The CCA's

I've always wanted to watch an award show that was hosted by Christopher Walken. So from this point on, read in his voice.

Thank you all for coming to the First and Last Annual Cupcake Challenge Awards. This is a very special evening that a lot of talented cupcakes have been waiting for. Cupcakes are delicious. I like the ones with a surprise in the middle. It's like, your eating a cupcake, and then, BAM! An extra delight. As if cupcakes weren't delightful enough. Cupcakes are like little unicorns.

(awkward pause)

Oh, we're starting now? Okay. We're starting now.

BEST FROSTING
Maple Pecan from Butter Lane
Runner up: Green Tea from Spot Dessert Bar

BEST CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Doughboy Bake Shop

THE WAY TOO MUCH FROSTING BUT IT'S OKAY BECAUSE IT WAS GOOD FROSTING AWARD
The Red Velvet cupcake from La Delice Pastry Shop

BEST CAKE
Banana Cake from Butter Lane
Runners up: Pistachio cake from Pinisi, Peach Cobbler from Molly's

BIGGEST FAIL
The Casablanca from Sweet Revenge
Runners up: Earl Grey cupcake from Tu Lu's, S'mores cupcake from Dessert Club Chikalicious 

BIGGEST SURPRISE
The Cake Batter cupcake from Molly's
Runner up: The Black Bottom cupcake from Cocoa V

BEST PRESENTATION
The Chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting from Cocoa V
Runner up: The Earl Grey cupcake from Tu Lu's

MOST UNIQUE
The Chocolate Souffle cupcake from Kyotofu
Runner up: The Peach Cobbler cupcake from Molly's

VEGAN GRAND PRIX
The Chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting from Cocoa V
Runner up: The Black Bottom cupcake from Cocoa V

THE ULTIMATE AWESOME CUPCAKE OVERALL WINNER
Banana cupcake with Maple Pecan frosting from Butter Lane

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The Peach Cobbler cupcake from Molly's
The S'more cupcake from Sprinkles
The Cake Batter cupcake from Molly's
The Pistachio cupcake from Pinisi
The Green Tea cupcake from Spot Dessert Bar

Oh, and there's the ADAM AWARD. My friend Adam requested that I name a cupcake award after him, so I'm giving it to the cupcake that most resembles him. Congratulations, Vegan Boston Cream Pie cupcake from Lifethyme Natural Market!

The End of the Cupcake Extravaganza

Here they are, the last seven cupcakes to find a home inside my belly. I can officially cross "eat 29 cupcakes in 29 days" off my list. I do not recommend any of you do this.

Farewell, sugary prison! Stay tuned on Monday for the First and Last Annual Cupcake Challenge Awards. Sponsored by fat.

Day #23 (Jan 29, 2012): The Carrot Cake cupcake by Dessert Club Chikalicious

Beside the fact that the name of this place is stupid, this was a very good cupcake. Delectable cream cheese frosting. Nice touch with the crumbs on top.

Day #24 (Jan 30, 2012): The S'mores cupcake by Dessert Club Chikalicious

Total letdown. I want s'mores, not marshmallow plopped on top of dry, bland cake. Give me graham cracker. Give me chocolate. Give me that burnt marshmallow flavor. S'mores fail.

Day #25 (Jan 31, 2012): The Earl Grey cupcake with lemon buttercream by Tu Lu's Gluten-Free Bakery

Like the Casablanca cupcake from Sweet Revenge, this cupcake sounded amazing on paper. But unfortunately, the cake didn't live up to its Earl Grey promise. And the icing was like eating lemon-flavored butter. Seriously, take a stick of butter and put some lemon zest on it and you have Tu Lu's lemon buttercream.

Day #26 (Feb 1, 2012): The Chocolate Souffle cupcake by Kyotofu

Somewhat of a departure from what I've been eating during this challenge. Imagine the lightest, fluffiest brownie in the world. Now shape it like a cupcake. That is the glory that I tasted. I enjoyed every bite and didn't even miss the frosting.

Day #27 (Feb 2, 2012): The Key Lime cupcake by Two Little Red Hens

This one gave me the burst of key lime flavor and tartness I was looking for, and I was surprised by the spongy angel-food-cake texture of the cake. It was a little rich, and the thing had to have weighed two pounds from the dense filling, but they definitely got the flavors right.

Day #28 (Feb 3, 2012): The Pumpkin cupcake by Doughboy Bake Shop

A simple, well-done cupcake. The cream cheese icing was spot-on, and the cake was light and not too muffin-y. If you're itching for an amazing pumpkin cupcake, this is your place.

Day #29 (Feb 4, 2012): The S'more cupcake by Sprinkles

Now THIS is how you do a s'mores cupcake. Sprinkles does a far superior version of the S'mores disaster from Dessert Club Chikalicious. Buttery graham cracker crumbles on the bottom, perfect chocolate cake, burnt marshmallow icing. Bonfire worthy. Also worthy of being the last cupcake of this challenge. Are you curious as to what talented chef whipped up this delicious treat? Boy, I sure was: 

Cupcake Extravaganza Part 4

My sweat has turned to buttercream. Here are my latest cupcake victims. Only seven more to go:

Day 17 (Jan 23, 2012): The Green Tea cupcake from Spot Dessert Bar

In my experience, when something is green tea flavored, it's gross. But this was delicious. Great texture, not too light nor too heavy, and the chocolate cake was lovely.

Day 18 (Jan 24, 2012): The Apple Crumble cupcake by Spot Dessert Bar

Aside from the bits of apple sprinkled on top, this was pretty much a vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Cake was a little too dense. Pretty much a "meh" across the board.

Day 19 (Jan 25, 2012): The Kissable cupcake by Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery

Finally, a New York City cupcake that doesn't cost $3.50 or more! I loved this place and this cupcake. The frosting was mint flavored, hence the "kissable" title. It tasted homemade.

Day 20 (Jan 26, 2012): The Vegan Peanut Butter cupcake by s'Nice

This one wins for moistest cake. Side note: I realize the word "moist" is gross. Moving on. Though moist, the cake had a weird flavor. Something was off, but I couldn't tell you why. Peanut butter icing was great though.

Day 21 (Jan 27, 2012): The Caramel cupcake by Magnolia Bakery

I've had cupcakes from Magnolia that didn't live up to the hype. This, however, was a solid cupcake. Maybe because if you pour caramel over anything, it will be delicious. But the cake part had a great flavor to it, which surprised me. I really wanted an excuse to talk bad about Magnolia. Does this mean I'm a true New Yorker?

Day 22 (Jan 28, 2012): The Banana cupcake with Maple Pecan icing by Butter Lane

Butter Lane has been a favorite of mine ever since I moved to NYC. They keep it simple and just get it right. You pick the type of cake you want (vanilla, chocolate or banana) and then your frosting. This cupcake I put together was awesome. It's a front-runner for best frosting. The banana cake was perfect, made with fresh bananas and not banana flavoring. This one and the pistachio cake from Pinisi will have to battle it out for the best cake award.

Cupcake Extravaganza Part 3

More cupcakes. Pretty sure I'm halfway to diabetes by now. Away we go:

 Day 11 (Jan 17, 2012): The Vegan Lemon Coconut cupcake from Lifethyme Natural Market

Featuring custom-made dessert plates inspired by this Eddie Izzard bit. I really enjoyed the burst of lemony flavor in this cupcake. The cake was a little boring and I could have done without the chewy coconut on top, but after so many chocolate and cream cheese cupcakes, lemon was quite refreshing.

 Day 12 (January 18, 2012): The Vegan Boston Cream Pie cupcake from Lifethyme Natural Market

Meh. I was expecting more. This ended up just being a tiny bit of cream in the middle of some dry, bland cake.

Day 13 (January 19, 2012): The Vegan Pumpkin cupcake from Lifethyme Natural Market

Cream cheese icing was light and flavorful, but the cake part was a little too dense.




Day 14 (January 20, 2012): The Peach Cobbler cupcake from Molly's Cupcakes

Everything you would want a cupcake called Peach Cobbler to be. Icing was whipped-cream-like (in fact, it might have been straight-up whipped cream), and the cake was moist and peachy. LOVE. Also would like to note that Molly's has the cutest interior of all the cupcake joints I've visited. Their bar seats look like swings; there's a wall of board games and an overall sense of whimsy.

Day 15 (January 21, 2012): The Cake Batter cupcake from Molly's Cupcakes

Another winner from Molly's. I had to get past the superfluous blue frosting to get to the amazingness inside. You guessed it: CAKE BATTER. Smother anything with cake batter and I'd probably eat it.

Day 16 (January 22, 2012): The Casablanca cupcake from Sweet Revenge

I had such high expectations for this one. Here's how it was described on the menu: a pistachio cardamom cake with rosewater buttercream. I was pretty excited. Then I took a bite. The cake itself had no pistachio or cardamom flavor whatsoever, although there were bits of actual pistachios mixed in, and it was too muffin-like in texture. The rosewater icing was nice and I could definitely pick up hints of rose, but it was WAY too sweet. Instant-stomach-ache sweet.

Cupcake Extravaganza Part 4 will be coming at the end of this week. If you're wondering if I'm getting sick of eating cupcakes, the answer is YES. Sorry, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. But I am having fun on my little cupcake crawl through New York City. I'm becoming quite the expert.

Cupcake Extravaganza Part 2

Ten cupcakes down, nineteen to go. (For those of you just joining, I was challenged with eating 29 cupcakes in 29 days). Here are the last seven cupcakes that made their way into my belly. Just warning you that this probably counts as cupcake porn.

Day 4 (Jan 10, 2012): The Elvis cupcake from Crumbs

Anyone who has ever been to Crumbs in NYC knows that their cupcakes are ridiculously huge, almost to the point of being offensive. But they do not lack in interesting flavors. I loved the peanut butter, marshmallow, banana combination in this cupcake. It was a little too dense and rich, but I enjoyed it.

Day 5 (Jan 11, 2012): The White Chocolate Blueberry cupcake from Crumbs

Another from Crumbs. Just as dense, just as rich, just as offensively huge. But I love blueberry, and this cupcake didn't disappoint. It was like a blueberry muffin that got all dressed up and put on extra frosting for a big night out.

Day 6 (Jan 12, 2012): The Pistachio cupcake from Pinisi Cafe & Bakery

My top cupcake out of the first six. Clearly. I was down to one bite before I realized that I needed to take a picture. Perfect icing-to-cake ratio, a good size, simple and well done.

Day 7 (Jan 13, 2012): The Carrot cupcake from Pinisi Cafe & Bakery

Another from Pinisi. Can't go wrong with carrot cake and cream cheese frosting. 

Day 8 (Jan 14, 2012): The Red Velvet cupcake from Pinisi Cafe & Bakery

Third cupcake from Pinisi. A nice touch with the red velvet crumbly topping. Otherwise pretty straightforward.

Day 9 (Jan 15, 2012): The Vegan Black Bottom cupcake from Cocoa V (Blossom)

I had no idea what "black bottom" meant, but now I know it means "awesome." It's like they injected a cupcake with cream cheese cookie dough. Pretty incredible. Absolutely decadent.

Day 10 (Jan 16, 2012): The Vegan Chocolate Cupcake from Cocoa V (Blossom)

Hands down my favorite cupcake so far on this sugary journey. I know I said that about the pistachio cupcake above, but this one gets an extra point for being vegan and another point for presentation. I don't know what they make this icing out of, but I would like to cover myself in it. If you're vegan, this cupcake should be in your mouth right now.

May the Cupcake Extravaganza Begin

Challenge #3 (eat 29 cupcakes in 29 days) involves extra time at the gym. But I don't care. Because I have an excuse to eat a bunch of cupcakes. Or is it a gaggle of cupcakes? A murder of cupcakes? That has a nice ring to it.

Here are my first three victims:

Day 1 (Jan 7, 2012): The Brownie cupcake from BabyCakes

 Day 2 (Jan 8, 2012): The Pumpkin Maple cupcake from BabyCakes

 Day 3 (Jan 9, 2012): The Red Velvet cupcake from La Delice Pastry Shop

So, BabyCakes. A well-known (sometimes worshiped) bakery among vegans. I myself have been known to let out a squeal or two at the thought of going down for a visit. It's a dairy-free, gluten-free, animal-parts-free, pirate-free bakery on the Lower East Side. And I hope the vegan police don't knock down my door when I say the following: Their cupcakes are kind of overrated. Okay, a lot overrated. I mean, they're decent, but I've had better. That being said, their cookies and biscuits and other baked goods are amazing. But let's focus on the cupcakes.

The icing on cupcakes #1 and #2 wasn't bad, but it leaves a weird film on the tongue. Like I'm eating putty. The cake part of the brownie cupcake tasted like a brownie. It was yummy. The pumpkin cake was good, but not great. Maybe it was just that they weren't too terribly fresh. Or maybe I just have extra-high expectations for my beloved BabyCakes.

My third cupcake was from a bakery just two blocks from my apartment, La Delice Pastry Shop, a no-frills, traditional establishment. Nothing fancy. But their red velvet cupcake was my favorite of the three so far. At first I scoffed at the amount of icing, but once I tasted it I was grateful for the generous portion. And surprise! There was jelly in the middle of the cake. Odd, but hey, I'll welcome a little unprecedented jelly. Made it more like a red velvet jelly doughnut cupcake. There are vegetables in jelly, right?

Moving forward on my cupcake journey, any recommendations around the NYC area are welcome. I still have 26 cupcakes to eat. Poor me.