My Weekend Cupcake Tour

This Memorial Day weekend my friend Kim and I went on a cupcake walking tour with Great New York Tours. Admittedly we were a bit surprised at how many people came out for food walking tours on a holiday weekend. But hey, people like food and to see new places around the city so why the heck not indulge in one. First things first though, Kim and I ate actual savory food pre-tour. Having done self-made tours with friends I knew that I would be craving actual food with all the sweets so better to get in some salad and soup beforehand leaving yourself ready to indulge. It turns out others on the tour did not consider this and there was some moaning as we got to our third and fourth locations (passing many eateries along the way) that the desire for something outside of sweets was vocalized. So there's a plan for you. If you're doing a walking tour of sweets only, make sure to eat beforehand or prep to do so somewhere in there.

Anywho, onto the tour! The sun was out but it started to get a might bit cloudy with the anticipation of rain. Yet it was fine for walking and scouting out shops. We all met up at the corner of Union Square Park (West) and then proceeded to our first location: Baked by Melissa.

I've had Baked by Melissa before and find the cupcakes okay. They are very much bite sized and I can gulp one down in a second (really, I can). Though the cupcakes are good and the variety of flavors do make them a catch. Melissa's first opened as a teeny shop in SoHo six years ago and has steadily grown in that time to have several locations in NYC (even in Long Island).

We got to enjoy May's mini-of-the-month which was the Neapolitan cupcake. A vanilla cake with chocolate icing and strawberry filling (that was also a dollop on top surrounded by chocolate). In one bite you got the vanilla, chocolate, and fruity strawberry flavor. I enjoyed it as did the others and I would recommend trying it before the month of May is out. Also, if you go I'd suggest the cookie dough. Really any of the minis with fillings are the ones to get for the added taste. Just their cupcake with frosting is not enough flavor, at least for me.

Next up was a staple in NYC. You may see as many Crumbs Bake Shop in Manhattan as you see Starbucks which tells you of their popularity. Crumbs is a brand I used to swear by when I was in my early 20s and they first started branching out.

At Crumbs our guide Mallory brought out a couple variety mini packs, thankfully. If you've ever been to Crumbs one of their big items was the ginormous cupcake as big as ones face. I am not joking. Check the size out. They have minis, "normal" size, gigantic, and also one ridiculously big cupcake that serves as a cake I guess.

It was first come/first serve in terms of the flavor you got and with me and Kim being in the back of the line I ended up with red velvet. (This would become a trend for the remainder of the tour for me.)

The red velvet was not good. And as I've come to see Crumbs cupcakes are not the pinnacle of cupcakes. If you should eat one cupcake before you pass on to the next life, Crumbs should not be it. The red velvet was nothing like red velvet. It was somewhat dry, the icing was buttercream (a hard buttercream) with sprinkles that was piled too high onto the cake itself. Having a grandmother of Southern roots who can make red velvet cake in her sleep has left me a bit spoiled and quite critical. Do not get their red velvet.

A bit more walking lead us to Amorino Gelato. Mallory called this the "palate cleanser" of our six-dessert course. Amorino is tres fancy and apparently this location in Greenwich village is the only one in the United States with the main being in Europe. Yes, NYC gets almost everything good.

Within minutes Mallory returned with a cup full of spoons and a tub of mango sorbet. She dug in giving each of us a healthy spoonful and we, or at least I, marveled at the creamy texture and natural flavor of mango that was so rich it really did hit all the taste buds. I don't know how much their sorbet costs but I will buy it in gallons! It trumps anything I've had by Haagan Dazs and of course the magic words are "all natural."

There was more walking along University Place passing many street vendors selling their art and a foray into Washington Square Park for brief pictures. The whole tour Mallory was giving us historical facts not just about cupcakes but about NYC locations we passed and I have to say it felt as though Mallory were made for this kind of tour. Her voice elevated, she knew when her jokes were corny, and she was efficient at each and every location taking care to make sure no one was lost or strayed too far behind.

After some walking we got to West 3rd Street and Molly's Cupcakes, a place I had passed many times, making a mental note to return there but had not actually been to.

Molly's is a fairly new cupcake establishment but is one that has some awards behind it. Most notably, to me, was the fact that the owner won the first Food Network Cupcake Wars which I used to watch on the regular.

Lucky us that we would not be getting minis but full sized cupcakes, or perhaps not so lucky as we were two-thirds of the way through a sweets tour. We got to choose our cake and our icing with the knowledge that our proceeds from doing this tour would have a portion go to a charitable organization. Sweets for a cause. I like it.

I went with the red velvet and cream cheese icing.

And I gotta tell you. I have NO regrets on that one. The cream cheese icing was perfect. Creamy, rich, with the perfect cream cheese/sugar balance. It was not too much icing but the taste heavy enough to balance out with the moist cake. Now the cake didn't have the chocolatey taste (as red velvet is basically a chocolate cake with red dye), however, red velvet is also a light chocolate cake in that it contains the powder and not many other items to enrich the chocolate taste. Yet, you should be able to sense some chocolate in there. Nonetheless, would I get this cupcake combo again? Hell yes. And a taste of the brown butter icing was exactly how brown butter tastes. Spot on, Molly's Cupcakes.

We headed up Bleecker then off into some back streets to go to our next location. Not for cupcakes but to eat part of what was in the bakery's name: Milk & Cookies Bakery. At Milk & Cookies we were treated to the salted oat cookie. An oat cookie with toffee and white chocolate bits and crystallized salt on top. The cookie was a treat, large considering we'd just had a few cupcakes. It was crumbly around the edges yet soft in the middle making it all kinds of chewy in your mouth. The toffee and white chocolate and oat mix was well done but the crystallized salt bits on top deterred in that it gave the sweetness a heavily salty kick. I would suggest a flaky salt rather than the drops of salt to be a bit more subtle. But again, a good cookie.

Our next and last stop was the original location of Magnolia Bakery before it became a thing. (Thanks Sex in the City.)

And it was at this point that the skies opened up and started to drizzle, rain, than downright pour down on us.

Under umbrellas Mallory, smartly, divided the cupcakes with the group and provided boxes so that we could take them home. Anticipating that we'd be sugared out and want to get the hell out of the rain ASAP. And what cupcake did we get from Magnolia? You guessed it, red velvet with vanilla buttercream.

Kim and I boxed our cupcakes and rushed to Five Guys to avoid the rain that continued on in heavy and light stretches for another hour or so. (Thanks Five Guys for housing us!) I ate my cupcake as we waited the rain out and talked. The buttercream in this case was a nice whipped one that worked better texture-wise than the buttercream on the Crumbs red velvet. Also, the cupcake was better than I remember. The last time I had a red velvet from Magnolia (about 3 years ago) it was not that good. This one had more of the chocolatey taste that Molly's lacked but again, I was quite upset about the pairing of red velvet and vanilla buttercream. For me, red velvet needs cream cheese icing. It requires it. Maybe that's a purist attitude or not. But it just isn't red velvet for me.

In sum, I had many tasty items and was introduced to three new eateries and was reminded of why I did or kind of liked the others I had had in the past. The tour was under 2 hours. There was fun--I'd suggest bringing a friend. Mallory was de-lightful. And for the most part the weather cooperated so that we didn't lose momentum. Well organized all around.

What I would say is that at $50/per person seems a bit high in price for what you get. But I also understand a portion goes to the bakeries and leaders like Mallory. I got this at a Groupon price and would suggest that. Perhaps the other food tours may give you more for the $50 fee but 2 mini cupcakes, 2 full cupcakes, a cookie, and a spoonful of sorbet don't quite add up to this for me and if you knew the itinerary you could get all that for quite a bit less. BUT, what you are going is for the experience and fun of it--and it is fun.

Lastly: Dear Great New York Tours, Please drop Crumbs from your cupcake line up. I know it's convenient because it's on the current tour route but there are better places! If you extended the route a bit or started it elsewhere and weaved around the Lower East Side I know you could find other places. Just a suggestion. Your friend, Jenn.

And that, was my weekend cupcake walking tour.

2013 Year in Review of NYC’s Dessert Offerings (2 of 2)

Fairytale Brownies: Brownies sent via mail? Yeah, I'd be suspect too, especially individually packaged and mass distributed but these brownies were amazingly good and like getting some freshly made. Chewy not so much fudgy, chocolatey, and a variety of flavors in bite-sized morsels (to be consumed in a speedy manner) are a treat for those who receive them. An author sent a bunch of these minis to an editor at my office and after one I had to get a couple more, for posterity. I sampled the caramel which had a line of caramel in the middle and the walnut. These brownie bites literally melted in my mouth upon eating. I would purchase dozens of these for myself and friends, but mainly for myself. (Minis come in a variety of flavors such as chocolate chip, raspberry swirl, peanut butter, expresso, and cream cheese as well as others. They also sell blondies and cookies.)

Ivy Bakery: Another interviewed vendor. Daniellan was nice enough to answer questions right around her 13th anniversary celebration. The standout item are the butter gooies and this summer Daniellan had cinnamon butter gooies. In general the butter gooie is a bar with butter and buttermilk, add in some cinnamon and it has a nice taste that ramps it up a notch in terms of reminding you of cake or coffee cake to be more precise. On a savory note: the vegan items available at Ivy Bakery are fantastic! Daniellan's crust on the spinach & cheese quiche was superior to any I've had and certainly any I have made making it the standout part of that dish. And the vegan mac n' cheese?! Yes, vegan mac n' cheese has me a convert for something that delicious that doesn't quite remind you of old school baked mac n' cheese but something a bit tangier with some kick to it and the addition of soy meat, whoa on all levels.

Pain D'Avignon: Another Smorgasburg find! The bread pudding with creme anglaise. I was eyeing this and kept, purposely, walking by the booth. It looked like it was made in a gigantic loaf pan since it holds the shape of a long loaf of bread, yet, and yet, it had the perfect bread pudding consistency and holds up well outdoors. It was solid but moist like bread pudding should be, had chunks of apples in it that were a tad tart so guessing granny smiths. There was also a lemony zing from either juice or zest but not too heavy. A great creaminess to it and heavy stuff so it's filling as a meal in itself and the portions (for $4) were wonderful. Love it!

Trois Pommes Patisserie: A co-worker shared another Cronut knockoff from this bakery in Brooklyn. Trois Pommes was filled with a creamy (kind of pudding-like) chocolate and had a harder shell and soft yet dense interior. This faux Cronut had more of a croissant flavor compared to the Crumbs doughnut flavored Crumbnut. Trois Pommes version was not very sweet which is why the chocolate ratcheted it up and the chocolate was in spades! Lots of it in the middle and between a couple layers. I prefer the Crumbs bavarian cream since it's sweeter but this is good for people who like less sweet items.

Tonnie's Minis: I like visiting the bakeries in and around Harlem and so had to make time to go to Tonnies. I purchased the sweet potato cupcake, which was adequate. Like Red Rooster the cream cheese icing was fabulous but there was a tad bit too much spice in the cupcake, perhaps too much clove? There was a slightly moist, crumbly texture which was okay but not amazing and the cupcake did contain bits of sweet potato. Perhaps their minis, not regular sized cupcakes, contain moisture better in the cake? A find cupcake but not the best NYC has to offer.

Chokolat: Again, a patisserie. However, this was a very disappointing experience for me. I got their brownie, which was huge for $2, but lackluster. What did it have? A chocolatey taste. It had the look of a dense brownie. But it did not have the goods of a good brownie. Texture makes huge difference when it comes to brownies and the texture was way too cakey for me which leads to a kind of dry tasting feel to the overall confection, meaning you need liquids to even get the darn thing down. There's another Chokolat a few blocks south of the one I got it from (closer to 125th Street) and perhaps that place makes it fresher so that I wouldn't get day-old goods.

Macaron Parlour: Like with Butter & Scotch I kinda went to town when Macaron Parlour popped up at Grub Street and Madison Square Eats last summer. And so the list goes:

• The 'Elvis' (peanut butter & caramelized bananas) macaron. Amazing! They have yet to let me down in terms of the balance of flavors in their macarons and this one is just phenomenal with the exterior crisp to the cookie and internal softness and that interior to the sandwich of the French macaron that imbues the flavor desired. I tasted the bananas and peanut butter in this one for sure, which has come to define the late King.
• The caramel apple was PHENOMENAL. (caps intended) This French macaron had sweet apples in the macaron so it was like an apple pie. I don't know how they do it but they really capture their flavors so that tastes natural. God, they're good.
• The s'mores macaron had dark chocolate and marshmallow inside the filling with a brown sugar cookie and honey cookie sandwiched together. It was fine but not my fave because of flavor combo, not necessarily the execution. The brown sugar is somewhat intense in this one from the cookie.
• The Giggity which also had marshmallow inside with chocolate but different taste from the s'more, again not a stand out for me.
• The red velvet which I still and will presumably always love. That cream cheese filling and the cookie are just divine reminding me of a good red velvet. I should bring these to my grandma and hear her verdict on them.

Levain Bakery: What defines Levain? Big ass cookies, that's what. At first I thought I was staring at scones until I realized these were the cookies (at $4 a pop). I got my cookies right out the oven so the chocolate chip walnut cookie (trademark) was melty and gooey. Even the next day the crispy exterior was no force for the chewy interior of the cookie cooled down. Delicious and very filling. A nice splurge but nothing orgasmic in terms of pricing. I may still go to old reliable Insomnia which is cheaper and closer, but Levain is worth a look-see and a once-in-awhile splurge for that cookie.

Fruition Chocolate: Their toasted white chocolate and milk chocolate are delectable. Fruition even placed in the International Chocolate Awards for their white chocolate. Their confections melt in your mouth, without the granular texture of processed chocolate, and the white chocolate has a slight dulce de leche taste to it. Milk chocolate is just fan-freaking tastic. So good. And I have to thank Jackie for introducing me to Fruition at Chocabaret.

Bibingka-esk.com: This is a Filipino dessert and I wonder what type of flour is used because the texture reminded me of a financier, which is made with almond flour. It is a homegrown business and these are quite tasty with a good consistency. I tried the minis with coconut (such a great combo) and chocolate chips. The chocolate chips overwhelmed lots of the flavor so I'd suggest some of the more subtle ones without chocolate.

Thumbs Cookies: Another new business at Grub Street. I tried the thumbs pie (two cookies put together with frosting). These are cute size, small like your thumb hence the name, and is basically a sugar covered shortbread that has a nice, buttery flavor. The filling got lost in the rest of the cookie which may be a good thing but this is a homemade dessert that definitely has that taste to it.

Eric Kayser Artisan Boulanger: And we have, yet another patisserie people. This one opened up in midtown right across from Bryant Park and is in good company with Lady M, Pain Quotidien and other sweeteries. On a walk one morning I decided to stop in and try their financiers (plain, chocolate, and pistachio). The pistachio was my fave for the nice flavor, and usually I'm not digging pistachio but the melding of flavors here was good. Just like Financier's financier there's a good balance of sugar, almond flour, and butter in small, one bite quantities. It's a nice little nubbin' of a treat. The chocolate was too chocolatey and rich for me. I like my financiers with less flavors taking away from the butter. Their plain was fine but I kind of prefer Financier's plain because of the softer quality to the cake. In addition, because I can't just get one thing at a French bakery, I got a brioche de cannelle which has cinnamon and apple. The brioche de cannelle was quite tasty but should have more bread & apple filling than crumb topping. It's a nice dessert or even brunch time treat with the brioche, cinnamon, and apples working together like a lighter fritter with the crumb topping that isn't too sweet but sorta thick. Very small in size too for the $4 price tag but delectable nonetheless.

Hot Bread Kitchen: Many of these may not be desserts but they are baked and delicious and they need to be mentioned! As you saw in my Tour of HBK I was lucky to try their freshly baked bread and more and more and more! Since then I've been addicted to their stuff since venturing during my lunch hour downtown just to get some filled m'smen and pain de muertos and Nan-E-Barbari! Cause I need this bread with my tea, people. If you want a breakdown see my tour but good God also hit up their store in East Harlem or visit them at the green markets they're at during the week. And get yourself some filled m'smen (it has kale and butter!).

Vosges Haut Chocolate: If you like Godiva then Vosges may give it a run for the money. One of the fancier flavors at Vosges is the Milk Chocolate Bacon bar. Yup, bacon is all the rage these days. But a friend introduced me to Vosges because of my love for the combo of chocolate and peanut butter in their Organic Peanut Butter BonBon Bar (which is a big seller). Vosges is luxury chocolate and you definitely taste it as the back of the packaging of any bar encourages you to invoke all your senses to the sensuality of this particular (and somewhat pricey at $8-9/bar) chocolate. The PB BonBon lives up to the hype. In one weekend I had Reese's and then the BonBon and kept going back to the BonBon bar because it had a richer/deep milk chocolate (45% cacao) taste and the PB is within the bar itself, not a slather of PB in or atop the bar. Decadent, y'all! I also had the Bapchi's Caramel Toffee Bar which is good but I may not be the biggest toffee fan when it comes to my chocolate. And I also recently had the Barcelona Bar with hickory smoked almonds and sea salt and lordy I think this is a new fave. The crunch of the almonds with the tinge of smoke to it and the sea salt with this chocolate was dinner for me one night. A $9 chocolate bar dinner that I will not soon forget. Indulge on this, y'all. At least once if you can.

Crumbs: With many places in the U.S. let alone NYC going into the Cronut craze why wouldn't Crumbs through their dough in the ring? Theirs is named the Crumbnut and I would recommend the one with bavarian cream. The cream in particular had a nice vanilla-y taste to it. Even with the flaky layers added in the Crumbnut tasted more doughnut than croissant but still very tasty and soft once you chewed it. Though it's somewhat hard to cut. The plain Crumbnut with powdered sugar is good as well but the bavarian cream makes the other Crumbnut. The plain Crumbnut tasted a bit dry without the cream in comparison.