Where to Find the Best Cupcake in New York City

It was a special assignment for Associated Content. It was a tough beat, but I felt up to the task. I had gone two whole weeks without sugar before going to New York City, therefore my taste buds were primed and ready to find the sweetest, tastiest cupcake in the Big Apple.

Of course, I had to try the most obvious cupcake place in town. The one made famous by those saucy ladies of Sex in the City. Magnolia Bakery is where cupcakes became stylish. (Although, have cupcakes ever been out of style?) There are three shops now that Magnolia Bakery is big time, but I went to the original Greenwich Village store on Bleecker and W. 11th Street. I went on a Tuesday afternoon so there was NO line. Do not go on the weekends or around dinner time if you don't have time to stand in a line that stretches around the block. Once inside Magnolia's the pressure is on! Which flavor? Which frosting? How many boxes?

I picked the white cake with a chocolate frosting. Once outside the stuffy little store with the cranky clerks, I set up shop at the park across the street to enjoy my treat. Horror upon horror...it was kind of stale!! How can this be as they make them super fresh? Maybe it was an off batch, but I was disappointed.

I decided to give Magnolia another chance a couple days later. I know that was really generous of me, but I felt I had to be true to the cupcake. Alas, Magnolia Part II was the Magnolia I have known and loved for years. Fresh, springy, light cake with a sweet and supple chocolate frosting that would make Willie Wonka proud. A thumbs up for the Magnolia on Bleecker St.

Next I ventured to the Chelsea Market, located at 75 9th Ave between 15th and 16th street in Chelsea. The Market has all sorts of eateries. There are two bakeries that sell cupcakes along with a host of other sweets and goodies. The first bakery I entered was Ruthie's. What attracted me to this bakery was the window display of the most impossibly beautiful cakes I've ever seen. A Louis Vuitton trunk cake that looked as expensive as a real leather Louie! ! A Sponge Bob cake that was a perfect rectangle, just like Bob. All this and wedding cakes to die for. I walked in and headed to the cupcakes in the back refrigerator. I picked out another white cake with a chocolate frosting. The cupcake was about the size of a shot put and just as heavy. The frosting was was sculpted like a tasty rose! My mouth watered with the thought of biting into the perfectly frosted cupcake top.
I sat down outside of the bakery and slowly peeled off the paper cupcake wrapper. I opened my mouth and bit down. Uggg! The frosting was hard and it went down hill from there. The cupcake was stale and tasteless! Being the hero that I am I finished the whole thing, but was upset by all the wasted calories for a very mediocre cupcake. I can't speak for the big cakes, but the cupcakes were pretty on the outside, bland on the inside.
I wasn't about to give up because I had heard there was another bakery in the Chelsea Market that sold cupcakes. In fact I had walked right Eleni's Bakery by it thinking they only sold cookies, cookies and more cookies! In fact the cookies looked so appetizing and fun I almost forgot my quest for the best cupcake in New York and thought about switching the goal to finding the best cookie! However I stayed on course and ordered my usual. A white cake with a chocolate frosting. Eleni's did have a red white and blue Barack Obama cupcake, but I couldn't bear the thought of taking a bit out of our new President! It just seemed wrong.

The cupcake I ordered was smaller in size and looked more like a Magnolia cupcake. The frosting was very good. Light, not stiff, but the cake itself wasn't that great. Again, the taste was sort of stale, however when eaten with bites of the frosting, it was hard to tell. All in all, The smaller Eleni's cupcakes won over the the bigger more glamorous Ruthie's, but Magnolia was still the champ.

A couple days later I headed up to Dylan's Candy Bar. Located on the corner of 3rd Ave and E. 60th Street, Dylan's Candy Bar is in fact what it's name says it is. A place to buy lots of candy. It's everywhere! Two whole floors of lollipops and jellybeans, toffees and taffies, gummies and gum! You get the point. There is a lot of sugar in the place! I was there for the cupcakes however. Take the stairs and you'll find a little ice-cream/cupcake/cookie stand.

I picked out a huge white cake with chocolate frosting with little sugar flecks on top. I sat down amidst the screaming children and looked out the window over 3rd Avenue. After the first bite...I knew. I had found the best cupcake in New York in of all places a candy store. Not a bakery, but a kid infested, psychedelic colored candy store owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter! I was thrilled as I finished off the last of this delicious, fresh and fluffy concoction. The stars had aligned just right in this cupcake. Sweet, light frosting teamed with the perfect cake! I feel complete as my mission was accomplished.

I'm planning another trip to New York soon. I heard there are a lot of great cupcakes still to be tested in the city and I am here to report on them all. Again, it's a tough job, but I'm up for the task.