Birthday Tie Dye Cupcakes

Who wants a plain old vanilla birthday cake when you can have tie dye cupcakes instead? At least, that's what I imagined Edith thinking as her fourth birthday approached last week.

I came across the concept of tie dye cupcakes when I made Paul a rainbow cake for his birthday last year. This seemed similar but less time consuming. (Correct on both counts.)

I started with the same basic cake recipe that I used for Paul's -- the most delicious vanilla cake I've tasted. It made 24 cupcakes, although really I shouldn't have filled some of them so full and made a few mini cupcakes instead.

Then I separated the batter into six bowls, coloring each.

I riffed on the instructions I had seen, plopping blobs of batter into cupcake liners instead of making layers, mostly because my batter was thick and wouldn't easily spread. I think they turned out better like that anyway.

Next time, I might do five colors of batter, saving the sixth color for the frosting. Either way, delicious!

NYC Desserts: Brooklyn Blackout Cake at Little Cupcake

If Brooklyn blackout cake isn't my very favorite dessert of all time, it's at least in the top five.

And luckily when we lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, I could get an excellent version of the dessert only a 20 minute walk away, at Little Cupcake Bakeshop. Unluckily, I live in Ohio now.

Blackout cake is a traditional Brooklyn dessert make popular by Ebinger's, a bakery that closed in the 1970s. That cake was "a three-tiered devil’s food cake layered with chocolate pudding, slicked with dark chocolate frosting, and topped with additional devil’s food crumbs," according to an article on the website Capital.

While I can't be certain what exactly makes up the Little Cupcake version -- the website doesn't list a description -- an in-depth investigation (conducted by eating dozens of slices over several years, of course) leads me to this conclusion: three tiers of devil's food or chocolate cake separated by layers of chocolate ganache, smeared with ganache on the top and sides and covered in chocolate buttercream frosting.

I'm pretty sure I just got a cavity writing out that description.

And Little Cupcake has chandeliers, too!

I love the cake so much that it made my list of the 12 things I'll miss about living in New York, but even I have limits. Almost every time I've attempted to eat a slice of Brooklyn blackout cake by myself, I've come to regret it. It's a dessert best split by two, or gotten to go in order to eat the other half of the cake the next day.

But don't get the whole slice to go. Eating at Little Cupcake is half the fun. Browsing the delectable cakes, cupcakes, cookies and bars, pretending I don't know what I want to order, trying to find a table at a window: That's all part of the experience.

The takeaway: I love, love, love, love this cake. When Paul returns to Brooklyn in November for the New York City Marathon, I've already made him promise that he'll return to Ohio with a piece of Brooklyn blackout cake in his carry-on. Our marriage depends on it.

Desserts for the Eyes at Ruthy's Bakery

Each time I visit Chelsea Market, I can't help but slow down as I pass Ruthy's Bakery & Cafe.

The last time I was at the market, I actually went inside.

I still didn't buy anything (more about what I did buy next week), but I took a much closer look.

The highlight: "hamburger and french fries" ... made entirely of desserts. That's my kind of meal.

A hamburger and spaghetti and meatballs ... in frosting

Carlo's Bakery's Comfort Food Cupcakes

Carlo's Bake Shop cupcake -- and my keyboard

My department at work has dubbed the last day of the work week "Cupcake Friday" because we so often bring those treats to share on that day.

A couple of Fridays ago a coworker who lives in New Jersey decided to do the honors. He delivered a box of cupcakes from Carlo's Bakery, in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Sound familiar? That's the bakery featured in TLC's show, "Cake Boss." I've never seen it, but I've had the cupcakes twice. They're delicious. Not quite drive-to-New-Jersey delicious, but definitely I'll-take-three delicious.

Carlo's Bakery sells the meatloaf of all cupcakes -- the ultimate comfort food. The vanilla cake is spongy and rich, the frosting is creamy and smooth. A coworker said they are reminiscent of box-mix cupcakes, only a million times better. I agree.

New York City and its environs offer cupcakes of all shapes, sizes and flavors. Gourmet cupcakes made with rare (or at least rare-for-cupcakes) ingredients. But Carlo's Bakery? That's where you go for birthday cupcakes that won't let anyone down.

Cupcake Wars: Buttercup Bake Shop

I took advantage of my night in Midtown by checking out and checking off yet another on the long list of New York City's cupcakeries.

Buttercup Bake Shop, on 2nd Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets, is the ninth that I've tried that I can think of off hand. I suspect I've sampled more.

My overall impression: Buttercup is a great place for a dependable, no-fuss cupcake. And at $2 apiece, it's a pretty good deal. But I won't be going out of my way to try them again.

The options were pretty standard: vanilla on vanilla, chocolate on chocolate, etc. But one cupcake caught my eye. The Devil Dog had meringue frosting on a chocolate cake. It was tooth-achingly sweet, and that's not a complaint.


My other choice: German chocolate. Nothing special, but perfectly adequate.


The final word: Butter Lane still sells my favorite cupcakes, and Bay Ridge's very own Little Cupcake still has the best cake. But if you find yourself seeking a dessert to take back to your hotel room to eat while watching an Ace of Cakes marathon, Buttercup Bake Shop's will do just fine.

Cupcake Wars: Robicelli's

Oh, Robicelli's, I had just gotten to know you.

Robicelli's, the Bay Ridge gourmet market that sponsored the sandwich-making contest that (nearly) made Paul a star, has shut its doors to focus on it's cupcake-making venture.

The bad news: After our supply of ale-and-mustard cheese runs out, that's it.

The good news: I can still get Robicelli's cupcakes in the neighborhood.

Robicelli's has gotten accolades from bloggers and cupcake enthusiasts throughout the city for its unique flavors and creamy frosting. They've been sold at the market all along, but I had my first one only about a month ago.

The "Tres Leches" was a brown butter cake with dulce de leche buttercream frosting and a caramel shard on top. The frosting was smooth and delicious, and it somehow seemed totally inappropriate that I was savoring it while watching the Matrix Reloaded on TV.

But even though the store is closed, the cupcakes will still be sold in another store/cafe a few blocks away. Good, because I have so many more to try ...

A sampling of flavors.

Cupcake Wars: Eleni's Half-Price Cupcakes

Any place that gives me free cupcakes has a customer for life.

I found out about the half-price cupcakes at Eleni's in Chelsea Market shortly after we first moved to New York. Even without that incentive, I like visiting Chelsea Market, browsing the gourmet food stores and peaking through the windows of the tasty-looking restaurants.

And the building's pretty cool too. It's an old Nabisco factory, where the Oreo was invented (if Wikipedia can be trusted). Nowadays stores and restaurants are on the bottom floor, while the Food Network, Google, MLB.com and other franchises have offices on the upper floors.

But back to the cupcakes. Eleni's offers half-price cupcakes the last hour before closing each day. Paul and I just happened to be walking by the market at 6:55 p.m. on a Saturday, so there was no way I was going to pass up a cupcake for $1.50, especially ones as good as Eleni's.

With only five minutes until the doors locked, there obviously wasn't much of a selection. It didn't take long for Paul -- who always chooses whatever sweet sports the most unnatural color -- to pick out a chocolate cupcake with about an inch of purple frosting, while I pointed at the blue. At the last moment, the cashier added two more brightly-colored cupcakes on the house.

The going rate for cupcakes in Manhattan and Brooklyn is $2 to $2.50, so getting four cupcakes for $3 is a delicious coup.

Eating My Way Through New York

I felt like a bit of a glutton on Saturday in the best possible way.

I made plans to drag Paul to three places in Manhattan, and they all involved food. Good food.

First up, the 34th Annual Ukrainian Festival. We're still trying to sample as many different cuisines as we can, and Ukrainian hadn't yet been crossed off the list. I've liked the Eastern European food I've tried and figured this would be similar. And besides, where am I going sample Ukrainian food that's more authentic then at a church festival with booths manned by grandmas?

It lived up to expectations. I had two delicious dumplings (which I think were really peirogis), stuffed cabbage filled with rice and meat and some type of small pastry topped with powdered sugar. I also tried Paul's sauerkraut and sausage.



Dinner came with a show on the outdoor stage-- first some traditional dances followed by a Ukrainian pop singer. Only in New York would I ever see a Ukrainian pop singer. Well, New York and the Ukraine.


The street festival was only a couple of blocks from my favorite cupcakery, Butter Lane, so of course we couldn't leave the East Village without a sample. But that wasn't it for desserts. Next it was off to the Shake Shack.


The Shake Shack is an outdoor eatery in Madison Square Park (adjacent to the famous Flatiron Building) that specializes in burgers and custard. We saved the sandwiches for another time. I came for the flavor of the day: red velvet custard.

The pieces of cake were underwhelming, but the custard itself was creamy deliciousness and exceeded my expectations. What's more, the weather was beautiful and it was easy to find a table in the park despite the 30+ minute wait in line. We'll be returning.

Cupcake Wars: French vs. American at Butter Lane

For weeks I had planned a frosting face-off at Butter Lane, a small cupcake shop in the East Village. Most all dessert shops feature American buttercream, but Butter Lane is unique in that it offers French buttercream as well. I'd never sampled French buttercream, so I was eager for a sample.


The night Paul and I were there Butter Lane had 13 icings to choose from, but the French buttercream was available only in chocolate and vanilla.

That made things a bit easier. Cupcake #1: vanilla French buttercream on a vanilla cupcake.


But what about #2? Lemon icing? Mango icing? Too many choices! Finally we settled on blueberry American buttercream on a vanilla cake.


The American buttercream was just as you'd expect: extremely sweet from all of the powdered sugar. No complaints. The French buttercream, however, was light like a meringue. No surprise there. French buttercream is made from egg whites and granulated sugar.

The winner? The frosting was a toss-up, but the cake itself stole the show. It is the cake by which you judge all other cakes. Not too moist, not too dry. Not too crumbly, not too firm. Perfect. Better yet, the top of the cake just where it meets the frosting was just a tad crunchy almost like a struesel. Delicious.

Unfortunately, Butter Lane has only a small bench inside the tiny shop, and another outside. It would be best to get these to-go ... if you can make it that far.

Cupcake Wars: Brownie vs. Blackout at Crumbs

In a serious effort to sample as many of New York City's cupcakes as humanly possible, I dragged Paul to yet another cupcakery last Saturday night. Don't worry- he certainly was not an unwilling test subject.

This time we visited Crumb's Bake Shop in the Village. Crumbs has several locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and California. The cupcakes are also carried by other retailers. I try a different Crumbs cupcake at Dylan's Candy Bar when my book club meets there each month.

This time I chose the brownie cupcake:


Paul picked the blackout:



I'll admit that $3.75 apiece is a little steep, but it's oh-so-worth it. You'll never find a bigger cupcake. The top is larger than the palm of my hand. Like the s'mores cupcake I profiled, the best part is hidden in the middle: a chocolate-filled center.


The two cupcakes were extremely similar. Both seemed to have the same rich chocolate frosting and filling. Mine had a few stale brownie pieces on top, while Paul got the more appealing cookie crumbs.

With about two dozen cupcakes to choose from, Crumbs doesn't have a bad looking one in the lot. But some certainly taste better than others. The frosting at times can be a bit bland and underwhelming.

Which one do I try next? I think the Baba Booey. Suggestions?

Cupcake Wars: S'mores Cupcake from ChikaLicious

Last night I sincerely started hoping that Paul and I would get into a fight sometime soon. I've already told him he can skip the "I'm sorry" flowers. Just get me a s'mores cupcake and all is forgiven.

I recently discovered Blondie and Brownie, and it quickly became my new favorite New York City foodie blog. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on desserts, and reading their posts showed me how much I still have left to eat.

When we're craving dessert, Paul and I almost always go to the neighborhood cupcakery, Little Cupcake. It's become a near-weekly tradition. But last night we were going to be in the neighborhood of NYU (I convinced Paul to accompany me to Peanut Butter & Company-- yet another tasty treat), so I decided to see what B&B would recommend.

A post on the s'mores cupcake caught my eye, and the location was right. So last night we were off to the Dessert Club ChikaLicious for some snacks to-go.

The cupcake surpassed my expectations for tasty goodness. It's a gingerbread-like cake topped with lightly toasted marshmallow "frosting." The real treat is the chocolate filling. It's like biting into a cupcake truffle.

I have a growing list of cupcakes to try in the city, but this one'll be tough to beat.

Cupcakes and pancakes

I am in NYC by myself for the first time. And while I wasn't looking forward to Paul being gone, I am trying to take advantage of the time by doing things I know he would hate.

Paul left early Saturday morning to visit his family for the week (I'm joining him Thursday night, followed by a wedding in Indiana on Saturday and my sister's bridal shower on Sunday). That means I have to make my own fun for nearly a week.

I did this on Saturday by eating only pancakes and cupcakes. Chocolate chip pancakes for brunch, followed by a chocolate cupcake at Magnolia Bakery, made famous by Sex and the City. The frosting was delicious, the cupcake itself was average, and the wait was horrendous. Thirty minutes for a cupcake? I probably won't be returning.

I spent the afternoon exploring Washington Square Park and the West Village. Later in the day I walked around the Upper East Side and passed Marymount Manhattan College. I remember getting a mailing from this them in high school, and I vaguely wanted to attend (mainly because of the word "Manhattan" in the name).

The weather was beautiful-- the first warm, sunny weekend this spring, I think. Tons of people were out, and the sidewalks were filled with diners. I can't wait to visit a few.

On the way home I stopped at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, another bakery I've wanted to visit. It has tons of stuff with nuts, so it was ideal to try while Paul was away. Indeed, I walked away with an Ooey Gooey (chocolate cupcake with chocolate almond buttercream) and a Lemon Yummy (lemon cake with lemon buttercream). I may have to change my search for the perfect cannoli into the search for the perfect cupcake. What a tough job.

My day o' cakes continued with vegetable pancakes for supper. Honestly, I'll take pancakes and cupcakes over meat and potatoes any day.

Never a bad time for a cupcake

Paul and I have started a ritual of visiting the Little Cupcake every week or two. Cupcake bakeries seem to be fairly common throughout New York (and I believe there was even one opening in the Columbus suburb of Worthington shortly before we moved, so I think it's spreading).

I love the Little Cupcake because of the ambiance (chandeliers on the ceiling and bright pink to-go boxes, for starters), the frosting (rich buttercream and others) and the hours (open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). Paul likes the coffee and neon frosting. When it comes to dessert, the more unnatural the color, the better he likes it.

I've actually never had a whole cupcake there. I go straight for the three-layer cakes. Brooklyn Blackout, Coconut Cloud, Oreo and my favorite, German Chocolate. And I still have so many more to try!

Also, they decorate for the holidays. This photo was taken shortly after we moved here, as you can tell from the pumpkin in the background. At Christmas, a huge tree sat in the window, which was especially nice since we didn't have one in the apartment. Last night I noticed the Valentine's Day decorations.

Anyway, if you pay us a visit and are in the mood for sweets, this is where I would take you. Unless you want a cannoli, put that's a whole different post.