Cupcake Cafe: Taking Edible Flowers to New Heights
Written: Sep 01 '02 (Updated Sep 01 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Food and Presentation: |
 |
|
| Ambiance and Decor: |
 |
|
| Quality of Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Devastatingly gorgeous flowers made of the most delectable frosting.
Cons: Lackluster selection of other baked goods in a dingy setting. Significant price increases.
The Bottom Line: You would be hard pressed to find a more dazzling display of cake decorating virtuosity anywhere. Cupcake Cafe's cakes are almost too exquisite to mar with a knife.
|
|
|
| Epicure's Full Review: Cupcake Cafe |
I remember a particular tax partner from my previous life as a big firm associate, whom everyone found to be a bit peculiar and standoffish. Whenever she smiled, she looked like she was in pain. Though we passed each other in the hallways and shared elevator rides on occasion, she never spoke to me, other than a mumbled “hello.” Perhaps she was just a woman of few words, or maybe she was living in a different dimension of existence (a common affliction among tax partners so I am told). Then, one day it all changed. It was a cake from the Cupcake Café that finally caused her to break her silence.
I had volunteered to bring a cake to the farewell party of one of my closest friends at the firm, who was moving to South Carolina. Now it just so happened that my friend worked in the tax department, so of course, Ms. Tax Partner was invited to the gathering. The cake was sitting on a table in the center of the conference room when Ms. Tax Partner arrived. I overheard her gasp: “Where did that cake come from?” Two seconds later, she introduced herself to me and began a conversation about The Cake.
So what did The Cake look like? Well, I knew my friend loved roses, so I specifically requested roses when I ordered her cake. But these were not the artificial-looking, cookie-cutter roses that you see on most cakes. These were full, lush, blooming roses with multiple layers of petals. Along the sides of the round cake, rose trellises trailed. Knowing my friend’s favorite colors in flowers, I ordered yellow, peach and lavender roses. I found the colors to be very natural and true-to-life, especially the lavender roses, which resembled lovely sterling silver roses at their peak of freshness. The colors blended together beautifully. The cake decorators at the Cupcake Café had varied the shades of the roses to create an incredibly realistic edible display.
The following year when another friend of mine from the tax department was leaving to go overseas, guess who was voted to be in charge of the cake? This time I ordered an autumn-themed cake as it was October and my friend adored fall colors. This cake elicited an even stronger awed reaction than the previous one, perhaps because the flowers were so unusual for a cake. Interspersed on the top and along the sides of the cake were cream-colored poms, orange asiatic lilies, ruby red dahlias and golden chrysanthemums. It was, in a word, stunning. We could hardly bear to cut into it.
For my birthday a few years ago, Mr. Epicure ordered a cake overflowing with pink peonies, lavender delphiniums and yellow freesias. I noticed the abundance of greenery with my cake and wondered whether he had made a special request for it. I adore greens with my flowers.
From my descriptions, you might think that you need to be a floral expert to order a cake from the Cupcake Café. Nothing could be further from the truth. You can be as specific or as general as you like. You can list you favorite flowers for them or you can simply say “something bright and spring-like,” and they will take care of the rest. In my experience, I have found that they can fulfill virtually any request although some complicated designs will cost you extra. I think anyone who has seen the creations of the Cupcake Café would agree that their cake decorators are amazingly talented artists, who can capture the essence of flowers like no other cake decorators around (especially at this price range). I have heard people compare the Cafe's cakes to fancy wedding cakes at less than half the cost. The Cupcake Cafe has now been featured in so many bridal magazines that I would not be surprised if the bridal industry were one of its niche markets.
I usually ordered the 10” round cakes (serves 20-30) for my colleagues’ parties, and they ran between $50-$60. The smaller 6” round cakes (serves 4-8) that Mr. Epicure and I have ordered for each other’s birthdays were between $20-$25. As I understand, the prices for cakes have recently increased, so now the 6” cakes start at $30, and the 10” cakes at $70.
You are probably wondering by now whether these cakes taste as good as they look? Well, let’s put it this way - no cake can taste as good as these cakes look. But the cakes are yummy, particularly the frosting. Much like the glaze on Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the frosting on the Café’s cakes cannot be eaten cold. Eating their cold frosting is like ingesting spoonfuls of frozen butter. (*Tip: Let the cake sit at room temperature for 60 minutes before serving.) However, at room temperature, the frosting is heavenly. Though made of buttercream, it is not sugary and stiff like many other buttercream frostings that I have sampled. No, Cupcake Café has cornered the market on producing some of the smoothest, creamiest frosting that I have ever tasted, and it is not excessively sweet.
The texture of their cakes is a little on the heavy side for me. It’s not bad if you enjoy the denser style of cakes rather than the Duncan Hines supermoist style that most of us have probably grown up with. Personally, I prefer the softer, fluffier style of Magnolia Bakery’s cakes. (Mr. Epicure’s proposal: Magnolia Bakery and Cupcake Café should join forces and make cupcakes with Magnolia Bakery’s cakes and Cupcake Café’s frosting. A splendid proposal in my opinion.) The Cupcake Café’s cakes remind me a bit too much of pound cakes of which I am not particularly fond, but like the frosting, the cakes are not too sweet. You can finish a slice without a glass of milk, except when the cakes are overly dry, which also happens on occasion.
The Cupcake Café offers 7-8 varieties of cakes and frostings, which you can mix and match any way you choose. I highly recommend the Walnut cake with Maple frosting. The cake contains a generous amount of finely diced walnuts, which is perfectly complemented by the maple flavor of the frosting. I also enjoy the Lemon cake with Vanilla frosting, the Chocolate cake with Mocha frosting, and the Vanilla cake with Chocolate frosting. For an extra dash of flavor, you can add a layer of strawberry, raspberry or apricot preserve to any cake at no additional charge. The raspberry preserve with lemon cake is a wonderful pairing.
For everyday purposes, the Cupcake Café bakes dozens of cupcakes daily. The flavors of the cupcakes are usually limited to Chocolate, Vanilla, and Walnut, and the flavors of the frosting are usually limited to Chocolate and Vanilla only. But the cupcakes are the same quality as the cakes. Each one is decorated with a carefully drawn flower. I recently admired a beautiful purple anemone on a chocolate cupcake. A large cupcake costs $3.50 while a small cupcake costs $2.50. Pricey? Yes. While I think the breathtakingly elaborate cakes are worth the extra cost, I would not agree with respect to the cupcakes.
The Cupcake Café also offers other sweets and baked goods, but those seem like an afterthought to the cakes and cupcakes, which occupy center stage (and most of the refrigerated case) at the Cafe. I read in one of the New York publications that the doughnuts are good, but I found them to be barely passable. On a recent visit, I tried one of the plain, old-fashioned doughnuts ($.60). It was both greasy (on the exterior) and dry. I believe the doughnuts use to be better because I recall having some tasty pumpkin doughnuts a while back, but the quality has definitely dropped.
The blueberry coffee cake ($2.50) was similarly disappointing. Again, the cake tended toward dryness and the blueberries hardly added a spark of life to this otherwise sad and listless coffee cake.
The cookies fared better. The chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies ($.75) had a nice chewiness to them, but to be honest, I could make the same cookies at home without too much difficulty.
Finally, on the recommendation of one of the staff, I ordered a slice of peach pie ($3.75). The peaches, though slightly overripe, were sweet and fragrant. The old-fashioned, lattice patterned crust could have been a touch more flaky, but overall it was quite respectable. Still, if you are really in the mood for pie, I would suggest taking a stroll up the street to the Little Pie Company on 43rd between 9th and 10th, where some of the best pies in the city are baked fresh daily.
The Cupcake Café also serves a few lunchy items each day. I have never been tempted to try any of them. On a recent visit, I saw a vegetable focaccia in the store window that failed to coax a second glance from me. It was the same story with the penne pasta salad. Both reminded me of offerings from my old corporate cafeteria – soggy, limp and lacking in flavor.
In terms of decor, the Cupcake Café should take a cue from its neighbor, the Little Pie Company, and get a facelift. Its nondescript façade resembles dozens of tired coffee shops in the city that have all seen better days. Though it has a large storefront window, the display case typically holds nothing that would catch a passerby’s eye. A plate of average looking cookies, a pan of ho-hum coffee cake slices, and an almost full tray of neglected focaccia greeted me on a recent visit. Such items certainly fail to tell of the treasures within. Inside the Café, next to the cash register, is where the refrigerated case exhibiting the magnificent array of pre-ordered cakes awaiting pick-up, stands.
Though the Cupcake Café has four small tables, the ambiance hardly invites one to linger. The Café has none of the country cottage charm of a Magnolia Bakery (another famous name in the world of cupcakes) or the urban chic of a City Bakery. No, unfortunately from a “personality” standpoint, the Café has little to recommend itself. Even its location on the corner of 39th and 9th, a couple blocks down from the Port Authority bus station, represents one of the last frontiers of Manhattan yet to be gentrified though I am sure that will change in the future. Because the Café is so intimate in terms of space, one can feel a bit claustrophobic dining there during rush hour. I usually take my purchases to go. The Café does not provide table service.
In my experience, the Café’s employees are courteous and prompt though my interactions with them have been limited to the placement of cake orders over the phone and brief exchanges during pick-up. I will say that they try to be most accommodating in terms of meeting their customers’ schedules. I have called in last-minute orders before, and they have always come through for me. I also appreciate the fact that they listen carefully to my requests for certain flowers and color schemes, and try their best to fulfill them.
My rating: If I were rating the cakes alone, I would give the Cupcake Café four stars (the frosting might even be five), but its other baked goods, which probably only deserve two stars, drag down the overall rating to three stars. But honestly, who goes to the Cupcake Café for anything but the cupcakes and cakes?
Address: 522 9th Avenue, New York, NY
Telephone: 212-465-1530
Hours: Monday- Friday 7-7, Saturday 8-7, Sunday 9-5
Recommended:
Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations You should place your cake order at least three days in advance. Before you serve your cake, let it sit in room temperature for 60 minutes.
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Epicure
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 100 members
About Me:
I generally avoid temptation....unless I can't resist it.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.