Baked by Melissa/By the Way Bakery

Whew...what a busy few weeks it has been!  Between birthday celebrations, 4th of July, vacation, and returning to work, I have been behind on posting about my cupcake adventures.  But they have been happening here and there so it's time to catch up.  Let's start with these two...

Baked by Melissa
This bakery is known for their mini bite sized cupcakes.  However, I would call them smaller than mini.  They are wee.  Best said with an Irish Brogue.  Wee little cupcakes.  Go ahead...try it and say it out loud.  You know you want to.

I had bought them for a wine tasting adventure with my CT girls.  Since they were so wee, I decided they would be the perfect dessert to our array of finger foods.  I made sure there was enough of each flavor so we could each taste all of the flavors I landed upon.

All around, delicious, but more like sweet treats than cupcakes.  There just wasn’t

enough substance for me to really love them since they were so very wee.  They were 

yummy, but not the kind of experience I would like when eating a cupcake.

The flavors certainly were fun!  PB & J, s’mores, cookies & cream, mint cookie, sugar

cookie…yum!  Of those, we all agreed that the mint cookie had the best flavor.  The rest

were good but just did not have that flavor “oomf!” I look for in my favorite cupcake.

Also, there definitely was not enough frosting on the wee treats.  I always add that into

my ratings because the frosting is the best part. The cake is just the holder.

These cupcakes also came with some cute cupcake stickers and fake tattoos.  So if you’re

into having bonus prizes with your wee portions, this place is for you!

Also, the wine and the company were excellent so that’s always a win!  If you haven’t

tried any Connecticut vineyards, you must. No, it’s not NYC but it is close enough to

travel via the metra and an uber.  This particular place is Chateau Le Gari in

Marlborough, CT and is a fairly new winery.  Highly recommend...delicious wines and

the owner was friendly and personable.

By the Way Bakery

After spending a glorious Sunday afternoon just lounging in Central Park, I decided to check and see if there were any bakeries close by to sample some cupcakes.  I located one called By the Way Bakery that was a 15 mins walk from where I was sitting in the park.  It was lovely taking a leisurely walk through the upper west side and admiring all the picturesque brownstones that I likely won’t ever be able to afford.  Sigh. I guess there’s still a chance I’ll marry a rich New York man…a lady can dream.

This cute little place on the upper west side boasts it makes all of the goodies sold there gluten and dairy free.  I love finding places that my friends and family with allergies and sensitivities can enjoy.  Flavor choices were minimal, but I selected two of the three combos available and went with it.

Red Velvet:

I'm not usually a red velvet lover, but this one was delightful.  The cake was spongy and full of flavor.  The icing was sugary and delicious.  Just a hint of cream cheese, not too much.  Plus, their red velvet concoction is gluten and diary free.  That makes it healthy, right?  Sold.

Chocolate with Vanilla Icing:

Usually, when I get two flavors from a place I choose one flavor to have immediately and then save the second one for a later time.  But this time, the first one was so good I just had to dig into the second one. Plus, if I ate it in that moment, then I wouldn't be tempted the next day.  Oh, but it’s gluten and dairy free!  Great, it’s healthy so I have nothing to worry about.

Oh. My. Goodness.  This chocolate cake with vanilla icing was light years ahead of the other gluten free chocolate cupcake treats I've had before.  The frosting truly makes a difference.  And dairy free frosting is very difficult to perfect!  (I should know…I’ve tried).  I was very impressed with this cupcake.  

So far, in the gluten free category, this bakery is doing well!  I should head back and sample some of their other non-cupcake goodies. However, the gluten free lemon blueberry cupcake from Sprinkles is leading the way given its original flavor, whole blueberries in the middle, and sugary lemon icing.  This is an extremely close second for all you gluten-avoidant/"healthy"-treat eaters.  

With my birthday being at the start of July and my friends knowing my love of cupcakes, I have two lovely birthday cupcake surprises to share in my next post.  Until then my fellow sugary treat loving and adventurous friends...

Sprinkles

Once I decided to do this project, I wasn't quite sure where to start.  New York is a city with so many corners and crevices and places to explore.  I decided that I could either get stuck on feeling overwhelmed by the monstrosity of the city or I could do the 21st century version of close my eyes and put my finger on a map to choose my first stop.  So while taking the ferry back from Staten Island one beautiful June day, I opened up google maps and typed in "cupcakes" to see where my finger landed.  It found a bakery named "Sprinkles" that was a few stops up on the 1 train, which was what I needed to take home that day anyway.  So I put it into my new favorite city app (citymapper...it's a lifesaver!) and took off for an adventure.

Citymapper had me get off the 1 right into the World Trade mall (which is just beautiful and an experience in itself) and then walk a few blocks to a high rise building with some swanky stores in it. If I wasn't on a mission, I may have stopped into one of them "Pretty Woman" style and pretended I had a lot of money.  Next time...or maybe I'll just go see the musical on Broadway.

Sprinkles is a chain and there are several locations across the city.  This one in particular is located at 225 Liberty near the World Trade Center.  It's a smaller store and this particular one is more like a mall kiosk than a bakery.  So I got in line and checked out my flavor options.  So many to choose from!  And, some gluten free options too.  I've decided that while on my journey I will also sample as many gluten free delights as possible to help out my gluten free friends.  I ended up choosing the Lemon-Blueberry gluten free cupcake and the Sparkling Rose cupcake.  Because I really can't just get one while I'm trying these out.  I must sample flavors to have a full understanding of the cupcakerie.

The lemon-blueberry was delicious! I didn't even know it was gluten free.  They did an excellent job with the substitute flour.  The cake was the consistency of a blueberry muffin and had whole blueberries gathered in the middle for an extra fresh blueberry flavor burst.  The frosting had a cream cheese flavor to it, but was a light and very faint touch to already deliciously sugary frosting.  (side note: frosting is everything for me.  Sugary buttercreams always win with me and my favorite cupcake will need to have amazing frosting). This cupcake reminded me of breakfast on a summer day.  Plus, paired well with a light French Pinot Grigio.  Yum!

Sparkling Rose was also delicious, but the rose flavor was so subtle that it really just tasted like a vanilla cupcake.  Not a bad thing, just missing the special "sparkling rose" that was infused in the cake and the frosting.  Of course, the thing about rose is that it is supposed to be a light flavor, which is why it's so delicious.  I also paired this with the French Pinot Grigio and it was good, but just not quite as good a mix as with the lemon-blueberry.  I should really start to do some cupcake/wine pairing research.  Now there's a project!

One of my favorite things about this new project is that I am also exploring different neighborhoods.  Being near WTC, I spent some time by the memorial pools and took some time to people watch and be reflective.  Around me were so many different languages and different types of people.  I watched as an elderly couple walked slowly by the pools.  I listened as some medical students spoke in another language.  There was even a film crew setting up to film a scene for something or another.  I sat and observed all that was going on around me and took it in.  

I am so excited to be in New York City!  

The Search Begins...

Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of living in the big city.  I loved the idea of all the people, the bright lights, things to do, theater to go to, music to experience, parks to play in...the thought of living in the city was exhilarating to me.  I remember begging my parents to take us all to the city, but my father (a city boy himself, holla Detroit!), did not like the city so we stuck to camping and other adventures.  I'm not mad about it.  I also loved camping and hiking and all our family adventures.  But I still desperately wanted to explore everything the city had to offer.

While I lived in Chicago for 10 years and loved all my adventures there, something about the city of New York called to me the most.  Maybe it was growing up in Connecticut and being so close but feeling so far.  Or maybe it was my love of musical theater and my dreams to someday perform on a Broadway stage (it could still happen, right?).  Whatever the reason, New York is magical in my mind and I wanted to be there.

Three weeks ago, this dream came true!  I moved into my New York apartment and I have been so excited to explore the city.  And while I knew in my mind that New York is a very large city, living here the past three weeks has confirmed that New York is in fact a very...large...city.  There is so much to explore and I am so excited to discover all that this enchanted town has to offer.

So...I was thinking...I need a way to explore and also seek out things that I love.  There are so many ways to do this in New York!  I mean, I could make a plan to see all the shows, but that would get expensive quickly and most of them are all performed in the same general neighborhood (they call it the theater district for a reason folks) so wouldn't get me out to different boroughs and neighborhoods as well.  Don't worry though...I will see as many shows as I possibly can!

I could also make a plan to find a pub with my favorite happy hour drinks and nachos.  But...so many pubs, so many drinks, and so much cheese...my stomach would not love that adventure as much as my taste buds.  Instead, I will go to happy hours as the opportunity presents itself.

Then it hit me.  Cupcakes.  I love cupcakes.  And I've heard that there are many delicious bakeries all over New York City.  Hmmm...I think this is the adventure I've been looking for.

I am looking for my favorite New York City cupcake.  Not who the professionals say is the best.  Not the bakery that is the most famous.  Or the one that has the most franchise stores.  The only criteria I'm looking for is that I love it the best.  As I go, I hope to share my New York City adventures in seeking out new bakeries and tasting all the deliciousness the cupcakeries in this magical city have to offer.

Shall we begin?