Amy's Bread Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Amy's Bread Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake, $2.50, http://www.amysbread.com/, 9th Ave and 46th Street

Taste: My first thought when I taste the chocolate frosting is that it tastes like real milk chocolate. Most other chocolate frostings I've tried taste like either cocoa powder or bittersweet chocolate, but this tastes like delicious milk chocolate, sweet while at the same time ultra-chocolatey. It's so chocolatey it definitely requires the accompaniment of a glass of milk, but luckily I'm prepared with milk to wash down the chocolate goodness! The flavor of the vanilla cake is also fantastic-- it's lightly sweet, with a nice vanilla flavor, so tasty that it could be enjoyed alone without frosting! (Something that won't have to be done with this particular cupcake given the great quantity of icing it has!) Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles!

Texture: The frosting is very soft and smooth, and the cake is slightly moist and a bit spongey, like a sponge cake. I like the textures in my mouth, but the cake is a little bit crumbly and I make a slight mess in eating the cupcake. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This cupcake is a beauty! The frosting has a rich chocolate brown color with a nice gloss to it, and it is generously applied in a perfectly even swirl, with a few sprinkles adorning it for decoration. The frosting is so generously applied that the cake part is small in comparison, a little stump holding up a a giant heap of frosting! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: This cupcake was very tasty!! It was also a large cupcake, and at $2.50, the same price charged for many smaller cupcakes at other bakeries, I felt it was an excellent value. I would definitely return to Amy's Bread for more cupcakes anytime! It looked great, tasted great, and the price was right!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles!

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 18 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Cupcake Cafe Mocha Buttercream on Chocolate Cake

Beautiful Mocha Frosting on Chocolate Cake Cupcakes all in a row:
You can see the chocolate frosted cupcakes that I did not sample on the rack below the mocha:
The specific mocha frosted chocolate cupcake I sampled:
The mocha cupcake I sampled, pictured on the right:

Cupcake Cafe Mocha Frosting on Chocolate Cake, $2.50, http://www.cupcakecafe-nyc.com/?KMLID=6140, 9th Ave and 40th Street

Taste: The mocha buttercream is really unique and interesting-- it's a nice mocha, sweet and yet coffee-flavored at the same time-- it reminds me of the flavor of coffee ice cream. The white flower on top is regular vanilla buttercream, which I like even better than the mocha buttercream-- sweet yet light and milky. The chocolate cake is where this cupcake lost me-- bitter, not sweet, just not pleasing to my palate. Overall Taste Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: The buttercream is incredibly light-- it must be whipped, and might be the french recipe that uses egg whites to achieve a perfectly fluffy, light meringue-buttercream. It melts on my tongue into utter deliciousness. The cake texture is a little bit dry, but it moistens up nicely in my mouth and it holds together well. The cake is very dense, which I don't love in a cupcake. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: The Cupcake Cafe cupcakes are beautifully decorated! They sell a variety of cupcakes with different multi-colored flowers decorating the top, and they are breathtaking. These are the kind of cupcakes that would be perfect to serve for a special occasion, artistically done and the sort of specialty cupcake it's not easy to re-create at home. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!

Satisfaction: The taste of this cucpake wasn't stellar, but it's beauty was unparalleled! And for such a gorgeous cupcake, I felt like $2.50 was a steal price for it! There is no disputing that the Cupcake Cafe knows how to make gorgeous confections!!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Overall Cupcaking Ranking: 15 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Cupcake Cafe Vanilla Buttercream on Vanilla Cake

Cupcake Cafe Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake (pictured above, left), $2.50, http://www.cupcakecafe-nyc.com/?KMLID=6140, 9th Ave and 40th Street

Taste: The vanilla buttercream is very mild, slightly sweet, very milky-- and I really like it! It's a sophisticated buttercream, not too sweet but really scrumptious and satisfying. The vanilla cake is pretty good-- not especially flavorful, understated, but pleasant. If you don't like ultra-sweet cupcakes, this cupcake is a great choice, because it's not too sweet but it's very tasty. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: The buttercream is incredibly light for a buttercream, and I would guess it's the French style that uses egg whites and milk in the recipe. The cake is really dense, it's not dry but it's not moist either, right in between, but a little dense for a cupcake in my opinion. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.

Aesthetic: Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous, is how I would describe Cupcake Cafe cupcakes!!! Absolutely beautiful, the exact sort of treat anyone would want to serve for a special occasion. Artistic, upscale, just beautiful. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles!!

Satisfaction: The beauty of this cupcake alone wins it a lot of points for me, even though it wasn't the best tasting cupcake I've sampled. But I'd definitely buy these cupcakes to serve to guests for a special occasion!! I also thought the price was really reasonable for something so professional and handcrafted at $2.50. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

The gorgeous array of offerings at Cupcake Cafe:

Burgers and Cupcakes Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Frosting from Burgers and Cupcakes, $2.50, http://www.burgersandcupcakes.us/, 9th Avenue and 34th Street

Taste: The frosting is really super sweet, but delicious, a pure and rich vanilla. The vanilla cake is pleasant but not overly flavorful or sweet. Without blueberries baked in like in the blueberry cupcake, it's not quite as tasty. Overall Taste Rating: 3.5 out of 5 sprinkles.

Texture: The frosting is really thick and creamy, slightly hardened on the outside but melts wonderfully on my tongue. The cake texture is medium-- not dry but not super moist. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: A uniquely conical appearance, with icing heaped ontop generously in a conical heap about three inches high, adorned with rainbow sprinkles. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: This was a tasty cupcake, without a doubt. There wasn't anything unique or special about it, but for a classic vanilla on vanilla cupcake, it was definitely satisfying and sweet, and does the trick for a sweet tooth fix! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles.

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 15 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)

Magnolia: Miniature Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Miniature Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake Cupcake from Magnolia

Magnolia Bakery was giving away miniature cupcakes today in Rockefeller Center, and I happened to walk by just at the right time! I didn't have my digital camera with me at the time, so I snapped cell phone pictures of it prior to consumption (sorry about the poor quality!). My teensy treat was free, but I was told you can purchase the minis at Magnolia (http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/) at a dozen for $20. (Either oddly or adorably, I can't decide which, the dozen mini-cupcakes for $20 are sold in a cardboard egg-carton. Assuming they're re-using egg cartons from the eggs used to make the cupcakes, which is what it looked like, I suppose it is an eco-friendly way to recycle them).

Taste: Is it just me, or do all things taste better miniature? The vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting mini-cupcake was just far more delicious in its miniature form than in the full-size version! Although the icing was still too sweet while the cake was not sweet enough, in bite-size form perhaps I didn't have enough time to critique the problems with the cupcake's taste before it was all gone! When I was eating the full size version of the same, I discussed how I felt sick after a few bites and had no desire to eat any more, but perhaps the mini-size is the answer for me, because the two-bite cupcake tasted a lot better! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: You might call me crazy, but the cake in the mini-Magnolia was moister than the standard-size Magnolia cake. Really! And the icing was smooth and thick. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: Okay, I might be biased in favor of all things miniature, but this cupcake was just ADORABLE. Mini-cupcake just delighted me! It looked much like a Magnolia big cupcake that only scores a 3 sprinkles for aesthetics, yet scaled down in a mini-me version, it was extra cute! It earns an extra point for miniature-ness! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles!

Satisfaction: So on the one hand, a miniatue cupcake is gone in two bites and doesn't fully satisfy the way a regular-size cupcake can. But on the other hand, a miniature cupcake is sometimes JUST the thing you need to satisfy that desire for delicious cupcakeness without expanding your waistline and overeating goodies. And something about miniature things is extra satisfying because they're just so cute. I was absolutely delighted to learn that such miniature cupcakes from Magnolia existed, and I swear I had a smile on my face for hours after that happenstance discovery and my free mini-cupcake consumption. I truly did feel satisfied even though it was so tiny! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles!

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Buttercup Bake Shop Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Buttercup Bake Shop Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake

buttercupbakeshop.com, $2.25 each

Taste: The frosting is very cocoa powdery and very buttery, and not as sweet as Magnolia or Crumbs' chocolate frosting, and tastes less like real chocolate. The cake was unremarkable, not possessed of any distinct flavors but not unpleasant... not particularly sweet. The frosting and cake together are not sweet enough for me-- it tastes too much of unsweetened cocoa powder and butter. Overall Taste Rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles.

Texture: Happily, the frosting's texture is very smooth and buttery. The cake's texture was also not particularly good or bad-- not moist but not dry, somewhere in between, but generally unremarkable. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.

Aesthetic: The chocolate frosting has an interestingly light color compared to the frosting from Crumbs or Magnolia, which you'd think would connote more sugar in the recipe, and yet their chocolate frosting was the least sweet! The cupcake also unfortunately looked hideously deformed, as you can see in the picture above, although I liked that it looked like it had lots of icing before I tasted the icing and was underwhelmed. The cake was golden and the cupcake was even, but the icing was applied sloppily albeit generously. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles

Satisfaction Rating: The cupcake was just didn't do it for me. There was no pleasant chocolate taste like in Magnolia and Crumbs' chocolate frostings. There was nothing extra to redeem this cupcake either. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles

Cupcake Ranking: 10 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Crumbs Bake Shop Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Crumbs Bakery Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake, $2.95 each, http://www.crumbs.com/

Taste: The icing is sweet but chocolatey, with excellent flavor-- very similar to Magnolia's chocolate buttercream, but without that mouth-full-of-confectioner's-sugar taste. The cake is the same delicious vanilla cake that I gave such favorable reviews to in the Crumbs Vanilla-on-Vanilla Cupcake review-- flavorful, vanilla-y, delicious. The taste of the vanilla cake blended together with the chocolate frosting hits the perfect note. Overall Taste Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!
Texture: The icing is creamy and smooth, the cake moist and soft, as I've been coming to count on from Crumbs! Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!
Aesthetic: The only place I can possibly find fault with the cupcake is in the aesthetics department-- as you can see from the photo, the cupcake was a bit lopsided, and the icing was unevenly applied and there is a slight scuff on the surface. I noticed this as I was paying for my cupcakes and wished the gentleman helping me in the store knew I was planning to critique the cupcakes so he'd offer me one of the more presentable cupcakes available in the display, but alas, my identity as the Cupcake Connoisseur cannot be known. I am forced to judge each cupcake as I find them, and so despite this cupcake's grand scale, beautiful golden colored cake and chocolate-hued frosting, and cheery inch-high band of densely packed rainbow sprinkles, the sloppiness in its execution loses it a critical point. Overall aesthetic ranking: 4 out of 5 sprinkles.
Satisfaction: Like with the Crumbs vanilla, I was surprised to find there was no extra shot of filling hidden inside, as I've experienced with many of their cupcakes in the past, but luckily the large heaping of icing provided on top more than did the trick. This cupcake was rich and satisfying, and so big that eating half or less was enough to satisfy, and the rest could be saved for later or shared with friends. Completely yummy! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 19 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)-- Just one sprinkle away from perfection!

Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake, magnoliabakery.com, $2.50 each

Taste: The chocolate frosting was very tasty-- sweet but the sweetness was tempered by the cocoa powder for a pleasant overall flavor, although savoring the frosting in my mouth I could distinctly taste the components that made up the icing: butter, confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder. But the vanilla cake was disappointing-- dry, flavorless, not sweet at all. Luckily, eaten together, the chocolate frosting taste was overpowering, and therefore quite tasty! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles
Texture: The chocolate frosting's texture was excellent-- smooth, creamy, not too dense, light and soft. The cake texture unfortunately was dry and crumbly and really ruined things. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles
Aesthetic: Although the cupcakes have that cute homemade look that makes everyone nostalgic about childhood cupcake-eating, the execution on this cupcake was sloppy-- the cake was lopided and the icing wasn't applied particularly evenly. The chocolate frosting did have a nice, rich chocolate color that I appreciated, and from an aerial view the frosting was beautifully swirled. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles
Satisfaction: Overall, the yumminess of the chocolate frosting is what saved this cupcake and led to my decent satisfaction with it, although the cake part was borderline inedible. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Cupcake Ranking: 14 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Crumbs Bake Shop: Vanilla on Vanilla

Crumbs Bake Shop Vanilla on Vanilla was up next, and I just have to illustrate for comparison the size difference between a Crumbs cupcake and a Buttercup cupcake:
A Crumbs cupcake ($2.95 each) basically dwarfs a Buttercup (and a Buttercup and a Magnolia are the same size), making other cupcakes look puny in its shadow.
Taste: OMG, after sampling the disappointing Magnolia and Buttercup vanilla on vanilla cupcakes, I thought I was too nauseated to possibly enjoy another cupcake. But Crumbs really came through in the clutch. The icing was perfect-- I'd love to know how they do it, but it struck the perfect balance of being sweet yet light, and actually tasted vanilla (whereas the Buttercup and Magnolia frostings just tasted the flavor of sugar with no hint of vanilla). The cake also hit the mark on taste perfection-- the cake easily could stand alone as a delicious cake with no need of icing, and yet with the icing and cake together it just tasted like heaven! The flavors together were just perfect. Overall Taste Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!
Texture: The icing was creamy and melt-in-my-mouth delectable, and the cake was perfectly moist and yet light and not too dense. The icing and cake together made for a perfect combination in my mouth! Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!
Aesthetic: The cupcake was really big, perfectly even, and the icing was creamy and heaped over an inch high on top in a perfect swirl. Rather than haphazardly scattered sprinkles on top, the sprinkles were neatly arranged in a circle around the edge, creating a border, and the rainbow sprinkles were densely packed together, yet the non-sprinkled middle of the circle remained pure white with icing. Now that's precision! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!
Satisfaction: There was one disappointment with my Crumbs cupcake-- in the past, when I've had large Crumbs cupcakes, inside there has been a delicious shot of extra frosting in the middle! But today, my Crumbs cupcake only had cake in the middle. Luckily, there was so much icing heaped on the top of the cupcake that the icing-to-cupcake ratio was great just as it was. The cupcake was so large it was enough to save the rest for one, if not two, snacks later on. And at $2.95, compared to $2.50 for the smaller and inferior Magnolia and $2.25 for the smaller and inferior Buttercup, I felt it was a great value for my money! I feel 100% satisfied! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!

Cupcake Ranking: 20 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)!!!!!!!!!! This cupcake can enter the Cupcake Hall of Fame as our first Perfect Scoring 20 Sprinkle Cupcake: The Quintessential Cupcake!

Buttercup Bake Shop: Vanilla on Vanilla

For my next act, I tackled a Buttercup Bake Shop (buttercupbakeshop.com, $2.25 each) vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream cupcake.
Taste: The icing was exceptionally buttery and very rich, but very tasty. The cake was light and pleasant, not too sweet but flavorful enough, with almost a hint of citrus-y undertones in the cake. Something about the cake was very pleasant on its own, I think the subtle sweetness. Together with the icing, the icing overpowered the nice taste of the cake, although together they were still enjoyable. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles.
Texture: The icing was a little bit hard on the outside, like it had dried in a crust, but underneath it was soft though dense with butter. The cake had a nice texture, I wouldn't call it moist but it wasn't dry either, it was just the right amount in between and stayed together nicely without crumbling. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.
Aesthetic: Tiny, cute, nice golden color, pure white colored icing adorned with small round colored sprinkles. Icing distribution was a touch sloppy, and cupcake was slightly lopsided. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.
Satisfaction: Overall, a nice cupcake, but I only had a few bites and wasn't desperate for more. Though I appreciated the flavors when trying the cupcake and assessing the taste and texture, overall I found it too rich, too buttery and too sweet. The cake and the icing were both so dense, it didn't strike the perfect balance. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.

Cupcake Ranking: 13 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Magnolia Bakery: Vanilla on Vanilla

I'm beginning my cupcake rankings with the classic Vanilla Cake on Vanilla Buttercream combination. The above cupcake is from Magnolia Bakery (magnoliabakery.com, $2.50 each), and their vanilla buttercream comes in a variety of colors. Classic white was not available, so I chose pink from amongst the vanilla frosting options, which also included blue and green.
Taste: The icing is very, very sweet and very, very buttery-- a bit cloying. The first taste of the icing was sweet and pleasant, but after a few more tastes I felt like I was eating Confectioner's Sugar straight from the box atop a stick of butter. While the icing was too sweet, the cake was not sweet enough, and even together they did not strike the right balance. The cake had not enough sugar and perhaps a touch too much baking soda. The unpleasantness of the cake was balanced somewhat when eating the cake and icing together, because together the icing was almost all I could taste. However, I experienced a slightly unpleasant aftertaste. After a few bites I had had more than enough and had no desire to finish it. Overall taste rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles.
Texture: The texture of the icing was pleasant-- soft and dense, but melted on my tongue. But, the cake texture was awful-- dry, crumbly, no moisture at all. Overall texture rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles.
Aesthetic: The cupcake definitely looked better than it tasted-- tiny, cute, with a "classic homemade" aesthetic, light golden color, even height, and good cake-to-frosting ratio. The frosting was applied in a pretty swirl, and a smattering of rainbow sprinkles across the top added charm. However, the pink color on vanilla icing is in my opinion misleading, as in baked goods color often connotes flavor, and adding color dye to the icing might account for the slight aftertaste I experienced. Overall aesthetic ranking: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.
Satisfaction: Overall, I was unsatisfied with the cupcake, and have no desire to eat a vanilla on vanilla cupcake from Magnolia again. I was very glad I had more cupcakes available since this one was so unsatisfying! Overall satisfaction ranking: 1 out of 5 sprinkles.

Cupcake Ranking: 8 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)