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.

White Frosting on Chocolate Cake by Eleni's, sold by the American Girl Place

American Girl Place has a little bakery, where you can purchase all sorts of adorable treats-- all of which are sold with a "regular size" item and a "doll size" item-- so every purchase comes with a treat for you AND a matching small-scale treat for your doll. Completely adorable. Some of the other treats looked absolutely delicious (e.g., a stick with three full-sized marshmallows, coated in chocolate and candies, and a corresponding stick of three mini marshmallows coated in chocolate and candies, for your doll), but as a cupcake-ranker, I had to try the cupcakes! I was told they are baked by Eleni's in Chelsea Market.

White Frosting on Chocolate Cake by Eleni's, sold by the American Girl Place

Taste: The white frosting is sweet, it's not too rich, it's a light sweetness and its nice, but not overpowering. But the chocolate cake is bitter and not sweet at all, I find it completely vile and gross on its own. The sweet frosting balances it somewhat, but isn't strong enough to overpower the bitter cake. What a shame!! Overall Taste Rating: 2.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting melts in my mouth and its very light. The cake is firm and a little dry. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Miniature, cute, a nice bright white frosting with festive pink sprinkles and a nice swirl to the frosting, fairly centered but a bit messy on the edges, with naked cupcake top peeking out at the edges. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Good frosting, awful cake. Adorable mini-cupcake for doll concept. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 12 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Miniature Strawberry Frosting on Vanilla Cake by Eleni's, sold by the American Girl Place

American Girl Place has a little bakery, where you can purchase all sorts of adorable treats-- all of which are sold with a "regular size" item and a "doll size" item-- so every purchase comes with a treat for you AND a matching small-scale treat for your doll. Completely adorable. Some of the other treats looked absolutely delicious (e.g., a stick with three full-sized marshmallows, coated in chocolate and candies, and a corresponding stick of three mini marshmallows coated in chocolate and candies, for your doll), but as a cupcake-ranker, I had to try the cupcakes! I was told they are baked by Eleni's in Chelsea Market.

Miniature Strawberry Frosting on Vanilla Cake by Eleni's, sold by the American Girl Place

Taste: The pink frosting is distinctly strawberry flavored! That was a fun surprise! The frosting tastes like strawberry ice cream!! The white cake is delicious, sweet and delectable. Scrumptious!! Overall Taste Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is smooth and very light, and the cake is fluffy and tender. What a delectable little fluffy treat! Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: I like the miniature size and the pink color with festive sprinkles, but as my readers know, I hate that "bare naked cupcake top" showing around the edges, and the icing is rather smushed. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: A little doll-sized cupcake? Amazingly cute. Amazingly tasty. So satisfying! Overal Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16.25 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Mangia Vanilla on Vanilla

Mangia Vanilla Cupcake, http://www.mangiatogo.com/, $1.50 for a mini, $2.50 for a full size

Taste: The frosting has absolutely no taste-- its so light, its almost too light, completely devoid of taste. Not sweet at all. It doesn't even taste like anything, its like air. The cake has a good vanilla taste to it, I actually really like the cake on its own. If the icing had any flavor at all, this could be good! Alas. Overall Taste Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is ultra light and so whipped you barely feel it on your tongue. The cake is very dense but its not dry or moist, its the right amount in between. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: I picked the mini because I'm partial to all things mini, but I was erroneously told there would be custard inside, which there was not. This "mini" cupcake is bigger than many "minis"-- it's a four or five bite mini size, not a one or two bite mini size. I also liked how it was served to me in an upside down plastic glass with a cover-- clever. The proportions are good, and the smattering of chocolate crumbs across the top looked nice, even though they had no taste. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I thought the cake was delicious, but with tasteless icing, it could not satisfy me... If Mangia works on their frosting recipe (hint: add some sugar), they could have really good cupcakes! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 13.25 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Baked by Melissa Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Baked by Melissa Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, 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: This cupcake is very chocolatey, and the dollop of real peanut butter in the center makes it very peanut-buttery as well. It's rich, super chocolatey and peanut buttery-- not very sweet, but definitely tasty, a lot like a Reese's peanut butter cup except the peanut butter isn't sweetened, its just real old fashioned original peanut butter (smooth). Overall Taste Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The peanut butter is sticky, the frosting is smooth, but the cake has an unfortunate rubbery texture on the outside. Baked by Melissa doesn't use paper cupcake wrappers and perhaps the way the cupcakes bake create a rubbery exterior, which is highly unfortunate. Since the cupcake is so tiny, the rubbery edges are basically the majority of the cake itself. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Delightfully miniature! Rich chocolate colored cake, lighter milk chocolate frosting in a generous swirl in the center, and a dollop of real peanut butter smack in the middle. Symmetrical yet whimsically swirly. So cute! Mouthwatering! I like the little peanut butter "peak" you can see in the photo. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: This was very rich, but very tasty!! Shame about the rubbery texture. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16 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 Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcake

Baked by Melissa Peanut Butter and Jelly 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: Real jelly, real peanut butter, and vanilla cake without much flavor. The frosting is just real peanut butter (smooth), which is delicious, but rich. The jelly is sweet and balances the peanut butter-- just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Oh, peanut butter and jelly, you go so well together. The 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis that introduced the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a momentous moment in history. Love my PB&J! Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The peanut butter is creamy and smooth, but sticky, standard for peanut butter. The jelly is, well, jellied. No surprises here. The cake is dry. The textures here are pretty close to a PB & J sandwich. Overall Texture Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Sprinkles.

Aesthetic: Such a mini cutie! The peanut butter is neatly ringed around the jelly in the center, which frames it in a peanut butter border. There's no mistaking that this is a PB&J cupcake! The cake is a nice golden color to it. Sweetly tiny. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: So here's the thing: I LOVE peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I truly do. But I could just make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This cupcake needs to add something more CUPCAKE-esque to the peanut butter and jelly sensation to be a peanut butter and jelly CUPCAKE. I love peanut butter frostings that blend sugar into peanut butter to create a peanut butter flavored frosting, rather than just frosting in pure real peanut butter. Or perhaps a sweeter, moister more cakelike cake, or a cake with the jelly baked into it rather than just inserted atop the center post-baking. So although this cupcake tasted just like PB&J, which I loved, it wasn't very cupcake-y, leaving my cupcake craving unsatisfied, though my PB&J carving was fulfilled. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 14.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Baked by Melissa Cookie Dough

Baked by Melissa Cookie Dough, 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: A dollop of fresh cookie dough on top is pure cookie dough deliciousness. The vanilla cake it not very flavorful, but the chocolate buttercream is sweet and deliciously milk chocolatey. The cookie dough is so good, but mostly this cupcake left me wanting more cookie dough! Overall Taste Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The buttercream is smooth and the cookie dough is soft and doughy. The cake is a bit rubbery on all sides, unfortunately. Baked by Melissa doesn't use paper cupcake wrappers and perhaps the way the cupcakes bake create a rubbery exterior, which is highly unfortunate. Since the cupcake is so tiny, the rubbery edges are basically the majority of the cake itself. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Mini mini and so cute. Symmetrical and even application of a swirl of chocolate frosting atop a golden yellow cake, with a dollop of cookie dough centered in the middle. Sort of a three-tiered aesthetic here. Cute! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I was left craving more cookie dough!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 14.25 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Baked by Melissa S'mores

Baked by Melissa S'mores, 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: This cupcake has graham crackers inside, marshmallow on top, milk chocolate buttercream, and chocolate cake. Lots of flavors going on! The chocolate frosting is milk chocolatey and the cake is not very sweet. The graham cracker flavor is strong, as are the chocolate flavors, and the marshmallow unfortunately isn't enough to be a strong taste. It's pretty tasty, though the taste isn't as much like a s'more as I'd have hoped, and it wasn't that sweet. Overall Taste Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The graham crackers give a nice crunch amidst the moist chocolate cake and smooth frosting. The cake is strangely a little bit rubbery on the outside though-- Baked by Melissa doesn't use paper cupcake wrappers and perhaps the way the cupcakes bake create a rubbery exterior, which is highly unfortunate. Since the cupcake is so tiny, the rubbery edges are basically the majority of the cake itself. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Aw, a miniature little cutie! Dark chocolate cake, a swirl of chocolate frosting, a dollop of marshmallow fluff and a graham cracker in the middle. Cute, but pretty lopsided. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Bite sized, mini, pretty yummy, a little rubbery, not very s'mores-y, I'm medium-satisfied. I want more marshmallow on this one! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 12.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Baked by Melissa Cookies and Cream

Baked by Melissa Cookies and Cream, 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: These are so bite-sized its tough to really analyze all the elements before the cupcake is gone-- they're truly one-bite cupcakes-- but this has cream cheese frosting that is ultra sweet, standard chocolate cake, and a little Oreo chip on top that adds a distinct Oreo flavor. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: This chocolate cake is ultra-super-moist and the cream cheese frosting is creamy and smooth. Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: What a miniature little cutie! However, it's also a messy little mini-- Melissa's Messy Mini-- just a touch lopsided here. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: Yum! Mini bite size cookies and cream-- very satisfying!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16 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)

Maureen's Minis Chocolate Frosting on Yellow Cake

Chocolate Frosting on Yellow Cake, Maureen's Minis of West 76th Street, by appointment only

Maureen of West 76th Street baked some homemade delicious mini cupcakes for the July 4th festivities!

Taste: Oh delicious chocolately sweetness! These bite-sized cupcakes just pop in my mouth in a sweet chocolatey sensation! The frosting is sweet but with a distinct milk chocolate flavor, and the yellow cake is sweet and flavorful, a true and tasty yellow cake. Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles.

Texture: Mmm! The cake is tender and succulent, baked absolutely perfectly. The icing is smooth and thick. The decorations on top are great-- the dinosaur decors especially add a nice little crunch. Great textures!! Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Maureen's Minis are so cute!! Tiny little bite-sized cupcakes, each decorated with a different array of pretty sprinkles-- some dots, some standard, some dinosaurs! Sous Chef Cindy helped Maureen with the decorating. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: These were SCRUMPTIOUS, and I confess to eating many a Maureen's Mini! So yummy, and they tasted deliciously homemade, because they were!!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

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