NYC's Buttercup Bake Shop
Finding the best red velvet cupcake in New York City is officially on my bucket list.
Did you know there are 152 bakeries (thank you, Yelp) with red velvet cupcakes in Manhattan alone? This is a serious conquest! Of the 152, I have been to a grand total of… three. I realized this while planning a cupcake crawl for a recent trip to the city, and unfortunately I made it to only one of supposedly three stops.
Here’s my baby list of red velvet haunts in NYC.
While it has a reputation for being overrated, I can’t cross it off my list. The shop is picture-perfect, fancier than most bakeries, and they color cupcakes in pretty pastels. Of course, this was also the store made famous by Sex and the City at the height of its popularity four years ago (which, rumor has it, started the cupcake craze anyway). Red Velvet at $3 a pop is a little pricier than usual but you get honest-to-goodness cake texture–dense and heavy–not like the silly airy ones that you get at the grocery store.
So the name might throw you off but I gotta say, this quirky bake shop in Chelsea has been my favorite so far. Why I love it: the frosting on top is soft and creamy, not the stiff and sugary kind that barely tastes of cream cheese (my ultimate red velvet pet peeve). Plus, the cake is (dangerously) light and moist, which almost always has me reaching for a second one.
This quaint little shop on 2nd avenue is the most recent addition to my list and I walked out with a box of chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, and two red velvet cupcakes. The verdict: the red velvet was good but not great, a little on the dry side and the frosting was too stiff and sugary for me (see pet peeve above), and not enough cream cheese as I had hoped. However, the vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting was DELICIOUS!
That’s all I’ve got so far. 3 down, 149 to go.
Stay tuned.
- Kris Alcantara
Today's Sugarhigh: Buttercup Bake Shop's Vanilla Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting Score: High B+
5 comments
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June 17, 2009 at 6:41 pm
katienowak
I’ve had Magnolia’s red velvet before, and definitely agree that its price is steep, but its texture oh-so-wonderful. Another great place for cupcakes is Crumb, by Bryant Park. Don’t know about their red velvet, but everything I tried from them was a-maz-ing (and if I recall correctly, a little bigger than Magnolia’s…although this might just be my nostalgia getting the best of me).
As a side note, this blog has become my happy place.
June 18, 2009 at 1:51 am
ashschofield
Another fabulous cupcake-ry: Sprinkle’s in Newport Beach, CA. Yum! Their Red Velvet rocks, but I love their peanut butter-chocolate, double chocolate, and (drum roll, please) coconut! You’d love it Kris. Nothing better than enjoying a cupcake while sitting in the sand, looking out into the ocean.
And I must agree with Katie’s side note, this blog is highly delectable — my sugar high of the day
Score: A++
June 18, 2009 at 5:14 am
marriedtochocolate
i’ve heard of Crumb! I didn’t know it was just on Bryant Park…awesome–i’m heading there next! this blog is my happy place too
thanks for the tip!
and ashley that does sound.. i don’t know.. perfect.
i’m glad you like it! more sugarhighs to come!
June 18, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Terri
I went to Magnolia for the first time this spring and I love it. The cupcakes are really good even if they are a little on the expensive side, they are worth every penny. I love cupcakes too. I went to the grocery store on monday night and bought stuff to make my own this weekend. Devils Food chocolate and german pecan frosting. Yummy, I am drooling already at the expected deliciousness…….
June 18, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Alysia
I will have to check out your recommendations on my next trip to the city. They all sound great, with the exception of the stiff frosting (thanks for the heads up
. Next time you head to the city, if you’re uptown check out Harlem’s Make My Cake. Their website says they were voted best Red Velvet Cake by the New York Times. And, they have a sweet potato cheesecake with white chocolate.
http://www.makemycake2.com/Products.html