NYC: Bakery Review - Crumbs Bake Shop

Crumbs Bake Shop - visited on November 18, 2016

Crumbs Bake Shop was also on my NYC foodie bucket list to visit. I've blogged before about my old college roommate Caroline sending me a mail order birthday present from Crumbs. I'd also blogged about making the cupcakes from the Crumbs Bake Shop cupcake mix I found at Target. I liked cupcakes from both sources but you know I had to go visit Crumbs for myself. Nothing like personal research after all.

What I didn't know was Crumbs had declared bankruptcy a few years ago, according to an old grad school classmate, Fran, who I met up with in New York. What?? I was checking all these Crumbs locations and seeing how I could circumnavigate to one but Fran advised me to call first before I used up my shoe leather hiking over in case that location had closed. Eeek.

But my fears (and you know I was afraid - it's me and cupcakes after all) were unfounded. After Shawn and I had lunch at Mama Mia and inhaled the Mississippi Mud Pie at Little Pie Company, we were strolling back to the hotel through Times Squares and, lo and behold, thanks to trusty GPS, yelp and my own unerring instinct when it comes to nosing out bakeries, we did come across a Crumbs Bake Shop in Times Square. Score.

By then though, you can imagine I was quite full of pasta and pie. Which left little room for cupcake. So despite my eyes always being bigger than my stomach - although, honestly, my stomach seemed to be doing its level best to catch up to my gluttony - I only got one cupcake. It was hard to narrow down the choices and I almost got two but sanity and my straining waistband prevailed and I "settled" for the dulce de leche cupcake. Even though the Chocolate Salted Caramel below was looking at me reproachfully for leaving it behind. ("Pick me! Pick me!")

Shawn and I had to wait until later in the day to eat it after we both had some room. All I have to say is the wait was worth it. The cupcake was smaller than I remember my birthday cupcakes being but the dulce de leche was really good. The highest compliment I can give any cupcake is when I eat the frosting (non-frosting person here, remember?). Yep, I ate the frosting too. The cake part of the cupcake was perfectly fluffy and delicious and the frosting complemented it nicely. I'm glad that of the one flavor choice I made, it was the right one. And no lie, I thought about going back later and getting another one. I didn't but yeah, I thought about it. Maybe next time.

Dulce de Leche cupcake

It wasn't just the flavor that made me love the cupcake, although that was certainly no slouch. But the texture is what sold me. This isn't your box-mix cupcake texture. It's like if a box-mix cakey cake texture met a dense pound cake texture and they compromised perfectly to meet right in the middle. Not heavy, not dense, not light or chiffon-y either. But just right, Goldilocks. This is the kind of texture I have yet to achieve in my cupcake and cake-baking efforts. The kind that, if I can't make it myself, I'd spend top dollar to buy it. In other words, this is Icing on the Cake banana cake-worthy. Please stay open, Crumbs Bakeshop. I want to come back.

Best taste and texture ever