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)

CupcakeStop Oreo Crumb

Cupcake Stop Oreo Crumb Mini-Cupcake, www.cupcakestop.com

Taste: The frosting is a delicious sweet buttercream-- if this is the CupcakeStop's standard buttercream, they have hit on an amazing recipe here. It's sweet and buttery, but not too sweet or too buttery-- just enough-- perfect. The cake looks like it has Oreo crumbs baked into the batter, but at first when I tasted the cake alone, it didn't taste overly Oreo-y, it tasted just like a sweet and tasty vanilla cake. But when I ate the cupcake and the frosting together, something about it really did taste like an Oreo, with the cream filling and Oreo cookie taste! So the Oreo crumbs must have caused that effect! I think maybe my first bite of cake happened to not been heavy on the Oreo bits, and then the Oreo bits sprinkled on the top added to the flavors. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The buttercream is light and melts in my mouth into sugary deliciousness. The cake is moist-- though not as ultra-moist as the pineapple cake and red velvet. Still, the cake is tender and delicious. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This is a pretty little cupcake! I love how perfectly shaped the icing dollop is, and the cupcake is so even and teensy and cute. I like how the Oreo crumbs are baked throughout the cake batter, and the icing is sprinkled with finely crushed Oreo crumbs-- this cupcake truly lives up to its name as the Oreo Crumb cupcake. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I love all things miniature, what can I say, they're just cuter than regular-size things, its simply a fact, like how puppies and kittens are cuter than dogs and cats, and babies are cuter than adults, miniature cupcakes are cuter than bigger cupcakes. See below for a to-scale showing of how itsy bitsy it is. And the Oreo flavor in this cupcake really worked. Very satisfied! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)