Cupcake Cafe

Times Square has a plethora of things to do and see. If you are not a year round New Yorker. Theater is world class. And that’s about it. It’s probably the place I avoid going on the entire island of Manhattan. Stupid people who don’t know how sidewalk traffic works coupled with stupid chain stores and overpriced everything. It’s basically my idea of a nightmare. And very few cupcakes. For shame. That’s probably something that could make Times Square slightly bearable. But nope. So I ventured out to the Hells Kitchen neighborhood to try some cupcakes.

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Cupcake Cafe is known for their intricately designed cupcakes that come in chocolate and vanilla. One look at these cupcakes in the pastry case and I could confirm this reputation. Each one is decorated in such a unique way that’s it’s like you are getting a completely different cupcake. I chose one with an unreal yellow flower, complete with green petals. What is this madness? I don’t even know how to eat it. But I think I can manage.

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Once I got over the sheer wonder of such a gorgeous cupcake I let my taste buds take over. The all-important first bite was mediocre at best and uninspiring. Immediately I had a good chocolate flavor, although the cupcake was slightly cold. Although they did offer to warm it up for me, so props for understanding the plight of refrigerated cases. Upon further evaluation of the cake, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of that initial good flavor was due to the cake. Lets be clear: it was all because of the cake. This chocolate cake was moist, not overly sweet, and had a rich chocolate flavor. My love for the frosting didn’t last. The flower, still beautiful, but bland. This vanilla frosting tasted like nothing but butter. Now, I’m a huge fan of butter. It’s definitely my favorite ingredient in all things. But we should not be eating butter when eating a cupcake. There was no balance of creamy butter and sweetness from sugar. Just butter. I just wanted more cake. Without frosting. God!? Who am I? The cake:frosting ratio was seriously lacking; the frosting was not balanced at all, and while the flower is beautiful, it merely added height. And then it easily slid off. Not impressed. The cake was my favorite part of this whole cupcake adventure making it not the cupcake for me. Chocolate cake is a tricky one and the fact that this one is not overly dry and had a good flavor is impressive. But it lacked the balance that is key for an amazeballs cupcake.

Cupcake Cafe