The Best Cupcakes in NYC...

One my favorite things about New York is the abundance of cute little bakeries and coffeeshops. I love it. If I had the time/money/metabolism to visit a different one each day, I would do it in a heartbeat.

That being said, I have had the chance to try out quite a few bakeries while being up here. I've visited several different places, but my work also serves "Cupcakes & Cocktails" every other Wednesday, which has allowed me to test out a few cupcakes without ever leaving my desk.

Being a completely unofficial self-proclaimed cupcake critic, I decided to make a list of some of the bakeries I've been to along with my opinions.  In my defense, even though I'm no professional baker, I do love to make cupcakes and have been told they're quite good :)

Note: I have not been to ALL the bakeries in NYC - that would take hours upon hours of exercise :) However, these are a few places worth visiting if you're in the area. I'm sure there are plenty of other wonderful bakeries up here, but I unfortunately haven't been able to visit each one. 

1. Sprinkles Cupcakes - The Original Cupcake Bakery

• Sprinkles is known for starting the cupcake trend, so I had high expectations going in. If you've ever watched the show Cupcake Wars,  one of the judges, Candace Nelson, is the founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes. They did not disappoint. I had the raspberry cupcake with raspberry icing. So delicious - very impressed. 

2. Georgetown Cupcake - Soho

• If you've ever seen the show DC Cupcakes, then you're familiar with Georgetown Cupcake. The bakery is based in DC, but thankfully they have one other location in Soho. I've been there twice now and have been impressed both times. I got a salted caramel cupcake the first time and a key lime pie cupcake the second. 

3. Baked by Melissa

• Baked by Melissa specializes in mini cupcakes. These aren't the mini cupcakes you make in a mini muffin pan, they're even smaller - literally bite-size cupcakes. The upside is that you can try out several different flavors. The downside? Not quite as filling. I've tried several different flavors now and loved them all. They are so cute and extremely moist, which can be hard to achieve with mini cupcakes. 

Here's a picture from their website to give you an idea of what they look like. 

4. Crumbs Bake Shop

• Remember that time I raved about Crumbs' Apple Cobbler cupcake? And then I went back and my chocolate peanut butter cupcake was super dry? So sad.  I couldn't believe it. I had fallen in love at first bite with their Apple Cobbler cupcake, and then been slapped in the face when I went to get more. Come on Crumbs - I need you to redeem yourself. 

My love. 

5. Molly's Cupcakes

• I haven't been to the actual storefront in the West Village, but my work served these one week at "Cupcakes & Cocktails" and they were amazing. I got the red velvet and it was wonderful, but everyone also raved about the other flavor being served which was some kind of banana cupcake with chocolate frosting. Apparently you can create your own cupcake (pick your base, filling and frosting) in the store and they make it right in front of you. Highly recommend this place. 

6. Magnolia Bakery

• This bakery has made quite the name for itself,  partly due to its appearances on Sex and the City and mentions on various shows and movies. However, I had one of their Orange Meringue cupcakes and wasn't impressed, so technically it shouldn't be on post titled "The Best Cupcakes in NYC." The icing is extremely light (which some people like) and the cake was a little dry. I've heard their other desserts are delicious, so it's definitely worth checking out. 

I've tasted cupcakes from a few other places, but maybe I'll save those for another post. Plus, I don't want you to think I just gorge myself on cupcakes all the time :) I'm only up here a few more weeks - might as well test out as many as I can, right?

If you're ever in New York, please eat a cupcake for me!

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

Whenever I volunteer to bake something for a party/get-together/birthday, I always have so many recipes I could make. However, for some reason I always feel the need to try a new recipe instead of making something I've made before. I usually end up wasting an hour browsing the internet before I choose something to make.

Last week was no different. I volunteered to make a dessert for my small group get together. I could have made my tried and true chocolate cupcakes, but of course I wanted to try some new chocolate cupcakes. I found these Heath Bar Cupcakes from Your Cup of Cake and decided to try them.

Chocolate Buttercream Cake:
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Caramel Filling:
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup caramel (store bought or homemade)

Caramel Buttercream:
½ cup butter
8 oz cream cheese
2-4 tablespoons caramel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners.
2. Combine buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
3. Slowly mix in cake mix and add sour cream.
4. Fill liners ¾ full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
5. Caramel Filling: Whisk sweetened condensed milk and caramel together.  Pour into a squeeze bottle if one is available and insert tip into each warm cupcake fill as desired.  If you do not have a squeeze bottle, hollow out a little circle at the top of each cupcake and spoon the mixture into it.
*My caramel mixture was pretty thin and the cupcake soaked it up. I added the cake I spooned out back into the cupcake so I didn't have a big hole.
6. Buttercream: Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add caramel, vanilla and powdered sugar.  Then adjust consistency using milk and powdered sugar.  Beat well.
7. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with melted chocolate and a piece of a Heath Bar.

I didn't add the Heath Bar on top and instead just drizzled caramel. The picture on the blog I got the recipe from is beautiful and had really stiff icing. The icing I made wasn't stiff at all. It didn't hold my swirl when I piped in on the cupcake. I should have used my go-to cream cheese icing and just added a little caramel. However, the cake was pretty good. Not quite as rich or dense as my regular chocolate cupcake recipe, but it was really moist because of the caramel filling. I would make the cupcake recipe again, but definitely not the icing.

Here is a picture of my cupcake. You can see how the icing just kinda spread out over the cake.

Fall, Food and Football

Those three words sum up my weekend. This cooler, crisp weather has been amazing! Also, my awesome roommate snatched the last two cans of pumpkin from the shelves of Wal-Mart for me. The best part about that is that I didn't even have to go to Wal-Mart! While Wal-Mart may have had pumpkin all along, I try to avoid going there at all costs. Yes, Wal-Mart is a great way to save money, but I also have to prepare mentally each time I go there and pray for an extra dose of patience in the morning. Especially at Christmastime.

Back to the current season. On Friday, I celebrated fall by going apple picking at Sky Top Orchard. Here's a few pictures from our afternoon...

This is me giving Andrew the usual "can we please just get one normal picture?" speech. He doesn't look too concerned. Notice there are not any other pictures of us on this post. That's because we never got a normal picture. 

My and one of my roomies

Yummy!

While I haven't made any apple recipes yet, I did make some delicious pumpkin cupcakes that I saw on this lovely blog. Here is the recipe...

Pumpkin Spice Cake

1 Package Yellow Cake Mix ( I use Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic Yellow)

1/2 c. Granulated Sugar

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 can pumpkin (15 oz. pure pumpkin–we like Libby’s brand)

1/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 eggs

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine all ingredients in bowl and beat until well blended. Bake at 325 for 23-24 minutes or until cupcakes spring back to touch. Frost with your favorite cream cheese icing. 

These cupcakes were so moist and easy to make. I modified my cream cheese icing recipe from this post for the frosting. I honestly don't know how much I added, but I put a little canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon until I was satisfied with the taste and consistency. Here are a few pictures of them...

I definitely recommend trying this recipe if you are craving some fall food!

Saturday night I watched those Clemson Tigers win again! So proud of them!

Summer Cupcakes

Now that I am home I have a lot more free time in the evenings. Sometimes this results in lots of baked goods sitting around our house just begging to be eaten. Here are a few of the things I have made lately...

 These yummy key lime cupcakes courtesy of the lovely Betty Crocker website. The base of the cupcake is a mix and the cupcakes were fairly easy to make. I would recommend make 1.5 times the icing recipe. I made one batch and it didn't look like enough so I doubled it and ended up with leftovers. The cupcake is very moist and has a strong key lime flavor. I thought I was going to have to add key lime flavor to the icing until I realized the cupcake along with the glaze had plenty. 

Margarita themed cupcakes for my roommates 21st birthday. Got the recipe from this lovely blog. The icing recipe was so yummy (a lime buttercream). However, the cupcakes were a little dry and it wasn't because they were overcooked. Definitely would make the icing again, not so sure about the cupcake itself. 

Chocolaty Peanut Butter Goodness

So I got a baking itch this weekend. I was supposed to be studying so that might have had something to do with it. However, I decided not to bake because I didn't want to go to the grocery and didn't want to mess up my kitchen.

That was before my boyfriend offered to go to the store for me. I think he likes it when I bake. So after his generous offer I decided to start looking for some recipes. Decided to go with cupcakes since they are one of my specialties :) After sifting through some recipes I found this recipe on this blog.

Tickled Pink

Yesterday was the first day of spring. The weather was beautiful today. I am on spring break. All of these facts led me to make some pink lemonade cupcakes tonight. I have never made pink lemonade cupcakes before, but they are something I have always wanted to try. After searching around on the internet a little, I found some recipes I wanted to try.

Pink lemonade cupcakes:

• Box of white cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 cup pink lemonade concentrate (thawed)

Mix everything together in mixing bowl. Bake at 350 for 21 minutes.

Lemon filling:

• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1/8-1/4 cup lemonade concentrate
• lemon juice to taste

Mix cornstarch, cold water, egg yolk, sugar and pinch of salt in medium saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and beginning to boil. Remove from heat and add butter, lemonade concentrate, and lemon juice. Stir until butter is melted. Put filling in a bowl with plastic wrap on top. Place in refrigerator until cooled. 

I got this filling recipe from this blog and modified it to fit my taste.

Pink lemonade buttercream frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup lemonade concentrate (can modify this to your taste)
• red food coloring (optional)

Mix everything together on low until combined. Mix on medium to high speed until frosting is fluffy. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

I got the icing recipe from this blog and then modified it for my taste.  I ended up making a recipe and a half of this because one recipe wasn't enough. 

This recipe was relatively easy to make. If you aren't familiar with putting a filling in a cupcake, I would forego that step because it can be a little difficult. Also, make sure the cupcakes are completely cooled when you frost them. I iced a few that were still warm and the icing slid right off the cupcake. Not cool. No pun intended. 

Here is a picture of my cupcake:

Enjoy these lovely spring/summer treats!

Chocolate Lover's Cupcakes

If you are a chocolate fanatic, you are probably going to want to make these cupcakes. They are so rich and moist. I wouldn't consider myself a chocoholic, but I love these cupcakes. People have told me they are the best cupcakes they have ever had in their life. Not kidding. I make them for so many parties, showers, birthdays, etc. because they are so good. Another great thing about them? They are super easy to make, and actually have a cake mix base. Here you go...

• 1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix
• 1 small box instant chocolate pudding
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 2/3 cup water
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup Mayo (not low-fat)
• 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips

Mix everything together except chocolate chips. Add chocolate chips by hand. Pour into pan. Bake at 350 degrees. The time varies depending on the pan. For cupcakes I usually bake them for about 18 minutes. This recipe makes about two and a half dozen cupcakes, but it can be made as a cake too. If you're making a cake, look at the cook times on the back of the cake mix box and keep a close eye on it. However, this cake is really hard to overcook because the chocolate chips melt and make it really moist.

I usually use a cream cheese icing when I make these, but I have tried buttercream and it is good too. You may have your own cream cheese icing recipe, or you could just pick up a container at the store, but I thought I would share my favorite recipe with you. I like to pipe my frosting on the cupcakes and have been looking for a stiff cream cheese icing and finally found one on cakecentral.com. Here it is...

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1 pound cream cheese (2 boxes), softened
• 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract (you could use regular, it just isn't as white)
• 3 1/2 pounds sifted confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese and extract. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and salt. Beat

on low speed until nice and creamy. 

This recipe will easily ice five dozen cupcakes. I halve the recipe if I only have two dozen cupcakes to make. This recipe is for a stiff consistency. For a thinner consistency, use three pounds of confectioner's sugar. Here are a few pictures of various ways I have decorated them....

These decorations honestly are not that hard. If you aren't familiar with piping, all you need is....

a decorating bag

a 2D icing tip if you want to make a swirl like the ones in the last two pictures

or a 1A icing tip if you want to make a swirl like the first two pictures

If you want to use a 1A time you need a coupler since it's smaller. A coupler looks like this...

A coupler goes at the end of the icing bag to hold the tip in. All of these supplies can be found at any craft store such as AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, or Michael's. Walmart also has a cake decorating section where you could buy this. To make your swirls, just simply move the icing bag in a swirl pattern. It may take you a few times if you have never used a decorating bag before, but it shouldn't take you long to catch on. 

Enjoy!!!!