Cupcake Fest 2009

Disclaimer:  My opinions are mine alone, and you do not have to agree with them.  I can’t tell you where to find the best cupcake in New York, I can only tell you where to find some that I like.

 

Cupcake-fest 2009 was decadent.  It began with a plan.  A carefully mapped-out route of some of NY’s sweetest establishments.

I joined the fun for days two and three of this four-day excursion, so I have yet to hit up all of these bakeries.  But here’s my two cents about what I ate…

Magnolia.  The classic.  You have to go because this is where it all started.  Not my favorite cupcake, but worth the trip so I could stand outside and say things like “I love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling” and “what they were rapping about was cupcakes and The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Crumbs.  To date, Crumbs makes my favorite vanilla vanilla.  And they sell minis!

 

Sugar Sweet Sunshine.  All the way down on Rivington, LES.  Their pumpkin was the best cupcake of the trip.  And at $1.50 a pop. you have to wonder if you’re eating something not too many people know about yet.

Amy’s Bread.  Not my favorite vanilla vanilla, but I hear the chocolate is delicious.

Billy’s.  Best red velvet.  Perfect cream cheese frosting.

Buttercup.  Magnolia’s step-sister.  Though I would pick my lemon cupcake recipe over theirs, I would kill for their frosting recipe.  Plenty of pucker.

And finally, Cupcake Tea at the Ritz.  Though really, it was the hot chocolate that was unforgettable here.  I wouldn’t be suprised if you told me it was made with half and half.

Would you believe me if I said I need about a week before I can look at another cupcake?  I didn’t know the limit of my sweet tooth until this past weekend.

If you’re in New York over the holidays, find the nearest bakery and let me know how things turn out.  And if the Big Apple isn’t in the cards for you, try this, this, or this to hold you over until the real thing comes along.