Cupcake and Coffee from The Magnolia Bakery

I recently took a little trip to New York City, so of course I had to try a cupcake from the world famous, Magnolia Bakery.  With three locations in Manhattan, I went to the location in the West Village, right across from the Marc by Marc Jacobs store. This is the bakery’s original location, since it opened in 1996.  This bakery has been credited with the “cupcake craze” that emerged in the late 90s.  It is also a stop on the “Sex and the City” tour, as in one episode Carrie and Miranda sample their cupcakes.  I was almost hesitant to try the cupcakes as I’d heard mixed opinions about the bakery’s most popular item.  As they also offered up many tasty looking mini-cheesecakes, I was tempted not to try a cupcake.  However, my inner cupcake connoisseur knew I had to be able to compare all other cupcakes to the one that started the craze.

Vanilla Cupcake from Magnolia Bakery (Leah Wong)

Flavour: Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream
Cake: 4/5
Icing: 4/5
Presentation: 5/5
Flavour Selection: 4/5
Location: 5/5
Total: 22/25

Initially I found the icing on the cupcake a little too sweet, and considering I have a major sweet tooth, that’s saying something.  The more I ate, the better it got.  For once, I was happy not to have the cupcake towered high with icing, as it was super sweet.  There were quite a few flavours to choose from, but they were all pretty standard.  The cake was good, but not anything special.  Overall, the cupcake was worth it, though I can’t see standing in hours for a good, but standard cupcake.  As I went first thing in the morning on a Thursday, there was no line up, but I’d been warned by friends that I should be prepared to stand in line.  I adore the location of the West Village location, it was right across from Marc by Marc Jacobs, down the street from James Perse, and a few blocks from a major sale at Olive & Bette’s.  While it wasn’t the best cupcake I’ve ever had, it’s easy to tell how they are the basis of a craze, which other bakers have built upon and improved.

I went on my second cupcake hunt last week before heading home for the holidays. The second stop on my adventure was Dufflet on Queen West. Dufflet is not exclusively a cupcake place; they serve up a plethora or decadent looking desserts. I stopped in at Dufflet following a little shopping, and picked up a few goodies which I enjoyed at home.

Double Vanilla Cupcake from Dufflet (Leah Wong)

Flavour: Double Vanilla
Cake: 5/5
Icing: 4/5
Presentation: 4/5
Flavour Variety: 1/5
Location: 4/5
Total Points: 17/25

I have no hesitations saying that Dufflet serves up a delicious cupcake. The vanilla cake was perfection, topped with a mildly sweet vanilla bean icing.  The one thing that I find sets cupcakes apart is their icing.  While Dufflet ranks high on my list for icing, there was one small problem, the cupcake only has a small spread of icing on it.  As someone who thinks a relatively equal ratio of icing to cake is important in a cupcake I found myself disappointed and craving more when I finished the cupcake.  Dufflet’s cupcake is almost too big – their website lists their cupcake as having a 3″ diameter.  Another aspect I find important for cupcakes is that the icing should go to the edge of the cupcake.  As Dufflet’s cupcakes were not the usual muffin-shaped cupcakes with a narrower base, there was empty space from the edge of the cupcake to where the icing began.

Dufflet isn’t a cupcake-specific shop, but this isn’t where my low flavour variety rating comes from.  My problem with Dufflet was that while they very well may have one of Toronto’s best cupcakes, their cupcakes are hidden behind too many other desserts.  In my treat selection, I not only purchased a Double Vanilla Cupcake, but I also purchased a Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake Mini.  It was absolutely orgasmic, causing me to recommend Dufflet for its specialty desserts over cupcakes – as a cupcake lover, that is taboo.  Additionally, Dufflet does not label what all of their desserts are, something that always makes the choosing process difficult as while everything looks so amazing, I would rather choose based on flavours and tastes I like rather than appearance.

The location of Dufflet is fairly close to my favourite shops on Queen West, making it a good spot to get a sugar boost during a day of walking and shopping.  However, in terms of going for cupcakes, it is a little out of the way for a limited selection of flavours.