Taking the Cupcake
A survey of the seven wonders of the world
In a city of eateries dedicated to almost anything (Hummus Place, Dumpling Man, and Peanut Butter & Co., to name a few), it’s no surprise that many a bakery has dedicated itself to the art of the cupcake. Small, sweet, and portable, cupcakes are the perfect confection. They even have a measure of nostalgia about them: who doesn’t love the childish pleasure of biting into your own personal cake topped with sugary frosting?
That is not to say, however, that all cupcakes are created equal. In fact, as I traveled to seven bakeries around Manhattan (in the process consuming more sugar than is recommended for an entire year), I wondered what, exactly, makes the perfect cupcake? I felt that despite my extensive experience with cupcakes, I could not make such a grand decision on my own. I commissioned a few friends to help me judge, and trust me, it didn’t take much convincing.
In an attempt to construct a relatively objective judging system, we based our decisions on each bakery’s classic vanilla cupcake. The basic criteria were moistness, crumble consistency, flavor, and texture and sweetness of the frosting, resulting in an overall numerical rating from one to 10. On principle, no cupcake should earn below a five.
Our first tasting was at Burgers & Cupcakes, a cutesy, brown-and-pink-themed joint on 23rd Street near Eighth Avenue. The cupcake looked absolutely flawless: an oversized, golden vanilla cake, artfully frosted in pink. Unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations: both Rebecca Salley, CC ’10, and Alexander Slotnick, CC ’10, agreed that although the cake was moist and didn’t crumble, it was too dense, and too similar to a muffin. The frosting proved too buttery—Salley called it “overwhelming”—and the cupcake garnered a rating of six-point-five.
Next in line was Billy’s Bakery’s on Ninth Avenue near 21st Street. Although the bakery employees—all young, trendy males—were certainly pleasing, their daisy cupcake with blue vanilla frosting wasn’t: not only was the cake extremely crumbly, but the frosting was excessive and inordinately sweet. Salley aptly summed up the cupcake after only one bite: “I just turned diabetic.” We each gave it a disappointing six.
We then decided to go with something different and tried a cupcake from Alice’s Tea Cup on 73rd Street near Columbus Avenue. Although Alice’s does not specialize in cupcakes, their varieties are all meticulously decorated; I picked up a vanilla cupcake with pink buttercream frosting. We agreed that though it had a nice flavor, was relatively moist, and had good, buttery frosting, it was still “underwhelming” and deserved no more than a seven.
Crumbs, on Amsterdam near 75th Street, was received much more enthusiastically. This cupcake, significantly larger than the others, with a top that overflowed out of the liner, was decorated with white buttercream frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Salley deemed its presentation “flawless,” and its taste “significantly more delicious than the others.” Slotnick called it “melts-in-your-mouth delicious” and praised the extra-large top for its “biting leverage.” The cake itself was perfectly moist, and the frosting was sweet with a great consistency. Although I thought that the frosting could have been a tad more buttery, the other judges each rated it a perfect 10.
Had we found the perfect cupcake already? I hesitated to endorse any of our selections to this point, especially as we hadn’t even hit the two most famous bakeries, Buttercup (Second Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets) and Magnolia (Bleecker Street and 11th Street), long touted as the best cupcakes in the city.
Both fell short of our expectations. At Buttercup, the vanilla cupcake was floury, dry, and coarse. The buttercream frosting was good, but didn’t compensate for the cake, leaving Buttercup with a seven overall. Magnolia’s version of this cupcake had a much better texture, but the frosting was incredibly sweet and slightly pasty. It received another weak seven-point-five.
Extremely let down, we decided to try some of their other flavors. Magnolia’s chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting was even more of a bummer. The texture was powdery, and unimpressive even for chocolate lovers, receiving an almost impossibly low five. Buttercup’s red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, however, was surprisingly delicious. Slotnick thought the frosting was “awesome” and swore he could “taste the red.” Salley said, “This cupcake feels like love!”
After all of our trials, there were no arguments: Crumbs’ vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting was the unanimous winner. Adorable, moist, and perfectly frosted, it exceeded all of our expectations and was much more satisfying than both of Manhattan’s most famous bakeries. There’s no question as to why Zabar’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Dylan’s Candy Bar all sell Crumbs’ cupcakes in-store. We couldn’t help but to try their peanut-butter cup and s’mores cupcakes, and these too were both received very warmly.
It’s hard to believe that the perfect cupcake isn’t hiding down in the West Village or Chelsea or even Midtown East, but it’s true: the best cupcake in New York City is only a few stops away from us on the 1 train at Crumbs.