East Village Cupcake Tour

Staying in New York for Spring Break has its perks. For one thing, I got to go on a FREE cupcake tour of the East Village with some people from my dorm. Free and cupcakes? In one sentence??? How could I resist. This is my opinion of the 5 shops we visited, accompanied by lots of pretty pictures!

Bakeries:
Magnolia Bakery
Crumbs Bakeshop
Sugar Sweet Sunshine
Butterlane
Tonnie’s Minis

Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker Street NYC 10014

Were you surprised that this one was my least favorite of the tour? Well you shouldn’t be! Things that are too hyped up usually disappoint (low expectations = no disappointments!). The bakery itself was really pretty – I loved that everything was out for people to see and grab and you could watch the lady in the corner decorating the cupcakes. This bakery gets #1 in décor; it’s beautiful and reminds me of a tea party. I got the chocolate cake with yellow vanilla frosting. I was really disappointed with this one. The chocolate flavor of the cake was good, but it was dry and crumbly and not what I expected by the line that snaked out the door. The frosting hardens if it’s not eaten fresh, so you have to eat it the moment you get it! My frosting however, was hard the moment I got it so it wasn’t that enjoyable. Its not too sweet though, which is good, but it’s not something to write home about – no distinctive quality screams out to me. If you’re gonna go here, try the banana pudding instead! The nice man behind the counter gave us a sample and it was delicious! I need to go back and buy that huge bowl behind the counter!
My ranking for this one? - #5





Crumbs Bakeshop
37 E. Eighth St., New York, NY, 10003

Crumbs was the first stop on our list, and the one I was least excited about because I’ve had them before. Their cupcakes are on steroids if you compare them to the others! Two people could easily split one cake and still be slightly nauseous after. The cupcakes were just okay – too sweet for my taste. I got the Brownie Cupcake because I was craving chocolate. The frosting was not as sweet as I expected, but the consistency was slightly oily – I can feel my ateries clogging with every swallow. I like it because there was fudge filling inside too. The cake was pretty moist, but I didn’t like the flavor of it too much. It wasn’t quite as chocolatey as I expected and there was a weird aftertaste. I could only handle a sliver of this one and had to wash it down with tons of milk.
My ranking for this one? - #4




Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington St. NYC 10002

Just the name of the bakery made me happy. I loved the atmosphere in here. Its feels very homey and comfortable. I got the Pumpkin Cupcake with cream cheese frosting. The cake was more like a muffin than a cake and a bit greasy, but still really good – it had a nice balance of spices without being overpowering or too sweet. It was also really moist and held up in the fridge. I liked the frosting but wished it could have been more tart. I suspect they used brown butter for the frosting, which I have no complaints about. The toasted walnuts on top were also a nice touch.
My ranking for this one – #3







Butterlane
123 East 7th Street, NYC 10009

Our next stop was Butterlane Cupcakes. Butterlane is unique in that they specialize in different types of frosting. They offer 3 types of cake – Chocolate, Vanilla and Banana and over 10 types of frosting (can’t remember the exact number). There was a tray where you could sample the different frostings, so I of course I had to sample each one (some more than once)! They offer two types of chocolate and vanilla – French and American. I personally like the French frostings because they have a lighter but somehow richer, stronger taste – especially the chocolate one! After much debate, I decided on a banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting. The frosting was amazing – I really loved it! They didn’t overload it with frosting, like at crumbs. It was tart and not too sweet and really light. The cake was super banana-y! it even had a chunk of it inside and denser than the other cupcakes we tried. Jack, the RA that I went with commented that the two elements seemed disjointed; they tasted great separately but didn’t do much to compliment each other. Either way, this one was really good and the rest of the group ranked this high on the list
My ranking for this one? – #2





Tonnie’s Minis
120 McDougal Street, NYC 10012

This one was the unknown of the group, but I had been there previously. They were skeptical because it did not look all decked out and fancy like the other bakeshops and shared half of its space with a cheesesteak restaurant. However, I assured them that the cupcakes were awesome. I had the Golden Heart – which is a yellow cupcake with red velvet cake inside and topped with cream cheese frosting. The cake here is super moist and the frosting was super buttery and delicious. I like this one because they give you just the right amount of everything; they don’t overload on frosting or sugar or use supersized cupcake pans. This one was my favorite. But it was a close tie with Butterlane. I chose this one as my favorite however because everyone likes an underdog!
My ranking for this one? - #1




I don’t think I’m gonna be eating anymore cupcakes for a while -_-