There is one thing that I must do whenever I visit New York City – that is to eat my favourite cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. Frankly, I really do not care how much sugar is loaded into each cupcake (the killer is the icing). I would have them first then worry about the excess calories later.
I was surprised to discover that another prominent cupcake store has opened in Soho. Similar to Magnolia Bakery, Georgetown Cupcake is made famous by having its own reality series, DC Cupcakes on TLC. Magnolia Bakery was featured prominently in the hit TV series, Sex In The City. Magnolia Bakery is a New York native while Georgetown Cupcake is from Washington DC.
I decided to try the red velvet cupcakes from both stores and see who has the better Red Velvet cupcake.
Magnolia’s Red Velvet was soft and moist. The whipped vanilla icing was very light and airy too. I particularly liked Magnolia Bakery’s presentation because the icing had a “human-touch” swirl. Georgetown Cupcake’s red velvet looked very pretty. But the cake had a denser and heavy texture. The icing, though smooth, was equally dense. The icing swirl was too perfect that it looked too mechanical. Magnolia Bakery’s Red Velvet costs US$3.50 while Georgetown Cupcake’s Red Velvet costs US$2.75.
I Prefer Magnolia Bakery's human touch
Besides the Red Velvet, I also tried the Carrot cupcake from Magnolia Bakery and Vanilla² cupcake from Georgetown Cupcake. The Magnolia’s Carrot cupcake had a cream cheese icing topped with walnuts. The texture was smooth and airy. Shredded pieces of carrots were visible in the cake. The cream cheese icing was not too sweet either. On the other hand, the Georgetown’s Vanilla² cupcake had the same texture as its red velvet counterpart, thick and dense. I ate some icing and removed most of it. The feeling I got after eating Georgetown’s cupcakes was that I wanted to stop after one.
I find it easier to eat a cupcake when it has a lighter and airy texture. With a dense cake, it’s harder to swallow with each bite (especially when you have a huge bite). So on this, I have to say that my favourite cupcake shop is still Magnolia Bakery.
Magnolia Bakery
Rockefeller Center, 1240 Avenue of the Americas (at the corner of 49th and 6th Ave)
New York, NY 10020
Georgetown Cupcake
111 Mercer Street (between Spring and Prince)
New York, NY 10012
