The Cupcake Conundrum

If only they were half as good as they look.  This has been the sad truth that we've faced as we've gone about tasting cupcakes from venue to venue, all over New York.   Perhaps it's not as difficult to find good cupcakes for a nuptial cupcake tower for our May 12th family party as it is to find an affordable and yet delicious and pretty wedding cake, but still.  It's been a bit of a trial, and not nearly as much fun as you might imagine.   

Not fun because when the cupcakes aren't anything like as good as you imagine, you're stuck with a box of partially-eaten or even barely tasted cupcakes which neither of you feel the inclination to finish.  And as dreadful as it is to throw away food, we've been throwing them out rather than "throwing them in", as the old dieter's dictum advises.  I got to the point where I was practically ready to toss in the towel and decide to bake a hundred or so cupcakes myself.  However, I was gently dissuaded from this particular act of insanity, among others (I was going to cook my own wedding supper for our private ceremony in a couple of weeks at my Dad's apartment; instead my in-laws are generously hosting a supper at a beautiful French restaurant.  Then I was going to bake my own wedding cake and bring it to the restaurant; again, it was suggested to me that I might want to relax and get my nails done rather than work myself into a baking frenzy on my wedding day.  But I still have a trick up my sleeve for our May 12th party.  Despite the fact that one or the other of us may have to sell a crucial internal organ to pay for our catering bill,  I still can't have our families come from Boston and Chicago and Denver and Baltimore and Tennesee and England, for crying out loud, and not cook anything for them).   

Judging New York City's cupcakes:  I know I'm stepping into treacherous waters here.  All over the city, various cupcake shops have their devotees.  Magnolia's habitués are legion; Sugar Sweet Sunshine has almost as many fans.  The beautifully decorated floral gems from Cupcake Cafe are highly touted by many as well.  Perhaps it's because I bake my own more often than not, and because I've spoiled G with a fair amount of home baking, but none of those mentioned seem to ring our cupcake chimes at all.   

Worst of all were the cupcakes pictured above.  They come from a relatively new shop in Chelsea called "Burgers and Cupcakes".  I was under the impression that this was a branch of the Hell's Kitchen "Burgers and Cupcakes" shop owned by Mitchell London, whose velvety golden-vanilla cupcakes with deep dark fudgy chocolate icing I have often purchased from Fairway and eaten with great happiness.  So I bought a box from this 23rd St. store that included chocolate peanut-butter, chocolate-raspberry, vanilla with vanilla icing, vanilla with chocolate icing, cream-filled chocolate, and lemon meringue.  Sadly, each one was worse than the next.  The cake was tough and flavorless; the icings were gritty and insipidly sweet.  Then I found out that not only was this shop NOT owned by Mitchell London -- it was opened by his former business partner after a rift.  Always a bad sign.  The partner used the name of the shop and even the signature brown and pink awning and storefront coloring -- but obviously didn't get the recipes.  Or else s/he just doesn't have the touch.   

So for our May 12th "family party", the cakes for our cupcake tower will come from Mitchell London's original Burgers and Cupcakes shop on Ninth Ave. near 36th St., not to be confused with the copycat shop on 23rd St.  Our caterer will then arrange them on tiered trays and decorate them.  We can choose from strawberry shortcake, raspberry bavarian, cream-filled chocolate, chocolate peanut-butter, carrot, red velvet,  blueberry-vanilla, and the usual suspects of vanilla with chocolate, vanilla with vanilla, chocolate with vanilla, chocolate with chocolate.  I'm thinking about an assorted bouquet, since I imagine all the kids (both little and adult-sized) will probably want to taste a few different kinds.  But I'd love to hear from readers:  what do you think we should get by way of cupcakes?  and should we go for more of the small size, or fewer of the big ones?  Help us out here. 

Comments

[Alanna]

Ohh so sad! I find this with "American-style" bakers way too often. Pretty but tasteless.

I happen to think that this family party will quickly become a cupcake orgy! Little bites, little bites, little bites ... can't wait to see the results!

[Zarah Maria]

Oooooh! CUPCAKES! Sorry about all the bad ones you had to go through Julie, but happy to hear you found "the one" (ahem, no pun intended;-)). As for the sizes: I'd go for a lot of small ones, with just a couple big ones, for decorational purposes. I really like the look of different sizes mixed, but I like eating the small ones better - that way you can try out a lot, umm, I mean a couple different flavors.

[Nicole]

Get lots of flavors in small ones, so that people won't feel guilty about trying lots of flavors :)

Happy Marriage to you both!!!

N.

[Heather]

Congrats on the upcoming nuptialsm and many, many blessings on your union. I did cupcakes for a friend's wedding two summers ago and most people took one of each (large sized) flavor, so if you are doing several flavors, I strongly advise you to get more small cupcakes than large ones. And get more than you think you need. There were just crumbs left on the table, along with one lonely little dragee!

[heather]

Sheesh, I SO didn't mean to write nuptialism, the 'm' snuck in when I wasn't paying attention!!!!!

[Paprika]

Mmmmm definitely smaller cupcakes because they look prettier and more delicate. Also you can have more than one without looking like a glut! Can I come to your wedding?! I want to try all those delectable flavours!

[Bakerina]

Oh, nooooooo! Were those the cupcakes you bought the night you and I met up in Chelsea? I'm so sorry -- had I known, I would have been more proactive about trying them myself, and then you and I could have spared G. the Wrath of Bad Cupcake. Sorry, dear. (I'm also sorry to hear the sad, sordid story behind Burgers & Cupcakes. Yikes.)

I'm adding my voice to the "lots of little cupcakes" chorus, and I second Heather's "have more than you think you'll need." The worst-case scenario is that you'll have extra cupcakes, and, really, who is about to complain about that?

I know that the list of things we need to bake together is long and getting longer, but we might need a cupcake day -- specifically, an Alternative Flavor Cupcake Day. In the past two months, I've made lemon-saffron cupcakes from a Kurma Dasa recipe my friend Boot sent me; I've baked gingerbread into cupcakes, with extra-bittersweet chocolate icing; and I tried Rose Levy Beranbaum's trick of baking fruitcake into cupcake tins. They were all fabulous. I'm also thinking I need to hone my flourless cupcake skills, so's Shauna can join us one of these days. (Elizabeth David's flourless chocolate cake, in cupcake form, maybe?)

[Julie]

Hey Alanna -- I'm definitely looking forward to the "cupcake orgy" part of the event...

Zarah darlin', you're right -- I really did find "the one", in more ways than one, tee hee. I think everyone's looking forward to a few flavors...

Nicole, thanks for your good wishes -- and thanks for weighing in on the cuppy-cakes...

Hey Heather, thanks for your blessings and I'm hoping that there'll be just crumbs this time, too...

Paprika, come to NY and I'll take you on a cupcake tour...

Yes, Bakerina my darlin', these were the misbegotten cupcakes I bought on the night we had those lovely wines and those nummy sandwiches at that wine bar...and yes, we must bake at some point. Ummm...lemon saffron...oooh, chocolate-iced gingerbread...yummy flourless chocolate cake, or maybe little cupcakes made with the fragrant almond-lemon cake I made for Passover, iced with apricot curd...

[lindy]

Wow, I love the idea of as many different sorts as possible, so the little ones, of course. Your wedding festival of events is going to be so wonderful.

[Garrett]

I keep hearing about that cupcake and burger place, and I live in CA. Cannot wait to read your experience with their tasty wares!

[Sucar]

I am a big fan of filled cupcakes so i vote for all the flavors above that are filled! I know everyone has said this but I would get 1 of each kind for each of your guests. Either big or small-they will eat one or two or three of each kind.

[Julie]

Thanks, Lindy -- at this point we're in countdown from the coming weekend, which includes our actual wedding ceremony and our cocktail reception the following day.

Hey Garrett. I know that Burgers and Cupcakes -- the original one on 9th Avenue, not the copycat on 23rd St. -- is great. I already love their wares. When you come to NY, though, you have to go to Shake Shack, especially if it's burgers you're looking for.

Ummm...but Sucar...if I get one of every kind for every guest (and they're small-medium size, not tiny or mini) that would be 11 cupcakes per guest...which would be 660 cupcakes. I don't think we can even transport much less display that many. And after food, I doubt anyone is going to eat more than one or two...but I have to confess, I do love the idea of everyone having every flavor.

[Jessica "Su Good Sweets"]

It's not just you. Most cupcakes in New York suck big time. I prefer smaller cupcakes, BTW.

[neurology emr]

Yummy, definitely smaller cupcakes because they look prettier and more delicate. Let's just watch on sugar!

Kevin

[miami web design]

I trul am a Sugar Sweet Sunshine fan!!
I love cupcakes, specially those Lemon with Chocolate icing!!

I love the freshness of lemon with the sweetness of chocolat!!

[Generic Viagra]

It is pretty sad to find out that most of the places aren't good with cupcakes. Those little and delicous things are part of some of our daily routine.