Cupcake Walking Tour

Yesterday afternoon Shelby and I went on a cupcake walking tour around New York City. It was SO fun. If you know us you know we love cupcakes so this was the perfect way for us to spend an afternoon. We went to 6 different spots.

We met our tour guide in Union Square and walked to our first stop which was Baked by Melissa. Shelby and I have both been here many times but it's one of our favorites. All the cupcakes are bite size so it's a great way to try a bunch of different flavors. Today we got to try their Valentine's Day cupcake which is a pink velvet. The story of this bakery is a great one. When Melissa, the owner, was fired from her job in advertising in 2008, she decided from that moment on she was going to do what she loved. Drawing on inspiration from the care-free rock 'n roll culture of the 60's and 70's and the idea that people should be able to taste more flavors without that post-dessert guilt trip, Melissa engaged the help of some key people in her life, and in 2009 opened the first Baked by Melissa shop, in New York City's SoHo district. 

Our next stop on the tour was actually not for a cupcake. We went to Amorino for a taste of gelato. Amorino originated in Paris and was created by two childhood friends. Now they have many locations around Europe and their one location in the United States is in NYC. I've been all over Italy and had tons of gelato there and what I had yesterday was just as good if not better. We got to taste the mango flavor and it tasted exactly like a mango.

 

Our third stop was to Crumbs. This is another one that we've been to before but they offer a ton of really unique and different flavors. Crumbs Bake Shop first opened its doors in March of 2003 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. With their more than 50 varieties baked fresh daily and a new cupcake of the week every Monday, each Crumbs Bake Shop is an oasis of wall to wall deliciousness. We got to chose any flavor mini cupcake to enjoy. Instead of branching out I went with my favorite- cookie dough. Shelby tried a mini devils food cupcake.

 

 

Our walk took us through Washington Square Park which was so pretty with all the snow on the ground. 

Our next stop was at Molly's Cupcakes. The owner named the bakery after his third grade teacher, Molly, because she always brought her students cupcakes on their birthdays. In honor of her a portion of the proceeds are given to schools in the community. Here we actually got to build our own cupcake. We picked vanilla cake with french buttercream frosting. We then went over to the "sprinkle bar" and added some sprinkles for decoration. It was good but the frosting flavor didn't taste like I was expecting. The decor was actually my favorite part of this place. The table tops were old desks and the bar stools looked like swings...except sadly they didn't move.

 

  

 Our fifth stop was actually another non-cupcake place but it was really yummy. Milk & Cookies Bakery bakes their cookies throughout the day so you are guaranteed to get the freshest cookie available. They will also create a custom cookie if you need something special for a party or event. We got to try their salted oat surprise cookie. It probably wasn't something I would have ordered on my own but I'm really glad I got to try it as I enjoyed the salty/sweet combo the cookie offered.

Our last stop was to the famous Magnolia Bakery. In 1996, Magnolia Bakery opened its first location on a quiet street corner in the heart of New York’s West Village which is the location we went to today. From its inception, Magnolia has been cherished for its classic American baked goods, vintage decor and warm, inviting atmosphere. The bakery was made famous from it's cameo the show Sex and the City. We took home two red velvet cupcakes which were yummy!

We enjoyed playing tourist in our own city and loved trying the places we hadn't been to before. Can't wait to make some return trips in the future!

Until next time

XOXO

Ashley