So, first step on my journey - research, research, research.
What I have found out early during my cupcake crusade, is that New Yorkers in general are exceptionally spoilt for choice and are very opinionated about their cupcake preferences. You ask one person for their favourite cupcakery and soon you'll get someone else jumping in and proposing another. People are loyal to their bakeries and will give you a hundred reasons why their cupcakes are better than the others. Word of mouth = constant job.
Furthermore, I am a bit of a Google geek and no crusade could be considered a crusade unless I've poured through searches and online reviews. That's what brought me to the bakery of this first review, Two Little Red Hens. To say people raved about the place on multiple online review engines, is probably to underestimate the level of passion for the place. So anyway, excited about a new place, I headed to the Upper East Side and purchased a box of cupcakes.
Before I even continue, I must mention that I measure the make of a good cupcakery by it's plainest offering - the vanilla/buttercream option. To ensure fairness, this mission will compare like with like and I will only moderate vanilla cupcakes at this stage. Once all the vanilla buttercreams have been evaluated and a clear winner is announced, shall I move onto a new flavour fetish. Ok, back to the Two Little Red Hens.
So, let's set the scene - it was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. We took our cupcake laden box to Central Park and unwrapped the sweet treat while we sat watching the tennis courts. The first impression was good - plain and simple. Little coloured dots scattered the surface of the icing. I bit in and expected to lose myself in light buttery goodness but unfortunately there was some kind of taste that didn't mesh with me. The actual cookie and it's icing was not sweet. It was not.. just... not... *Sigh*
Two Little Red Hens, here's your score:
