The Daily Balance

As promised, I’ve decided to start off the NYC re-cap with a cupcake roundup! What you are about to see is a bit sickening….so brace yourselves… Just keep in mind that I did all of it for YOU! It’s all about getting the facts right for my loyal readers

I’m not kidding when I say that myself, the Mister and our good friend we stayed with tasted almost 15 cupcakes. I mean, yea, it was over the course of a few days but still — 15 CUPCAKES! And some of these were MONSTERS! See why I need that detox??? I’ll let the pictures do the talking….

Our first stop: Crumbs

Fairly new to the cupcake scene (but more on this later!), Crumbs Bake Shop first opened its doors in March of 2003 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The menu boasts more than 50 varieties of cupcakes baked fresh daily, with a new cupcake of the week each Monday. While Crumbs also offers many other goodies, including cakes, cookies and brownies, the shop’s specialty is the Crumbs Signature size cupcakes!

Crumbs exterior

The selection - aka HEAVEN

What Crumbs has to say about their cupcakes…

Perfectly formed. Lovely to look at. Delicious to eat. Cupcakes delight both the eyes and the soul. Made with the finest ingredients, they remind us that the best things in life are simple. Made by hand, baked with love, handled with joy.

These are whoppers, too! My goodness, one cupcake was about the size of my head. We gobbled:

Elvis – Vanilla cake filled with banana frosting, topped with vanilla peanut butter swirl and edged with peanut butter chips

Elvis cupcake

Vanilla Sprinkles – Vanilla cake frosted with our rich vanilla cream cheese and rimmed with rainbow sprinkles.

Vanilla sprinkles cupcake

Strawberry – white cake strawberry frosting

For scale - this strawberry cupcake was the 'normal' cupcake size!

Brownie – Chocolate cake filled and frosted with chocolate fudge, drizzled with chocolate and topped with Crumbs’ signature brownie bites.

Brownie cupcake

Fluffernutter – Vanilla cake filled and frosted with peanut butter flavored frosting, edged with white sprinkles and drizzled in white chocolate.

Fluffernutter cupcake

Carrot – Carrot cake topped with our signature cream cheese frosting, rimmed in crushed walnuts and decorated with an iced carrot.

Carrot cake cupcake

Cookie Dough – Vanilla cake with chocolate fudge filling covered in our signature vanilla cream cheese frosting mixed with real cookie dough (not raw) and topped with a chocolate chip cookie.

Cookie dough cupcake

The ‘Good Guy’ – Vanilla cake with baked-in sprinkles topped with vanilla frosting, covered with sprinkles and drizzled with white chocolate – MY FAVORITE (talk about sugar rush!)

The Good Guy cupcake

The cake: Moist and buttery – just the way I like it! It was also dense enough that it didn’t smash in your hand.
Frosting: to.die.for. OMG — there’s a reason why this was the place where we couldn’t stop eating…
The flavors: the most flavor variety out of any other shop we visited.

Do these look irresistible to you?! Wanna try one?! Check out the Web site for online ordering info!

Second stop: Magnolia

Magnolia exterior

Made famous by Sex And The City, Magnolia now has three locations in NYC.

We sampled:

Red Velvet
Vanilla cake with Vanilla frosting and sprinkles

Magnolia cupcakes

Me!

The cake: Amazing! Light, fluffy and moist (esp. the red velvet). Melts in your mouth.
The frosting: Meh. I was not a fan of the Red Velvet frosting, but I also don’t like whipped icings. This icing tasted a bit like ‘cool whip’ and I HATE cool whip. I like my icings to be a bit more dense and more sugary.
The flavors: Magnolia didn’t get too crazy with the flavors, but that’s OK. I almost liked not having too much to choose from!

Third stop: Buttercup Bake Shop

Buttercup Bake Shop

A fantastic quote from the shop’s founder, Jennifer Appel:

“With information moving at the speed of light, Buttercup Bake Shop lets you slow down and wile away an afternoon sipping your favorite beverage and enjoying some delectable, nostalgic treats that spell comfort and love.”

Buttercup wall art - LOVE THIS!

We sampled:
Vanilla cake with vanilla frosting (this was my ‘control’ cupcake at each stop)
Lemon
German chocolate

Buttercup cupcakes

The cake: Meh. A bit dry. After tasting Magnolia, this cake just didn’t compare.
Frosting: SCORE! This frosting tasted just like you would imagine the perfect cupcake to taste. When I was leaving Buttercup, I noticed they sell ‘frosting shots.’ Now I know why.
The flavors: Similar to Magnolia, a few interesting flavors, but pretty simple.

The FINAL rundown and RANKING:

1.) CRUMBS
2.) Buttercup (frosting trumps cake in my book! – after all, a cupcake is merely a platform on which to serve delicious frosting )
3.) Magnolia

Interesting story I heard through the grapevine (not sure if it’s true – New Yorkers – can you confirm?)

Apparently Magnolia was originally owned by a couple, but they didn’t agree on frosting flavors (joke!), so they split up. The one who left Magnolia took the cupcake recipe and started Crumbs, and the one who stayed got to keep the name Magnolia. So Crumbs really is the original Magnolia! Crazy, huh?

What is your favorite cupcake flavor?

34 Responses to “Daily Delish – NYC cupcake roundup – which one takes the ‘cake?!’”

1. Jenny said:

   oh my god those cupcakes are monsters… delicious, mouthwatering MONSTERS!

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:44 pm | Reply
2. VeggieGirl said:

   I need the Elvis and Cookie Dough cupcakes… HOLY YUM.

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:49 pm | Reply
3. eatingRD said:

   All those cupcakes look delish! and HUGE haha. I about died when I saw the elvis one or the fluffernutter. I’m a peanut butter freak!
   -kristen

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:50 pm | Reply
4. K said:

   I’m so happy you guys did the taste test for us! Interesting trivia!

   Crumbs sounds heavenly but I don’t know how on earth I’d be able to pick ONE to eat! Elvis, cookie dough, carrot cake, I want them all!!

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:52 pm | Reply
5. Jasmine (Sweet and Fit) said:

   omgoodness this looks like so much fun!

   my alltime favorite cupcake flavor is red velvet!

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:53 pm | Reply
6. Melissa @ For the Love of Health said:

   I love this post!! Cupcake heaven!! I have to make a trip to NYC just for
   cupcakes now

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:56 pm | Reply
7. Lindsey (Mrs. LC) said:

   Ummm that Crumbs Brownie Chocolate thing should be called “The Lindsey”. No joke. I swear I heard my name called when I looked at that picture. Thanks for the comparison!!

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 5:56 pm | Reply
8. Run Sarah said:

   What a fun recap. I love chocolate cupcakes!

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 6:24 pm | Reply
9. Emily L. said:

   That brownie cupcake looks like my heaven on earth. I’m going to be in NYC for 38 hours this weekend. I will hunt Crumbs down. I will fight it, and I will reign victorious.

   Posted on June 15, 2009 at 7:05 pm | Reply
10. Meghan said:

    Mmmmm delicious! My favorite right now is red velvet with cream cheese frosting from the South End Buttery in Boston.

    Posted on June 15, 2009 at 7:23 pm | Reply
11. Menden (Skinny Menny) said:

    Oh. my. goodness. Every one of these looks so delicious and decadent!

    I pick the carrot cake!!!

    Posted on June 15, 2009 at 10:17 pm | Reply
12. Andrea@WellnessNotes said:

    I love this post!

    Posted on June 15, 2009 at 10:26 pm | Reply
13. Glidingcalm said:

    Oh wow Shannon!! That’s a lot of cupcakes!!! haha

    Looks so tasty!!

    Posted on June 15, 2009 at 10:56 pm | Reply
14. Maggie said:

    I want to go to NYC! For crumbs! I agree with you about the frosting being sugery and dense!

    Posted on June 15, 2009 at 11:54 pm | Reply
15. Lauren @ Team Giles said:

    they all look so pretty!! and you look lovely for your date with the Mister

    Posted on June 16, 2009 at 12:10 am | Reply
16. Caroline said:

    Whoa–those are my kind of cupcakes: almost all frosting:)
    I love carrot cupcakes!

    Posted on June 16, 2009 at 12:54 am | Reply
17. Lara (Thinspired) said:

    Oh. My gosh. What a heavenly day. How was the German Chocolate?! That’s my favorite cake ever! Or maybe it’s carrot cake. Or red velvet. I can never decide

    Posted on June 16, 2009 at 5:44 am | Reply
18. Elina said:

    You should have tried Magnolia’s double chocolate cupcake! Their chocolate frosting seriously has crack in it! I think Buttercup is owned by the same people as Magnolia (or at least used to be) and supposedly was using the same recipe but I never thought they tasted the same. I always prefered Magnolia. Crumbs on the other hand, I’ve never tasted for some reason despite the fact that I used to live on Upper West side and passed by the place a million times. I’m going to make sure I stop by on my next NYC trip. Thanks for doing this research for us

    Posted on June 16, 2009 at 7:18 am | Reply
19. rhodeygirl said:

    My cousin came home from NY with a box of Magnolia cupcakes at Easter. To be honest, I was NOT impressed! To me the frosting was just BLAH. Nothing memorable.

    Cupcake City! Oh, the things we do for our blogs

    If the first post is about cupcakes, I am DYING to know what’s next!

    Posted on June 16, 2009 at 9:12 am | Reply
20. Tiffany said:

    Oh. God.

    The Magnolia Red Velvet.

    I made it my mission in NYC to eat one of those baby’s this weekend. I swore I’d make it home to savor it. Nope; it was done before we even hit Bridgeport, and it was glorious. Hands down, it’s my favorite cupcake EVER.

    This is such a cool post

    Posted on June 16, 2009 at 6:29 pm | Reply
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22. Emily L. said:

    As I mentioned, I’m going to NYC for a brief romp around town this weekend. My boyfriend’s brother and sister in law are NYC-ers and Magnolia devotees. They scoffed when I told them I’d read a review that Crumbs is better than Magnolia. They’ve never tried Crumbs, so we’ll have to see what they think this weekend! I love a good cupcake challenge

    Posted on June 18, 2009 at 11:07 pm | Reply
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26. ValleyWriter said:

    Wow! Crumbs’ Elvis & Brownie cupcakes look like they are to die for!! I know my first stop the next time I visit NYC

    Posted on June 29, 2009 at 10:07 pm | Reply
27. Bridget said:

    I believe that when the owners of Magnolia split, the offshoot bakery was Buttercup, not Crumbs.

    You need to try Billy’s – better than all 3 above. Billy was a former employee of Magnolia. Billy’s is in Chelsea on 9th Ave. between 21st and 22nd. Their vanilla-vanilla is the perfect balance of butter and sugar, and they have seasonal favorites such as pumpkin for fall and lemon in the spring. Enjoy!

    Posted on July 18, 2009 at 1:57 pm | Reply
28. Bobbie said:

    HI, a minor correction, the orginal owners of Magnolia Bakery were Allysa Torey and Jennifer Apel (now of Buttercup bakery). They were not a couple.

    Crumbs has no affiliation with Magnolia Bakery.
    Cute blog!

    Posted on July 27, 2009 at 2:09 pm | Reply
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    Hot recipe! . I enjoy studying that blog. Where did you buy this pretty blog design from? Remembrance from russia.

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