Tribeca Treats "Frosting Shot" of Vanilla Buttercream

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

Tribeca Treats Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Shot. I would like to inform readers that Tribeca Treats is an ADORABLE store, more than just a bakery-- it is a confectionary as well that sells homemade chocolates, and it also has a little cupcake and candy-themed "gift shop" in the front that sells beautiful cards, books and assorted paraphernalia. It is decorated in a clean, crisp and modern way that I really appreciated, and it was refreshingly air-conditioned and cold on a hot August day.

Taste: Mmmm, buttery, sugary, sweet! An excellent stand-alone frosting!! Overall Taste Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The texture is so smooth, it melts in my mouth, its almost drinkable! Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: What a concept, and what a presentation! Give me a frosting shot any day over a shot of alcohol! I like the clear, angular little "shot glass" and the decorative swirl of white frosting, dotted with colorful sprinkles. I especially appreciate the star design that you can see depicted in the aerial view. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: The frosting is very edible on its own as a shot-- delectable!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake [Actually Just Frosting] Ranking: 17.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Tribeca Treats Cinnamon Cream Cheese

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

Tribeca Treats Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cupcake. I would like to inform readers that Tribeca Treats is an ADORABLE store, more than just a bakery-- it is a confectionary as well that sells homemade chocolates, and it also has a little cupcake and candy-themed "gift shop" in the front that sells beautiful cards, books and assorted paraphernalia. It is decorated in a clean, crisp and modern way that I really appreciated, and it was refreshingly air-conditioned and cold on a hot August day.

Taste: The frosting is strongly sweet, with strong flavors of both cream cheese and cinnamon, and the brown sugar dusted on top adds a delightful brown-sugar-cinnamon-cream-

cheese wonderfulness. This is a great combination, I can't believe it's not more common! The cake is tasteless but not offensive, so the delectable cinnamon sugar cream cheese frosting overwhelms the tastes. I am loving this!! The flavors are unbelievable! It is so close to delectable perfection, except for the cake which is not quite perfect. Overall Taste Rating: 4.99 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cake is fluffy and light, and the frosting is very light and ultra-whipped but I like it-- this is the best cupcake I've tasted all day!!!! Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: A clear beauty!!! A gorgeously swirled application of frosting, swired high vertically atop a golden-hued cake, dusted in cinnamon and brown sugar. I wish you could SMELL this cupcake through my blog too, because the aroma was phenomenal. The cake itself is so proportionate and even!! So attractive! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Best cupcake of the day!! I wish I hadn't eaten so many others and I could just enjoy this cupcake in its entirety on its own! I want a SHOT of cinnamon-brown-sugar-cream-cheese frosting-- no actually, I want a TUB of it!!!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 19.24 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Tribeca Treats Lemon Raspberry

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

Lemon Raspberry Cupcake from Tribeca Treats. I would like to inform readers that Tribeca Treats is an ADORABLE store, more than just a bakery-- it is a confectionary as well that sells homemade chocolates, and it also has a little cupcake and candy-themed "gift shop" in the front that sells beautiful cards, books and assorted paraphernalia. It is decorated in a clean, crisp and modern way that I really appreciated, and it was refreshingly air-conditioned and cold on a hot August day.

Taste: The icing is lightly lemony, not tart and not ultra-sweet, but just a perfect balance of lightly sweet and fresh lemon-y. There is a sweet real raspberry compote that adds a great raspberry flavor to the lemon. The cake is tasteless, but together its a refreshing lemon-raspberry flavorful delight. Overall Taste Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The texture of the icing is very light, but where it failed on the cream cheese frosting, the light texture on the lemon icing works great, I'm loving the ultra-light frosting with the raspberry filling and the moist cake-- this is working together great for me! Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Beautiful presentation-- bright white frosting, swirled high in an artfully applied dollop, with a little droplet of red raspberry at the tip and a view of red raspberry compote in between the bottom of the frosting and the top of the golden-hued cake. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I like this a lot!!! Would have liked a more flavorful cake, but I really enjoyed this and found it extremely refreshing and light. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 17.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Tribeca Treats Red Velvet

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

Tribeca Treats Red Velvet. I would like to inform readers that Tribeca Treats is an ADORABLE store, more than just a bakery-- it is a confectionary as well that sells homemade chocolates, and it also has a little cupcake and candy-themed "gift shop" in the front that sells beautiful cards, books and assorted paraphernalia. It is decorated in a clean, crisp and modern way that I really appreciated, and it was refreshingly air-conditioned and cold on a hot August day.

Taste: The frosting is very cream cheese-y and not very sweet-- I could use a little more sweetness here. The cake is distinctly chocolate-y, which I like in a red velvet cake. Overall Taste Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cake is a little bit dry. The frosting is very whipped and light, almost too light, a consistency that just is not right for a cream cheese frosting. Complaints all around from the whole cupcake-tasting posse about the texture of the frosting. Overall Texture Rating: 1.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Gorgeousness! This frosting is swirled to perfection and swirled HIGH, towering fabulously above the cake in a pure white, perfectly centered, perfectly swirled dollop. Simple, elegant, beautiful! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Not the best red velvet. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 11.25 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

The Soda Shop Miniature Vanilla on Vanilla

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

The Soda Shop Miniature Vanilla Cupcake

Taste: The frosting is like pure butter, and the cake is sour and unpleasant. Eh... Overall Taste Rating: 0.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: SLIMY! This cupcake is so moist it is slimy!!* The frosting's texture is OK, a little hard. Overall Texture Rating: 0.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Its miniature, its cute, it won me over with its teensy weensy itsy bitsy cuteness. And look at that beautifully swirled dollop of frosting!! It looked so adorable! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Not satisfied. Better to look at than to eat! Next cupcake, please! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 1 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 6.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

*I would like to note that the cupcakes were retrieved from us from a back room, rather than a display case, and felt cold. While on a hot day a cold treat was appealing, a cold cupcake is not customary nor advisable. I suspect that some of the unfortunate texture issues related to the Soda Shop cupcakes resulted from erroneous refrigeration on the part of the store. I am not sure whether such refrigeration is customary or was a result of the extremely hot August day, but as any cupcake expert is aware, buttercream should NEVER be refrigerated! The refrigeration may have also added to the slimy, clammy texture of the cake. I'm not positive the refrigeration occurred or resulted in the bad texture, but I have my suspicions.

The Soda Shop Coconut Cupcake

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

The Soda Shop Coconut Cupcake

Taste: The frosting is sweet and strongly flavored with coconut, and its refreshing and sweet, quite lovely really. The cake however is sour and unpleasant, reminiscent of Tonnie's Minis. Overall Taste Rating: 2.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The icing has a nice smooth texture, and the real shredded coconut on top adds a chewiness and authenticity, but the ultra-moist cake is too moist so that is actually slimy and wet and gross. Overall Texture Rating: 1 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: I like the advertisement of the coconut flavor in the form of shredded coconut on top, but this is not a particularly artful or beautiful cupcake, although not heinously ugly either. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I really liked the coconut frosting on this, if they had gotten the cake right we really would have had a decent cupcake.* A shame... Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 8.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

*I would like to note that the cupcakes were retrieved from us from a back room, rather than a display case, and felt cold. While on a hot day a cold treat was appealing, a cold cupcake is not customary nor advisable. I suspect that some of the unfortunate texture issues related to the Soda Shop cupcakes resulted from erroneous refrigeration on the part of the store. I am not sure whether such refrigeration is customary or was a result of the extremely hot August day, but as any cupcake expert is aware, buttercream should NEVER be refrigerated! The refrigeration may have also added to the slimy, clammy texture of the cake. I'm not positive the refrigeration occurred or resulted in the bad texture, but I have my suspicions.

The Soda Shop Strawberry Frosted Vanilla Cake

On another beautiful Sunday, my best cupcake-tasting posse and I embarked on another Cupcake Crawl, this time farther downtown. This time it was unfortunately hovering around 100 degrees and I promptly wanted to melt, so the lounging-in-the-park-with-

cupcakes experience was more sweaty and melty and sticky and thirsty than last time around. However, a good time was had by all, until we all wanted to die from a combination of heat and cupcake-overdosing, that is. Importantly, I should mention that before I transcribed my cupcake rankings onto the computer, I took notes by hand on SPECIAL CUPCAKE RANKING PADS that my best cupcake-tasting friends (Caryn, Lawrence and Justin, along with fellow friend and sometime-cupcake taster Mike) specially DESIGNED for me and gave me for my birthday, complete with a special Caryn-designed logo. I am going to scan some of the cupcake-tasting pad sheets and upload them in a future post! And now, the results of Cupcake Crawl #2!

Strawberry Frosting on Vanilla Cake from the Soda Shop

Taste: Ahhhh! My mouth, ahhh, stop! The frosting tastes like butter and artificial strawberry flavoring and makes me want to gag. The cake is even worse, and has a sour, unpleasant taste that is hard to put my finger on, but it reminds me of Tonnie's Minis. Ack! Overall Taste Rating: 1.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: EW EW EW, the cake is SO moist that it's wet, clammy, SLIMY, not cake-like, like some sort of cold, bastardized bread pudding mush, this is just WRONG, its like someone poured water or milk all over the cake and made it into a sopping, slimy heap. The frosting is ultra-dense. Overall Texture Rating: 0.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: The beautiful pale pink frosting swirled in the shape of a rose is what attracted me tot hos cupcake-- look how gorgeous the aerial view of the frosting swirl is! Doesn't it just look like it would taste SO GOOD?!??! It didn't, looks were deceiving, but the aesthetics were exellent. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I am completely grossed out, but it sure was pretty to look at.* Overall Satisfaction Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 7.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

*I would like to note that the cupcakes were retrieved from us from a back room, rather than a display case, and felt cold. While on a hot day a cold treat was appealing, a cold cupcake is not customary nor advisable. I suspect that some of the unfortunate texture issues related to the Soda Shop cupcakes resulted from erroneous refrigeration on the part of the store. I am not sure whether such refrigeration is customary or was a result of the extremely hot August day, but as any cupcake expert is aware, buttercream should NEVER be refrigerated! The refrigeration may have also added to the slimy, clammy texture of the cake. I'm not positive the refrigeration occurred or resulted in the bad texture, but I have my suspicions.