Featured Dessert: Treats from Blue Smoke Bake Shop

Arthur Bovino — August 31, 2010

Left, Blue Smoke Bakery Shop’s Chocolate Layer Cake. Right: Banana Cream Pie and Key Lime Pie.

It may not be fair to new cupcake shops opening nationally in the wake of the New York trend, say Georgetown Cupcake, or Crave Cupcakes in Houston, but after several years it’s difficult to get excited about dry cake and buttercream. Still, when new shops open there’s the matter of due diligence. Case in point, Blue Smoke Bake Shop, a little booth by the entrance to Danny Meyer’s Flatiron barbeque joint.

But, even the most devout cupcake-trend hater has to give it up to pastry chef Jenn Giblin. The display may not be as big as the one at the other Flatiron BBQ joint, Hill Country, and the staple flavors aren’t as creative, but all in all, they may be better— at least the double chocolate. And there’s other good stuff. As Grub Street reported, the Bake Shop sells cookies, breads, cakes and pies from 11:30am till 9pm.

More at Blue Smoke Bake Shop >>

AlwaysInvestigating: Robicelli’s Alcohol Cupcakes

Madeline G. Muldoon — July 27, 2010

Clockwise from top: Robicelli’s Cherries Jubilee Cupcake, Bananas Foster Cupcake, and Hot Buttered Rum Cupcake.

The crowd of post-punk kids loitering on Ludlow outside Cake Shop isn’t there for the eats. That’s understandable: the latest feature at this Lower East Side neighborhood coffee shop/venue/record store, Robicelli’s alcohol-infused cupcakes, resemble crusty, overcooked polenta topped with a flutter of hipster Cool Whip.

The Cherries Jubilee, Bananas Foster, and Hot Buttered Rum cupcakes sat in a sad cluster under clouded plastic adorned with a yellow “21+” sticker. Though the bartender couldn’t explain how, the cupcakes supposedly each contain one shot of liquor. “We’re still trying to figure that out,” he shrugged.

Though last week’s Time Out New York called Robicelli’s the answer to the “overhyped and underwhelming” cupcake phenomenon, they have yet to hit their stride as a bar-bakery sweet. In fact, the failure of these “special” desserts discourages any further sampling of the company’s other products.

The goods, no more than two ounces each and bone-dry, beg you to ask just where all that uncooked alcohol is. The cake portion barely provides a hint of vanilla. The redemption of the baked flavor wasteland is in the light frosting that tops the muffin portion. The Cherries Jubilee and Bananas Foster had edible toppings, but they were certainly not intoxicating in any way. However, the hard, Hot Buttered Rum went untouched after one bite of the cloyingly sweet butterscotch-drizzled topping.

Location: Cake Shop
Address: 152 Ludlow Street
Hours: Daily, 9:00am-2:00am
Contact: (212) 253-0036

Featured Dessert: Downtown Atlantic’s Devil’s Food Cupcake

Arthur Bovino — May 11, 2010

Downtown Atlantic’s Devil’s Food Cupcake.

Poll friends about childhood and Hostess and it’s likely they fall into the same categories as those kids allowed to eat sugar cereals, and the ones who gummed on with shredded wheat.

Whether you were allowed to eat Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Sno Balls doesn’t really matter anymore. One of the most amazing things about being a grown-up (or pretending to be one) is that you can eat Corn Pops with your Ho Hos if you want, then not go to bed until 3:00am. The transporting sweets to help you achieve such noble goals can be found in one of Boerum Hill’s most enticing bakery windows. Downtown Atlantic and their homage to the Hostess Cup Cake goes next-level.

More at Downtown Atlantic >>

First Look: Limelight Market Opening

Maryse Chevrière — May 07, 2010

The scene inside the new Limelight Market at last night’s preview party.

The much-anticipated Limelight Market makes its grand debut today, but last night it was open for a media preview party with all the glitz and glam of the space’s former nightclub days. Among the luxury clothing and beauty shops are a bevy of gourmet food stands.

Unapologetically rich hot chocolate and ganaches from MarieBelle, a Wonka-esque pick-n-mix candy spread called It’s Sugar, and cupcakes from the popular mobile vendor CupcakeStop— all attracted big crowds last night. It will be interesting to see how Grimaldi’s is going to fit in among its posh neighbors in this manicured spot when the pizzeria opens next month.

Check out the slideshow for photographs of the Limelight Market’s food and specialty vendors.

More at the Limelight Market >>

AlwaysInformed: Corner Café’s Cupcake Comeback

Samantha Zalaznick — December 09, 2009

Vanilla Cupcake with Burnt-Butter icing from Corner Café and Bakery.

A horrible thing happened six years ago at Yura & Company, a favorite Upper East Side spot for prepared food and baked goods. They switched their signature cupcake frosting from a perfectly thick, sugary burnt-butter icing to an unfortunate light and smooth buttercream. This regrettable change was the beginning of Yura’s downfall, culminating in the split of its owners, Yura Mohr and Paul Dimino.

Dimino split off taking the Third Avenue location and turning it into Corner Café and Bakery. This split was bad for Yura but amazing for Yura-lovers! Although there’s no longer any affiliation, Corner Café offers almost the identical menu, but in a larger setting with an adjacent sit down café. What’s even more exciting is that THE CUPCAKES ARE BACK! Dimino has asserted Corner Café’s superiority by reviving the old recipe, bringing back to Yura-lovers what once was lost.

“I have been serving Upper East Side residents for over 20 years,” Dimino noted on Corner Café and Bakery’s website. “As my business grew, I have had the pleasure of watching the neighborhood children grow from “strollers to college.” I attribute some of their success to eating my cupcakes”

Yura still exists in its original location on 91st and Madison, but its spirit is carried on by Corner Café and Bakery which continues to expand across the uptown landscape. A new location just opened at 1246 Madison Avenue (b/n 89th and 90th Streets) where Petaks used to be.

Besides the cupcakes, other recommended dishes include: Smoked Turkey Pinwheels, Luca Salad, and Rare Roast beef with Frizzled Onions.

Locations:
-2328 Broadway
(daily, 7am-10pm)
-1246 Madison Ave
(Daily, 7am-8:45pm)
-1645 Third Ave
(Mon-Fri, 7am-9pm; Sat, 8am-9:30pm; Sun 8am-8:30pm)

AlwaysInformed: July 4th Cupcake Flag

The Gluttoness — July 01, 2009

Whether you have a clam bake or a blowout barbeque, all 4th of July feasts must end with sweets, and watermelon just isn’t gonna cut it. You may be able to find a flag-emblazoned cookie cake at the grocery store, or special red-white-and-blue rainbow cookies at your local bakery, but there’s a better way to impress your Fourth of July guests: Baked by Melissa’s cupcake flag.

This patriotic configuration of miniature red, white and blue cupcakes is the perfect dessert for this annual party. The brightly hued vanilla cupcakes come with a map so you can easily arrange your confections to resemble our nation’s stars and stripes. The flag is available in three sizes and since cupcakes are usually $1 a pop, you’ll get a little bit of a break on the big day, and the more you order the less you pay. Buying 260 cupcakes costs $182. Larger flags consisting of 425 cupcakes or a whopping 630 rings up at $297.50 and $409.50, respectively. An investment in Baked by Melissa’s cupcake flag will surely up the “wow” factor, but you may find it difficult to outdo this spectacular spread next year.

AlwaysInvestigating: CupcakeStop’s Cupcake Truck

The Gluttoness — June 25, 2009

You know you’re onto something when The New York Times and CNN feature you before you even serve your first cupcake. The idea for the CupcakeStop was dreamt up by Lev Ekster while studying at New York Law School. The cupcakes are baked in Brooklyn by a professional pastry chef, Manal Mady, and Ekster twitters the location of “New York’s first mobile cupcake shoppe”—a popular methodology of roving food trucks also employed by Wafels & Dinges and LA’s famed Kogi Taco Truck. The flavors on the day that we sampled CupcakeStop included: Red Velvet, Oreo Crumb, Peanut Butter and Jelly and Tie Dye.

The menu should immediately alarm any cupcake aficionado. CupcakeStop’s flavors are eerily similar to Baked by Melissa’s bite-sized confections. In fact, all four flavors can be found at her sliver of a storefront located on Spring Street near Broadway, where miniature cupcakes also sell for $1 (CupcakeStop’s full-sized sweets cost $2.25). Unfortunately for CupcakeStop, these carbon copy cupcakes don’t come close to the moist originals. The cake was dry, closer in texture to a stale muffin than a cupcake, and the icing wasn’t nearly sweet or creamy enough to overwhelm the average bottoms.

The best of the bunch was the Oreo Crumb, a chocolate-flecked vanilla cake with cookies-and-cream icing. We wouldn’t go out of our way to find CupcakeStop again but we won’t rule out stopping by to curtail a cupcake craving.

AlwaysPartying: National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day

April 02, 2009

AlwaysHungryNY frequently orders ‘wichcraft’s Chunky Peanut Butter & Seasonal Jelly Sandwich on Triple Decked Pullman White Bread, but we decided to step it up a notch for National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day. Rather than eat this fabled combination on a sandwich, our sweet tooth much prefers these two tasty spreads in cupcake format. While you’re probably expecting us to name-drop a bakery, like say, Crumbs, it turns out Hill Country serves our favorite Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcake. Topped with peanut butter icing and sprinkled with Reese’s Pieces, the ample filling of grape jelly adds extra oomph to the already moist, vanilla cake. A half-dozen of these bad boys would be the perfect way to celebrate the holiday.