Babycakes NYC Lemon Blueberry Cupcake

Babycakes NYC, http://www.babycakesnyc.com/, a whopping $3.95 or $4.25 each (depending on whether vegan or gluten free)

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!

This bakery is vegan and also offers gluten free cupcakes, and all the ingredients are organic.

Taste: The blueberry frosting is not very flavorful nor very sweet, but there is a distinct taste of real fresh blueberries. There are some little fresh blueberries mixed into the frosting which add a delicious and fresh fruit taste. The lemon curd dollop on top is a nice touch, it adds a much-needed refreshing, citrusy lemony taste. The cake is lightly lemon flavored, but not tart, nor sweet, not really very flavorful at all, I wish it were more lemony. The cake is unfortunately very bland. The fresh blueberries here were the best part. Overall Taste Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is ultra light, perhaps too light, almost like nothing. The cake, in contrast, is super dense, though dry and crumbly. The frosting is far too light for such a dense cake. Overall Texture Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: I think this cupcake looked better than it tasted-- the hue of the frosting connotes a delicious, strong blueberry flavor (that was actually very weak) and the real blueberries swirled throughout the frosting make it look appealing. The dollop of lemon curd on top is also a nice touch, and is applied in a precise swirl with an icing tip. But the dry top of the cupcake is left exposed on all sides, looking unattractive! Cover up those naked cupcakes, pastry decorators of the world! Ice those cupcakes down to the base!!! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Pretty disappointing, even for the realm of vegan/organic cupcakes. This cupcake was also super pricey-- I get that all-organic ingredients are expensive, but it's apparently expensive to be vegan! People with restrictive dietary needs shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg just to get a cupcake! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 10 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Burgers and Cupcakes Blueberry Cupcake

Blueberry Cupcake from Burgers and Cupcakes, $2.50, http://www.burgersandcupcakes.us/, 9th Avenue and 34th Street

Taste: The frosting is delicious-- very sweet but scrumptious. Though it is very slightly tinted blue, it tastes just vanilla to me. The frosting was topped with a fresh, delicious sweet blueberry! The cake itself had fresh blueberries baked into it to make a delicious blueberry cake. The vanilla part of the cake doesn't have much flavor, but the blueberries mixed into it give it a great, natural blueberry taste of fresh blueberries-- not artificial at all! Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is creamy and thick, and melts happily into sugary goodness on my tongue. The cake texture is not dry but not super moist, but with yummy softened blueberries baked right in they leave moist, sweet delicious blue pockets throughout the cake. Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 sprinkles.

Aesthetic: A uniquely conical appearance, with icing heaped ontop generously in a conical heap about three inches high, dotted on top with a fresh blueberry! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles.

Satisfaction: My first blueberry flavored cupcake, and I really liked it! I love blueberry muffins, but this was definitely a cupcake and not a muffin-- it was vanilla cake fit for a cupcake with fresh bluberries baked into it, with lots of sweet frosting and topped with a fresh blueberry. Innovative and delicious! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 17.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)