupcakes were tasty but way too sweet for my taste. it must be all the sugary frosting piled on top! I had to scrape some off before I could eat it. Overall they were decent and I would go back for an occasional treat. The customer service is mediocre and they do rush ppl and get testy with their customers. Oh and the african american cashiers just would not stop flirting with me, which was kind of annoying!