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 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)

Kitchenette 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!

Red Velvet Cupcake from Kitchenette

Taste: The frosting is sweet and cream cheese-y, but the cake is completely tasteless! Together, the frosting is the strong, dominant (and good) taste, but the cake adds nothing-- it is a mere vehicle for frosting-- and I want more frosting! Overall Taste Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cake is moist and the frosting is smooth and creamy, but nothing special going on here, and its not velvety, as a red velvet cupcake should be. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This is really more of a PINK velvet than a red velvet-- the color is exceptionally pink! Also it the appearance of the texture looks strangely un-cupcake-like-- it reminds me of when I made a recipe once called "Sugar cookie frosting cups" in which the sugar cookie cups had the appearance of that red velvet cupcake-- something about it looks more hard than soft and cakelike. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: A middle-of-the-road, average red velvet cupcake that's not even red velvet-y. More like pink un-velvet! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 11.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

One Girl Cookies Red Velvet Sold by the Street Sweets Truck

Red Velvet Cupcake from the Street Sweets Truck, www.streetsweetsny.com, which sells cupcakes from One Girl Cookies, http://www.onegirlcookies.com/

Yet another dessert-centric mobile food truck in NYC! Unlike the CupcakeStop, this truck is not cupcake-exclusive, and they don't sell their own brand cupcakes-- they sell One Girl Cookies cupcakes. So, this review is of One Girl Cookies cupcakes, but since the StreetSweets Truck doesn't sell any other cupcake brands, this is the deal for purchases from StreetSweets.

Taste: The frosting is cream cheese-y but ultra sweet at the same time. The cake tastes like a lightly sweet chocolate cake. Eaten together, it's a red velvety cream cheese sensation-- pretty good! Overal Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is thick, a little hardened on the outside, but smooth on the inside. The cake is a little hard around the edges, but in the center it's soft and fluffy. However, I wouldn't call the texture velvety-- it's fluffy and perhaps a bit spongey, but not moist or smooth such to be considered velvety. Overall Taste Rating: 2 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: What an INTERESTING aesthetic! First of all, the packaging is an atypical cupcake wrapper-- a circular paper wrapper inside, but a square-with-rounded-edges cardboard border around it-- very different. The frosting is applied in these funny little peaks that make it look like a jester's hat, or perhaps the tentacles of an octopus. It's kind of whimsical and fun, but also a little odd. Definitely distinctive. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Not bad. The tastes were great here, although the texture left a bit to be desired. I always like experiencing something new, and the cupcakes are branded to look different, if not taste different. I feel somewhat pleased. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles.

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 12.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Junior's Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Junior's Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting, http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/

Taste: The cream cheese frosting is so thick and rich and cream cheesy it's practically like Junior's cheesecake! I'm exaggerating slightly, it's clearly frosting, but a really delicious cream cheesey, cheesecake-y frosting-- anyone who loves cheesecake will love this frosting, it's richer and more cream cheesey than many cream cheese frostings. It reminds me of the filling in a cheese danish! The cake is sweet but doesn't have a distinct flavor. This is a Junior's cupcake, so their distinct double-frosting application layer is in play here. The top of the cake is first frosted in a white vanilla royal icing, and then rainbow sprinkles are pressed around the edges to make a border, and then the cream cheese frosting is swirled high on top of the rainbow sprinkle border atop the vanilla royal icing. So its a double dose of two types of icing, generously piled and thoroughly coated. The vanilla royal icing is sugary sweet, as are the sprinkles. OMG I could eat a bucket of this cream cheese frosting alone. Eaten together, this is so tasty, even if the cake is mainly serving as a vehicle for the frosting-- the cream cheese frosting is SOOOOOOOO GOOD, Junior's really knows how to handle cream cheese!: Overall Taste Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cream cheese frosting is sooooooooooooooooooo creamy. The cake is tender and moist-- the cake almost melts in my mouth. The cake is so soft, and the frosting so smooth. Mmmmm! Overall Texture Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This is just a spectacular looking cupcake. The system of applying royal icing to the cupcake, applying a border of sprinkles, and then letting the royal icing dry and harden to hold the sprinkles in place is ingenius and gorgeous-- no sprinkles at risk of falling off these cupcakes! And the generous heaping of perfectly swirled cream cheese frosting in the center of the sprinkle border is so pleasing to the eyes. The cupcake is large, the red velvet color of the cake is a rich burgundy, and the rainbow sprinkles add a pretty touch ringed around the edge (although perhaps they should be red or white sprinkles, not rainbow-- the rainbow clashes a touch with the burgundy red velvet cake). Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Mmmmm, yummy! This cream cheese frosting is so rich, I would practically call this a "Cheesecake Cupcake" more so than a "Red Velvet Cupcake." I'm loving it though! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 18.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Sweet Revenge Crimson and Cream (Raspberry Red Velvet)

Sweet Revenge Crimson and Cream (Raspberry Red Velvet) Cupcake, http://www.sweetrevengenyc.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: OMG-- why aren't all red velvet cakes raspberry flavored? This is GENIUS. The fact that other bakeries are making non-raspberry red velvet cakes will now forever be a shock to me. Raspberry red vevet cake is far and away a superior flavoring. There are fresh raspberries baked in to the cake. The flavor is bursts of fresh raspberry flavors exploding in my mouth in fantastic ways. The fresh, real raspberry flavor is unbelievably good, and paired with the sweet cream cheese frosting, I am in cupcake heaven! Overall Taste Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cake is very dense, but ultra moist, and the frosting is super thick and creamy. This is definitely a filling cupcake! Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Absolutely STUNNING!!! Large in size, with a uniquely large brown paper cupcake wrapper, an extremely generous heaping of frosting, and the signature Sweet Revenge "three stripe" extra application of frosting on top. Drizzled with raspberry sauce and dusted with cinnamon, with so much icing spilling around the edges of the wrapper that the icing looks almost like flower petals. So beautiful! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: The fact that their red velvet cake was raspberry flavored just blew my mind in amazing ways. The crimson raspberry red velvet cake and creamy cream cheese frosting made this "crimson and cream" cupcake out of this world. Sweet Revenge gets extra points for being such a cool VENUE! It's a cupcakery, but although takeout is an option, its designed to be a sit-down cupcake restaurant complete with waitress service. Most unique, the cupcake menu comes with suggested drink pairings! Now, usually my beverage of choice with a cupcake is a cold glass of milk, but Sweet Revenge puts a twist on the usual by suggesting beer, wine or cocktail options that are designed to go best with each flavor of cupcake on their menu. What a cool idea!! The cupcakes also all have fancy names. Sitting down and being served these fancy, gorgeous cupcakes with fancy drinks by a friendly waitress added an extra element to the Sweet Revenge experience that left me feeling extra satisfied. The fact that their red velvet cake was raspberry flavored just blew my mind in amazing ways. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 19.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Baked by Melissa Red Velvet

Baked by Melissa Red Velvet Cupcake, http://www.bakedbymelissa.com/, 12 mini cupcakes for $10

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 frosting is super sweet, but not very cream cheese-y. The cake is sweet and lightly cocoa-y. The frosting so sweet that this is a sugar rush. The main flavor here is sugar. Overall Taste Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is ultra light, and the cake is ultra moist, even creamy. Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Sweetly miniature-- deep burgundy hue on the cake and bright white color to the frosting. The frosting is generously and prettily swirled, with red sugar crystals decorating the top in a pleasing way. Everything is unfortunately rather lopsided. Good swirl though. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: A pretty tasty bite of red velvet, but I prefer a more cream cheese-y frosting on my red velvet cupcakes. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 15.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Baked by Melissa Tye Dye with Cream Cheese Frosting

Baked by Melissa Tye Dye Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting, http://www.bakedbymelissa.com/, 12 mini cupcakes for $10

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: What does "tie dye" taste like? Not like food coloring, luckily-- the tie dye cake is lightly sweet, without any particular flavor. The frosting is a cream cheese frosting, ultra sweet, but really tasty. Overall Taste Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is slightly granular from sugar crystals, but it's nice, it adds a tasty crunch. The cake is spongy and tender on the inside, but unfortunately there is a strange rubbery texture to the edges. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: So mini! So cute! So TIE DYED! Gorgeous colors swirled throughout. Bright pink, green and blue-- just like the tie dye shirts I once made in summer camp! (How does one bake a tie-dye cupcake? NO idea). The frosting is generously swirled in a beautiful twirl on top, with a dusting of rainbow colored sugar crystals on top to cement the rainbow theme. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I like tie dye cupcakes! There was no food coloring aftertaste, which I feared, and it was basically to me like cream cheese frosting on white or yellow cake, which is a rare combination but really delicious. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

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

Sugar Sweet Sunshine Spicy Pumpkin with Cream Cheese Frosting

Spicy Pumpkin, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, http://www.sugarsweetsunshine.com/, $1.50 each

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 cream cheese frosting is super sweet, but with a distinct cream cheese base. The cake is absolutely delicious, a scrumptious pumpkin cinnamon spice cake, but distinctly sweet, with great spices and a distinct real pumpkin flavor. A complex taste, but the ultra sweet frosting and pumpkin spice cake together struck an incredible balance. My mouth was in cupcake heaven! Overall Taste Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is a little grainy from sugar, but its pleasant. The cake is ultra moist, but fluffy-- a perfect cake texture. Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Sadly not the most gorgeous cupcake-- the icing application is a little lopsided and imprecise. But, the icing has a bright white color and the pumpkin spice inside had a pretty pumpkin-orange hue. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: EXTREMELY satisfying-- a unique, delicious, wonderful cupcake, I would get the spicy pumpkin cupcake over and over again!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

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

Buttercup Sour Cream Spice Cupcake

Buttercup Bake Shop Sour Cream Spice Cupcake, buttercupbakeshop.com

Taste: The cream cheese frosting is tasty-- nice and cream chees-y and sweet at the same time. I guess the sour cream must be baked into the cake, but I can't taste it anywhere, and it's definitely not in the frosting. The cake flavors are very mild-- the spices are light, and the walnuts and raisins baked throughout add some flavor, but this isn't a particularly rich or flavorful or sweet cake. The frosting is good, but the cake leaves a lot to be desired. Overall Taste Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: STALE is the texture on this cake! SO stale that this bakery should be ashamed to have even sold it to me. The texture of the cake is stale with chunks in it, as there are walnuts and raisins dispersed throughout. The cream cheese frosting is smooth and creamy though. Overall Texture Rating: 0.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This cupcake is fairly attractive-- the icing has a nice swirl, with a dusting of crumbs and walnuts on top, and the proportions are good. It's not the neatest presentation, nor does it have any special decorations to make the cupcakes extra-attractive. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: This cupcake was so stale that it was hard to enjoy. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2 out of 5 Sprinkles

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

CupcakeStop Red Velvet

CupcakeStop Red Velvet Mini-Cupcake, www.cupcakestop.com

Taste: The frosting is cream cheese frosting, sweet and yet light, distinctly a cream cheese icing, but much lighter than many I've tasted, but the cream cheese flavor is distinct and pleasant. The cake doesn't have a ton of flavor, but I like that it is distinctly sweet, even though it doesn't taste very chocolatey. Overall Taste Rating: 3.75 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: The icing is ultra-whipped and light, one of the lightest textured cream cheese frostings I've encountered. By far the fluffiest cream cheese frosting yet tasted! Ultra smooth. The cake is very moist-- in fact, I would describe the texture as velvety-- something that is definitely an accolade for a red velvet cupcake. Great textures! Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: I was given two STYLES of red velvet in my CupcakeStop assortment pack-- one had red sugar crystals sprinkled on top, and the other did not and had a taller swirl of red frosting. I can't decide which I like better! They're both so cute-- the red sugar sprinkles definitely add something decorative, but I like the way the icing is swirled high on the other one. Rich red color. And miniature, so extra cuteness points for that. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I liked it! A nice bite size treat, and much lighter than a typical red velvet cupcake, which usually has a denser, heavier frosting. Enjoyable. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 17.25 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)
(Miniature!)

Flour & Sun Bakery Red Velvet

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting, Flour & Sun Bakery, Pleasantville, NY, http://www.flourandsunbakery.com/, $2.75 each

Taste: This is a very sweet cream cheese frosting-- delicious, but very sweet for a cream cheese frosting. Cake is not overly flavorful, but pleasant, and eaten together with the icing, this is a sweet treat! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting isa little grainy, I can feel the crystals of sugar mixed in with it, but it is fluffy and light, and the cake has a good medium texture, not dry at all though I wouldn't call it moist. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles.

Aesthetic: I like the look of this cupcake!! I love how there is such a large quantity of icing, and I love how decadently its swirled, the way its swirled reminds me of a rose! The cupcake is even and proportionate, and the icing application is just swirled in a beautiful and generous way. The red velvet cake has a rich red color, and the frosting is a beautiful pure white. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Not the best Red Velvet cupcake I've had-- Two Little Red Hens and Crumbs were superior-- but a pleasant treat, and I enjoyed it well enough. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

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

Crumbs Bake Shop Cherry Blossom Cupcake

Crumbs "Cherry Blossom" Cupcake, $3.75, http://www.crumbs.com/

Taste: Mike loved this cupcake-- he thought the icing had a "subtle cherry flavor" that he very much enjoyed. The icing is cream cheese icing, but its cherry cream cheese icing, and its pretty wonderful-- think a cherry-cheesecake sort of sweet yet tangy deliciousness. The cake is delicious sweet vanilla, and there are cherry preserves inside the cupcake which are tart and dotted with plump cherries. The tart preserves complement the sweet cherry cream cheese frosting perfectly, so that eaten together this cupcake has the perfect balance and is sweet but not too sweet, thanks to that perfect slightly tart cherry center. The candied cherries on top are nice-- my cupcake came with two candied cherries, which may have been an accident. Those cherries were sweeter than the preserves, but actually not as ultra-sweet as I had feared, and surprisingly not dried out, either-- the cherry on top was juicy when I bit into it! It was more like the maraschino cherry you find on top of an ice cream sundae than a too-sugared candied dry cherry. Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The textures here were quite pleasing-- smooth, creamy frosting coupled with soft, moist, fluffy cake, filled inside with juicy preserves in a compote that burst into cherry juices in my mouth. The candied cherries on top were candied sugar coated on the outside, but juicy inside! Not dry at all like most dried fruit. Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This cupcake is large, even , proportionate, and the cake has a pretty golden color while the frosting is a soft pink that connotes cherry, with a perfectly centered cherry on top (and a random smaller cherry imbedded in the icing off to the side-- accident?) Two slight problems with the aesthetic here-- one is that on top the icing appears a bit cracked, it doesn't look perfectly smoothed or swirled. But the bigger issue for me is that the icing isn't applied all the way down to the top of the cupcake wrapper. I like cupcake icing to cover the entirety of the top of the cupcake, not stop short and leave naked cake top showing! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: The taste of this cupcake was stellar-- I really enjoyed it. It was creative and different, and yet had a classic taste at the same time, and the tartness and sweetness together were delectable. I don't think the recipe on this could have been any better! I also like the name-- the "Cherry Blossom Cupcake." I was exceptionally satisfied-- with a cherry on top! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles!!

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

Crumbs Red Velvet Cupcake

Crumbs Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting, $3.75, http://www.crumbs.com/

For a wonderfully fun Friday lunch treat, I met with a group of friends for a quick midtown lunch during which we picked up an array of cupcakes from Crumbs! We each got a different cupcake and then shared and sampled, allowing the opportunity to review a wide array, and take into account the much-valued tasting opinions of my fellow cupcake-eaters!

Taste: YUM!! This is a delicious mouthful of cupcake!! As my friend Lawrence noted, "the icing is perfect because it's not too cream chees-y and not too sweet to overwhelm," and I concur wholeheartedly, it's a cream cheese frosting done to excellence, because it's distinctly a cream cheese frosting, and perfectly sweetened, but not so sweet its cloying. The red velvet cake is also delicious-- it's not overly sweet and doesn't overpower, but it's softly yet distinctly chocolatey, and paired with the cream cheese frosting is just wonderful. The sprinkle of cake crumbs atop the icing is also a nice touch! Caryn from Carebear's Kitchen thought "the red velvet was SCRUMPTIOUS!" She said she tends to like the icing very cream cheesy, which I do as well, but we both agreed this frosting was "very yummy" even though not ultra-cream cheesy. The three of us agree the taste is very excellent and close to a "5 sprinkles," but not quite perfection-- Caryn thought it was a 4.5 Sprinkle taste, but Lawrence thought it was so perfect it was much closer to a 5, and I'm a little bit torn in between 4.5 and 5 myself. To settle it, I'll give an Overall Taste Rating out 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The cream cheese icing is nice and creamy. I thought the cake texture was excellent, but my friend Lawrence felt it was "slightly dry" at the edges, and we all know a red velvet cake must, above all, be velvety. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Nice large size, icing heaped high, deep red velvet cake, a cute smatter of red cake crumbs coating the top of the cupcake, although the icing application was not perfect nor were the sprinkled crumbs arranged symmetrically. Definitely a mouthwatering cupcake, but not a gorgeous work of cupcake art. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Very satisfying! I would absolutely get this again, and I think it's one of the best red velvet cupcakes I've tried-- I liked the frosting on the Two Little Red Hens Red Velvet better, but the Crumbs Red Velvet cake blows Two Little Red Hens out of the water! I was definitely satisfied! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 sprinkles.

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Crumbs "Good Guy" Rainbow Sprinkle Funfetti Cupcake

Crumbs "Good Guy" Cupcake, $3.75, http://www.crumbs.com/

For a wonderfully fun Friday lunch treat, I met with a group of friends for a quick midtown lunch during which we picked up an array of cupcakes from Crumbs! We each got a different cupcake and then shared and sampled, allowing the opportunity to review a wide array, and take into account the much-valued tasting opinions of my fellow cupcake-eaters!

Taste: First let me explain this cupcake to you, because it's AWESOME-- It's vanilla cake with rainbow sprinkles baked into it, like Funfetti, and filled with a vanilla buttercream center, and then topped with cream cheese frosting, which is covered in a super-dense blanket of rainbow sprinkles and then drizzled across the top with white chocolate. Wow! A lot going on in this cupcake, but all the tastes together are just unbelievably delicious!!! Caryn from CareBear's Kitchen said the dense top layer of sprinkles reminded her of those delicious cookies you get at bakeries with the densely packed sprinkles baked on top. Mike tasted a bite and could only say "Wow, that is good!" The cake is sweeter than regular vanilla cake because of all the sugary rainbow sprinkles baked in, so the cake is just a sweet deliciousness that I can't get enough of. The vanilla cream filling is very thick and very sweet, and wow, I wouldn't have thought all these different elements work together, but somehow they do! The cream cheese frosting is sweet and not too cream chees-y, so it doesn't add any flavors that overcomplicate the cupcake. The sprinkle coating is just pure deliciousnsess, it's like turning a cupcake into an ice cream sundae coated in rainbow sprinkle sweetness. The white chocolate drizzle is as delicious as it sounds-- such good white chocolate, it reminds me of a bakery white chocolate lattice cookie! I am in cupcake heaven!! This might be the most I've ever written about the taste of a cupcake! This is a clear Overall Taste Rating of 5 out of 5 Sprinkles!!!

Texture: This cupcake has a lot going on, but somehow it all works together! The cake is perfectly moist, this sprinkle-filled cake is just to die for. The buttercream center is perfectly smooth, the cream cheese frosting is smooth too but inextricably combined with the sprinkles and white chocolate drizzle on top, which together provide just the perfect amount of softly crunchy sugar. Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles!!!

Aesthetic: The top of cupcake is gorgeous! It reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting! (If Jackson Pollock had used better colors) A gorgeous rainbow sprinkle-packed top layer drizzled in white chocolate, and the rainbow colored cake inside is beautiful too! Colorful, bright, cheery, artistic, and just the type of good-lucking cupcake that should put a smile on anyone's face!! And clearly this cupcake is a work of art in the form of abstract expressionism. Unfortunately, the side view of this cupcake isn't as perfect as the aerial view, and from the side appears to be a bit lopsided. I hate to deduct points off anything so delicious, but as you can see for yourself in the picture, it has to be done. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles!!

Satisfaction: WOW. There is a lot going on in this cupcake, but it all works together like MAGIC, I have never been so satisfied!! My only sadness is that this is a "special edition" cupcake, so it might not be around for long! Perhaps Crumbs will read my review and consider adding it to the permanent collection! This cupcake is going in my Cupcake Hall of Fame, but I sure hope Crumbs doesn't retire it!!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles!!!

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 19.5 Sprinkles!!!! (out of 20 possible)

Sage (sold by Dean & DeLuca) Carrot Cake Cupcake

Sage Carrot Cake Cupcake from Dean & DeLuca, $5, http://www.sagegeneralstore.com/ and http://www.deandeluca.com

Taste: This is a very cream-cheese-y cream cheese frosting, not as sweet and delicious as the Two Little Red Hens creamcheese frosting, but still decent. The cake taste is abysmal though-- it's essentially flavorless with a hint of nutmeg. It's not sweet at all, doesn't taste like the chock full of brown sugary goodness that a delicious carrot cake should taste like, this cake is totally lacking in flavor except the hint of nutmeg I mentioned, and I can't even taste any carrots! The icing is way better than the cake. Eating the icing and the cake together, the cake is just a vehicle with which the icing can be enjoyed, and together with the icing its not bad. Overall Taste Rating: 2.5 Sprinkles

Texture: The icing is a little crunchy and hardened on the outside, but smooth on the inside, although the crunchiness of the outside layer doesn't dissipate in my mouth and is a little odd. The carrot cake texture is okay, a little dry, nothing great but not horribly offensive. However, "not horribly offensive" is not exactly a glowing accolade. Overall Texture Rating: 2.5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This is a pretty big cupcake, even in height and width, with the icing a bit sloppily applied, and a cute but uneven smattering of something on the top, I think cake crumbs. Not super pretty, unfortunately. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles

Satisfaction: This was pretty unsatisfying-- a whopping $5 expense, for something I threw away most of in disgust as opposed to in self-restraint, and nothing in this cupcake was really up to par. The icing was the highlight, but still not stellar on the cream cheese frosting rating scale. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 2.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 9.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Two Little Red Hens: Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting from Two Little Red Hens (http://www.twolittleredhens.com), purchased at Food Emporium for $3.99

Taste: I am in HEAVEN right now! The cream cheese frosting is hands down one of the best I've ever tasted. Sweet yet tangy and rich, I wish words could describe how this tastes! The red velvet cake is tasty too-- red velvet is interesting because, although red in color, it's supposed to be chocolate cake with red color dye. With eyes closed, the cake definitely did taste like chocolate cake. Overall Taste Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!

Texture: The texture on the frosting is almost as incredible as the taste-- rich and thick and yet it just melts in my mouth. I could eat a vat of just this frosting, I swear!!! The cake texture is good, pretty soft and moist, but for red velvet cake, it's not velvety enough to earn 5 sprinkles. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles!

Aesthetic: The aerial view of the cupcake shows how precisely the icing is applied. How do they achieve such a perfect swirl??!!!! The red color is vibrant, and the dusting of red velvet crumbs in the center of the white frosting adds a beautiful touch. Overall Aesthetic Rasting: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!

Satisfaction: Overall, the icing on this cupcake was the best thing I've ever tasted, and the cake was good but not wowing me on an exceptional level. Mostly, I was craving MORE icing-- not that the icing on the cupcake was exactly paltry, but I was just desperately left wanting MORE icing, which led to less than 100% satisfaction. I also feel a slight stomachache coming on, but that is probably my fault for violating my 3 bite rule and eating all of the icing off the top of the cupcake! This is a dangerous line of work! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

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