Tonnie's Minis "Golden Heart" (Vanilla/Red Velvet Swirl)

Tonnie's Minis "Golden Heart" (Vanilla/Red Velvet Swirl), http://www.tonniesminis.com/

On a gorgeous summer Sunday afternoon, I went for a "cupcake crawl" in downtown Manhattan with my best cupcake tasing buddies, Caryn of Carebear's Kitchen, and Lawrence and Justin from My Two Nuts. Caryn recapped our day of adventure fantastically at her Caryn's 101 Things blog. We had an amazing afternoon of strolling, enjoying wonderful weather, hanging out in the park, and most importantly sharing many delicious cupcakes! This was one of the cupcakes that was a product of our first NYC cupcake crawl!

Taste: The cake flavor is really bad here-- the red velvet swirl adds nothing and is flavorless, and the only flavor I can discern on the cake is maybe too much baking soda or perhaps the use of spoiled milk-- the cake is slightly sour, with a bad aftertaste. The icing is sweet and tasty enough, but its not making up for the bad cake. Overall Taste Rating: 1.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cake is very moist and the frosting is creamy, so points for good texture if not for taste. Overall Texture Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: You might be asking yourself why this cupcake isn't mini, when the venue is called Tonnie's MINIS. I asked myself the same question. Every cupcake being sold at Tonnie's minis was full size. I inquired and was told they were "out" of minis. A strange thing to happen to a store that names itself Tonnie's MINIs. There were no minis to be had. For a full size cupcake it's okay looking, it has an appealing homemade quality to it. I love the swirl application on the frosting, and the dusting of red velvet crumbs is cute. But I wish the frosting went all the way to the edge-- bare naked cupcake top, ahh! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: The bad cake taste killed this cupcake for me. I also need to add that the VENUE from which these cupcakes were purchased, which was the one and only Tonnie's Minis location, the flagship, the hub, the epicenter of Tonnie's Minis-- and it was one of the dirtiest and sketchiest looking places I've ever been, and hands down the shadiest place from which I have ever purchased a cupcake. Most cupcakeries and bakeries in general are clean, for starters, and usually staffed by friendly people and perhaps decorated with some air of cuteness or charm. Some cupcakeries are quaint, some are trendy, some are whimsical, some are elegant, some are geared for kids while others have a hipster vibe.... But this is the first cupcake venue I have ever been to that was SHADY. The picture on their website makes it look deceptively cute, but in real life those cute orange high pod chairs and pretty tiered cupcake stand are nowhere to be found-- the real life venue contained a folding table and folding chairs where those trendy elements are in the picture. I felt like I had entered the shady underbelly of the cupcake world. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 1 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 10.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)