Tribeca Treats "Frosting Shot" of Vanilla Buttercream

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 Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Shot. 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: Mmmm, buttery, sugary, sweet! An excellent stand-alone frosting!! Overall Taste Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The texture is so smooth, it melts in my mouth, its almost drinkable! Overall Texture Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: What a concept, and what a presentation! Give me a frosting shot any day over a shot of alcohol! I like the clear, angular little "shot glass" and the decorative swirl of white frosting, dotted with colorful sprinkles. I especially appreciate the star design that you can see depicted in the aerial view. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: The frosting is very edible on its own as a shot-- delectable!! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake [Actually Just Frosting] Ranking: 17.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Sugar Sweet Sunshine Vanilla on Vanilla

Green Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake, 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 icing has a strong vanilla taste, which is nice, and is very sweet. The cake is lacking in flavor. I find it average, although Caryn liked it a lot. Overall Taste Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The frosting is smooth. The cake could be moister. The granulated sugar crystals on top add a nice crunch. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Not the most gorgeous cupcake-- the pastel icing is cute, and the sugar crystals on top add a nice sparkle given that the icing isn't shiny at all, but the dusting of hot pink sprinkles is halfhearted at best, and the icing application is uneven and doesn't go all the way down to the edge of the wrapper, leaving naked cake top exposed. The golden color on the cake is nice. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Sprinkles.

Satisfaction: A tasty enough treat, but not my favorite Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcake. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

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

CupcakeStop Vanilla on Vanilla

Cupcake Stop Vanilla on Vanilla Mini-Cupcake, www.cupcakestop.com

Taste: Mmm, cupcake stop buttercream! Sweet, buttery, yet not too sweet or too buttery-- so well-balanced. The cake is sweet and lightly flavorful. This is a very sweet cupcake, but for a classic vanilla on vanilla, the tastes are simple and very nice. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: Fluffy frosting sprinkled with little blue colored sugar crystals that add a subtle crunch. The vanilla cake is moist and fluffy. Very nicely done. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: This is a cutie! Miniature sized, golden cake baked in even proportions, and a generous dollop of white frosting on top, applied in a swirl though not a perfectly centered one, sprinkled with blue colored sugar crystals. Simple, cute. One thing I've noticed about CupcakeStop is that they tend to frost their cupcakes so that the edges of the top of the cake still show, rather than having the frosting go all the way to the edge of the cupcake wrapper and not leave any cake peeking out. Generally, as an aesthetic matter, I tend to favor cupcakes that are iced all the way down to the side. But, the way CupcakeStop deposits a generous, heaping dollop of frosting but without going all the way to the edges is pleasing to me here, despite my usual proclivities. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: A very simple vanilla cupcake with a classic taste-- not as exotic or interesting as some other cupcakes that tickle my fancy, but definitely satisfying when craving a basic cupcake. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 15.75 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

(its a mini!)

CupcakeStop Mint Chocolate Chip

CupcakeStop Mint Chocolate Chip Mini-Cupcake, www.cupcakestop.com

Taste: The frosting is a delicious, sweet (but not too sweet) vanilla buttercream that I really enjoy. The cake is a chocolate cake that is distinctly mint-flavored, and I don't really like it on its own because its a little strong. But, eaten together with the delicious vanilla buttercream, it really balances, so the cupcake is lightly mint flavored, with overpowering elements of sweet buttercream and chocolate cake. The mini bittersweet chocolate chips on top add something nice as well. Very different. Overall Taste Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The buttercream is light, fluffy and melts in my mouth. The cake is really moist-- go CupcakeStop with their signature moist cake, since this is the fourth impressively moist cake I've tasted-- and the mini chocolate chips on top add a little crunch. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Kind of a cuteness here-- miniature, not perfectly symmetrical or precise on the frosting application, but a whimsical dollop of bright white icing, leaving the deep chocolate color of the cake peeking through, with a few mini-chocolate chips dotting the top. It's not beautiful, but its fun. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: My first ever mint chocolate chip cupcake! Pretty good!! I never thought to combine mint with baked goods, but there's something refreshing about it, making this feel lighter than the ordinary chocolate cupcake. Glad I tried it, but not sure I'd get it again. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 14.25 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)

Bedford Village Pastry Chocolate/Vanilla on Chocolate

Taste: The frosting on this cupcake is really different and really wonderful!! As you can see, the top is a smooth, shiny hardened surface that I believe is a poured fondant glaze (as opposed to a rolled fondant, which is much thicker and has a different consistency), like the icing that coats most petit fours. The chocolate glaze is sweet yet chocolatey at the same time-- just how I like it! From all outward appearances, this is a CHOCOLATE cupcake-- but SURPRISE! Inside that tall bulb of chocolate fondant glaze lies a large puff of delicious WHITE buttercream frosting! This a superb buttercream-- this is perfect, melt-in-your-mouth, ultra-whipped, sweet (but not sickeningly sweet) and perfect buttercream-- it is WONDERFUL. The cake is lightly chocolate. Eaten together with the frostings, this is a fantastic mix of chocolate and vanilla all at once! Overall Taste Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: I think it's a French Buttercream inside, it's so light and fluffy and smooth, the texture on the white buttercream is unbeatable. The texture on the glaze fondant is thick and fudgy and smooth. The cake is unfortunately a tad dry. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Is this cupcake cute, or is it ugly? I'm having trouble deciding! The buttercream puff hidden under the fondant glaze makes for a bulbous cupcake top, on which the bakery has painted a smiley face. I can't decide if the smiley face is cute and fun, or a little creepy. Isn't something about it a little bit creepy? There's definitely precision here, the glaze is bright and glossy, the application is neat, the fondant and cake have a rich chocolate color and the buttercream inside is pure white. This is an interesting-looking cupcake, but I like it. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: I really enjoyed this more than I expected, in large part due to the whopping dose of buttercream hidden inside that big ball of fondant on top, which surprised me by being VANILLA. Everyone knows chocolate and vanilla mix great together! The cake wasn't anything special, but overall this was a pretty tasty treat. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

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

Bedford Village Pastry Vanilla on Vanilla

Taste: The frosting on this cupcake is really different and really wonderful!! As you can see, the top is a smooth, shiny hardened surface that I believe is a poured fondant glaze (as opposed to a rolled fondant, which is much thicker and has a different consistency), like the icing that coats most petit fours. Then, underneath the layer of icing with the firmer consistency, is a large puff of HEAVENLY white buttercream frosting. When I say this buttercream is HEAVENLY, I mean HEAVENLY-- this is perfect, melt-in-your-mouth, ultra-whipped, sweet (but not sickeningly sweet) and perfect buttercream-- it is WONDERFUL. The cake is sort of unremarkable-- spongy, lightly sweet, pleasant enough but not outrageously good. Eaten together with the frostings, this is a super-sweet cupcake. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: I think it's a French Buttercream inside, it's so light and fluffy and smooth, the texture on the buttercream is unbeatable. The texture on the glaze fondant is thick and smooth. The cake is unfortunately a bit dry. Overall Texture Rating: 3.5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: Is this cupcake cute, or is it ugly? I'm having trouble deciding! The buttercream puff hidden under the fondant glaze makes for a bulbous cupcake top, on which the bakery has painted a smiley face. I can't decide if the smiley face is cute and fun, or a little creepy. Isn't something about it a little bit creepy? There's definitely precision here, the white is bright and glossy, the application is neat, the cake has a nice golden color. I guess this is a pretty cute cupcake. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: This was a fun cupcake! I really enjoyed it more than I expected, in large part due to the whopping dose of buttercream hidden inside that big ball of fondant on top. The cake part left something to be desired, but I liked that it was a classic cupcake and yet was something different at the same time. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 14.5 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Amy's Bread Pink Vanilla on Vanilla Cake

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

Taste: The pink vanilla frosting is very sugary and sweet-- no vanilla taste, just a straight sugar rush. The cake does have a nice vanilla taste though, lightly sweet with strong and delicious vanilla flavoring throughout. Together, they make for a tasty, super-sweet cupcake, albeit leaving me with a strong confectioner's sugar taste in my mouth. Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The icing is smooth and thick, and the cake is lightly moist and has the texture of a sponge cake, very springy. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Aesthetic: What a beautiful cupcake! The icing is perfectly swirled, and generously, and the light pink color gives it some extra appeal and excitement for a vanilla cupcake, with a few multi-colored sprinkles on top. 4.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Satisfaction: This cupcake was just a little too sweet for me-- it was delicious, but the sugar content was overkill-- especially because the icing was so generously swirled on top, usually I love extra icing, but this was a touch too sweet even for me. But it was very tasty, and if you're a sugar lover, this is a great cupcake to satisfy a sweet tooth! I also was impressed with the value, at $2.50 for a pretty large cupcake. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 Sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16.5 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)

Junior's Vanilla Buttercream and Vanilla Royal Icing on Vanilla Cake

Junior's Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Vanilla Royal Icing, Junior's Bakery, Grand Central, $3.50, http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/

Junior's Bakery sells gorgeous cupcakes that come in a vast rainbow of colors, but the multi-colors (yellow, green, pink, blue, purple, etc!) are all vanilla flavored (they also sell a chocolate frosted and a red velvet). I chose a yellow colored vanilla, and the application of frosting and sprinkles is generous and gorgeously and artistically done! I also have to tell you something AWESOME about Junior's cupcakes-- The top of the cake is first frosted in a white vanilla fondant or royal icing, and then rainbow sprinkles are pressed around the edges to make a border, and then a generous heaping of buttercream 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. That is going the extra mile!

Taste: We have a few elements at play here! The cake is a white cake, not overly flavorful, but very pleasant, light and very slightly sweet, similar to a sponge cake (maybe it is a sponge cake, for all I know). The buttercream frosting is also lightly sweet-- sweet enough that it's a delicious frosting, but not so sweet that it's too much to handle. There is a slight aftertaste to the frosting, which I attribute to the color dye that made it yellow. I'm really sensitive to aftertastes from artificial chemicals and color dyes, so for me, the aftertaste is definitely a problem. The royal icing coating the entire cupcake below the buttercream is delicious-- pure, white, sweet. The sweetness of the royal icing adds something important, because the cake and buttercream are both light and not ultra-sweet, so the extra sweetness of the royal icing adds a nice sugar kick without being over-the-top. The tastes here are so good, but I have to deduct a point for the slight aftertaste from the color dye in the buttercream-- my advice would be to choose the naturally white colored cupcake if you go to Junior's, and hopefully avoid any color dye aftertaste issues! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles!!

Texture: The white cake is fluffy and moist-- the perfect cake texture in my opinion, because it's moist and yet the fluffiness gives the cake a lightness because it's moist without being dense. The texture of the buttercream is incredibly light as well-- the icing must be whipped, and it amazes me how a buttercream can be so light and fluffy so it doesn't feel dense at all. The frosting just melts in my mouth! The royal icing below the buttercream that coats the top of the cake is firm and hard, as royal icing is intended to cement the sprinkles, but softens in my mouth and coats my tongue with sugary goodness. It is perfectly smooth! Overall Texture Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!! (I wish I could give it SIX sprinkles, all the textures were perfect!)

Aesthetic: This is just a spectacular looking cupcake, undeniably, and the array of cupcakes sold together from Junior's was really a fantastic sight in the beautiful rainbow of color options. 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, beautifully colored pastel buttercream in the center of the sprinkle border is so pleasing to the eyes. These cupcakes are large, the cake is perfectly golden, the proportions are perfect and there's not a thing messy, lopsided or awry with the appearance of this cupcake. Gorgeous! 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!!

Satisfaction: This was a great cupcake. Truly, my only problem with it was the slight aftertaste I experienced from the color dye, and I'm aware that I'm more sensitive to aftertastes of that kind than many other people are. Overall, the tastes and textures were perfect, the cupcake was beautiful, the price was reasonable for such a big cupcake, and the multiple types of icing and royal icing system for cementing the sprinkles really pleased me. The staff at Junior's on the top floor of Grand Central who sold me the cupcake were also so nice and friendly, and when I purchased the cupcake told me that they thought they had the best cupcakes in the city and I would love it. And they were right about me loving it! This cupcake was also lighter in every aspect than most other cupcakes I've reviewed, which are richer and denser, and so the light whipped icing and light fluffy sponge cake didn't leave me feeling heavy and overly full after eating the cupcake. I felt just right! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 5 out of 5 sprinkles!!

Cupcake Ranking: 19 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

What a beautiful cupcake!! So gorgeous and satisfying it just deserves a few more pictures!!