~ Part of a series on our crazed cupcake feast at New York Cupcakes in Bellevue ~

What: A captivating concoction of MANY cupcakes…continued

Where: New York Cupcakes…Click here for directions

Taken by Alayna

Eggnog—the ideal glorious Yuletide beverage that warms tummies as well as holiday spirits. Many cupcakeries offer an eggnog-flavored cupcake during the holiday season and I’m eager to try the different interpretations. For now, however, my palette has only been blessed with the presence of New York Cupcakes eggnog flavor.  For those of you that don’t particularly know what eggnog is, it is a distinctive frothy blend of milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg. For the adults in the audience, eggnog is typically combined with whisky or brandy or some time of spicy liqueur. It takes a particular type of person to enjoy eggnog—some say the consistency is too thick, while others say that the flavor is too unique. I personally love eggnog and, as predicted, was super anxious to grab a bite of this seasonal flavor.

New York Cupcakes has truly outdone themselves in the cake department—I have yet to taste cake here that doesn’t measure up to the ideal standard of a moist, velvety, spongy medley of flavor and fluff. This particular eggnog cake was all of these things and more. Its texture and flavor literally made my mouth water in anticipation and in satisfaction. It was a rich yellow cake steeped with flavors of sweet vanilla, spicy nutmeg, and sugary cinnamon.

The icing was equally divine—once again, New York Cupcakes knows how to make a PERFECT buttercream that is silky, tantalizing, and a perfect match for the cake that it sits below. This icing was clearly an eggnog buttercream, saturated with flavors of perfumey spice and the caramel-buttery tang of whisky. Why I would ever settle for a cup of eggnog over an eggnog cupcake is beyond me! As a finishing touch the wonderful cupcake chefs at New York Cupcakes dipped a white and milk chocolate straw into the frosting, offering my taste buds once last memory of indulgence before crumbs were last remaining memory of the eggnog delight.

This cupcake deserves 4.5 NOMS out of 5. The only thing I wanted more of was spice! I can never get enough nutmeg and cinnamon but maybe that’s just me.

Taken by Alayna

Central Park Cookies & Cream—a milky sweet mixture of chocolate cake with an oreo buttercream frosting. You should all know that at this point in my cupcake adventure to Bellevue, my sugar rush was quickly morphing into a sugar crash. With so many cupcakes, and so little energy to keep up, I could hardly finish the final bites of this beauty. Nonetheless I must share with you my experience because it was such a wonderful and innocent flavor that I think most sweet lovers would cherish.

The chocolate cake was nothing short of perfect—I had the privilege of tasting it in the company of white cake with the New York Black & White flavor. This time, however, the chocolate cake was flying solo and I had no complaints. The essence of this beauty lies in the frosting that rests confidently like a declarative mountain of cookie crumbles mixed with cocoa butter. It was truly scrumptious—I could’ve eaten it plain, packaged, and with my fingers. Just imagine the glossiest of light chocolate butter creams, texturized with the cute chocolatey crunch of Oreo bits and pieces….mmmm nom nom nom.

Much like your nose gets acclimated to scents when you’re at a perfume counter lodging florals and musks to your olfactory cells, my tastebuds seemed to adapt to sweetness and divinity that New York Cupcakes bring by the time I got to the Central Park Cookies & Cream, which is ONLY available Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Despite the wonderful textures of this frosting, I was disappointed at the fact that I couldn’t necessarily taste cookies and cream, so much as I identified flavors of faint chocolate and cookie bits. I was searching for more of a vanilla cream flavor with chocolate dabbles. For this reason, I think this cupcake deserves 3.5 NOMS out of 5. I wanted cookies and cream…not a chocolate jewel.

…Tomorrow we will continue our story of our New York Cupcakes adventure, fully inclusive of even more reviews for flavors like Royal Red Velvet and a trio of FREEBIES the owner so kindly let us sample!…

Taken by Alayna

What: A captivating concoction of MANY cupcakes

Where: New York Cupcakes…Click here for directions

Anyone with a degree in cupcakes knows that much of the popularity of these sweet treats has stemmed from the appearance of the Magnolia Bakery in a Saturday Night Live Digital Short called Lazy Sunday, as well as its appearance in the popular show Sex And the City. Magnolia Bakery is located in New York so unfortunately for us nom nom nommers that’s literally out of our range. But in our range? A gem of a cupcakery in Bellevue (just across the water) called New York Cupcakes.

Now let me just precede our discussion of this heavenly sweet establishment by saying that I had personally never been treated more graciously in any of the cupcakeries I have visited since we started Oh My Nom. It was truly magically—better than Christmas for any cupcake lover. I talked extensively with the owner and she was more than willing to disclose information on her inspiration for the cupcakery and her choices for New York Cupcakes locations.

Too precious

Sitting adjacent to stores in a small outdoor retail facility in Bellevue, New York Cupcakes boasts a glamorous and bold appearance with a black, white, and pink color scheme. Inside you’ll find the most comfortable and dainty of demeanors—almost as if you’re walking into grandma’s kitchen cerca the 1950s.  Black and white tiled floors, cupcake trinkets, tools and literature from floor to ceiling, enchanting crystal chandeliers embellishing white tin ceilings, and an old fashion display case filled with decadent old-fashioned delights are some of the things you can find behind the door of New York Cupcakes. Even items down to the rhinestone-decorated-‘ring for service’-bell and the pink-feathered rotary telephone embody a fluffy and lush, sweet and innocent appeal.

Now for the cupcakes: I set out to try some of the flavors I had researched online—ones that would exhibit unique and specialized flavor. Prepare your sweet tooths: Things are about to get ridiculously delectable.

Taken by Alayna

Strawberry Surprise—a wonderful innovation exclusive to New York Cupcakes. They call it a “breakfast cupcake” and it is one of several breakfast flavors served only from 10am to 12pm every day. Trust me, it’s worth the small window of opportunity. A cupcake whose overflowing-top is sliced off, so that delicious vanilla buttercream frosting and mouth-watering strawberry jam can rest sandwiched in between two layers of angelic vanilla cake—That, my friends, is the Strawberry Surprise. Lest we forget the precious punched hole at the top of the cupcake, filled with rainbow sprinkles (*melt*), as well as the light dusting of powdered sugar over the top.  The experience of consuming this cupcake was nearly indescribable. The vanilla cake was baked to a luscious moist perfection and the frosting/jam combination inside was neither too sweet nor too buttery. It was pure jubilation. This cupcake deserves 4.5 NOMS out of 5: What an epic breakfast it would make!

Taken by Alayna

I normally never order basic flavors like chocolate or vanilla, but at New York Cupcakes you hardly have a choice. Midway through my cupcake feast the owner approached us at the table and asked how our cupcake experience was going. Her name is Lisa and New York Cupcakes is her proud business venture. She so kindly gave me a background on her goals in developing a cupcake business, informing me that she wanted to do something special and different from what current cupcakery establishments were representing—whacky flavors and trendy ideas. She wanted her cupcakery to be something comfortable and all-American, basic and homely but scrumptious and consistent. Lisa explained that she “wanted it to feel like Grandma’s kitchen” and that the cupcakes would be good ol’ fashioned flavors that we all know and love, instead of crazy combos like bacon-chocolate or sweet-potato.

Taken by Alayna

New York Black & White is a perfect example of classic flavor with a distinctive, to-die-for taste. It’s an incredible fusion of chocolate and white cake flavors that is New York Cupcakes signature flavor. The cake, just like the Strawberry Surprise above, was irresistibly perfect in its texture and its bold but not overwhelming flavor. I loved the playful division of both black and white—the flavors worked so well together that I can’t imagine ever consuming chocolate cake again without an addition of white cake as well. The frosting was unlike ANY chocolate frosting I have EVER tasted. I kid you not, cupcake lovers….New York Cupcakes chocolate frosting is the BEST. Not too heavy, not too rich, not too dark/bittersweet/sweet…just the ultimate whipped, airy, silky delight with a balanced light chocolate-buttery flavor. You can see from the picture just how fluffed the frosting is by the air bubbles spiraling to the top. It’s truly a challenge for me to attempt to describe this frosting…Only tastebuds will reveal its supreme delivery of what a chocolate buttercream should taste like. The frosting is so divine that Seattle Metropolitan Magazine awarded New York Cupcakes with the title of “Best Chocolate Cupcake” in Seattle, which showcases the same frosting as the New York Black & White. So PLEASE do yourself the favor of journeying to Bellevue to devour this stunning success. To top is all off? White and milk chocolate straws adorning the top of the cupcake—a perfect closer to represent the magical flavors of the New York Black & White.

This cupcake deserves, dare I say, 5 NOMS out of 5—That’s right! The FIRST perfect Oh My Nom rating we have every given! It will not disappoint…and if it does? The cupcake is on us! Lucky for you this treasure is offered every day of the week!

…Tomorrow we will continue our story of our New York Cupcakes adventure, fully inclusive of even more reviews for flavors like Eggnog and Central Park Cookies & Cream (and that isn’t even half of what we have left!)…

Taken by Alayna

What: Candy Cane

Where: Cupcake Royale in Ballard…Click here for directions.

Tis the season for more seasonal flavors! As if Halloween and Thanksgiving weren’t exciting enough, cupcakeries around the U.S. have enthusiastically unveiled collections of scrumptious holiday flavors like Candy Cane, pictured above. You can only imagine our glee at the discovery of December delights like these.

I cannot lie: the mission to acquire a holiday cupcake from Cupcake Royale didn’t go as smoothly as planned. My goal was to taste their Eggnog flavor but unfortunately for me, they had sold out by the time I arrived at the shop on a Saturday at around 7:30pm. Candy Cane would have to do…

The frosting was festive and satisfying—all you cupcake fanatics know how much we adore a green mint, of all flavors. This particular green mint was a frosty buttercream, perfectly balanced in all manners: texture, amount, distribution, butteri-ness, sugariness, and minty refreshment.  A dash of crystal red and snow white sprinkles along with a classic starlight mint were the perfect accessories to decorate this holiday treat.

At Cupcake Royale you can devour one of these Candy Cane cakes with your preference of either vanilla or chocolate cake.  I prefer a dark, silky cocoa flavor to accompany anything minty (Junior Mints, Peppermint Mochas, Cool Mint Oreos, etc.) It just seems to ground and stabilize what would otherwise be an overwhelmingly bright and cool flavor.  Chocolate and mint, to me, are the epitome of holiday flavor. Moving on, I was privileged enough to be graced by the presence of one single remaining Candy Cane with Chocolate Cake.

Hoping for the best and expecting visions of sugar plum fairies and jolly snowmen to fill my head, I was slightly disappointed with the results. The cake was crumbly and devoid of truly caramelized sweet, roasted, and seductive flavor that chocolate bolsters.  This chocolate cake was regrettably was dull, flat, dry, floury, and incomplete. It was a shock to me; Cupcake Royale has always treated me well with their cake cooking abilities. Perhaps chocolate is not their forte.

Candy Cane will be available at all Cupcake Royale locations until the end of December! Otherwise, this flavor is available under the name of Peppermint Party all year round. The only difference, is that this Christmas treat is adorned with a cheerful mint at the top.

This cupcake deserves 3.5 NOMS out of 5. It’s drawbacks: the cake flavor, or lack there of. With that said, however, I’m absolutely willing to give it another chance….You never know—cold weather can do crazy things to a baking experience and its products.

The Latino Community Fund is holding a Champagne-Cupcakes Toy Drive to provide an opportunity to give a gift to a child who would otherwise go without. For the small price of $25 and of course the wonderful gesture of a wrapped gift, you can attend this charitable event. In exchange, you receive scrumptious cupcakes (nom nom nom), bubbly champagne, a heart-warming evening, and the unparalleled satisfaction of gifting those who need it most.

Toy drive suggestions are:

• winter coats
• hats, scarves and gloves
• underwear and socks
• new children’s toys, games and books

Click here for more information on the event to be held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Downtown Seattle on December 9th, 2009. MARK YOUR CALENDARS and register HERE!

Get your tickets today!

Photo credit: Post Secret

“When I was five I asked you what the swirls on top of the cupcake said.

You told me it was my name.

Twenty nine years later, I remember this and smile”

How SWEET is this post secret?  I mean I always knew cupcakes were quite delightful and brought smiles year round but I found this very endearing.  Hopefully it will encourage some of you to share YOUR secrets.  Leave a comment with your sweetest cupcake confession!

Well if you have a love for cupcakes but no love for “Mr. Brown Eye” boy do we have a solution for you! Introducing Rear Gear for your pet!  Of course our Pacific Northwest neighbors down in Portland are the brains behind these little decals that hang from your pets tail and cover up their unsightly backsides. They can be purchased here.