Coffee or Cupcakes

Continuing my cupcake quest in the big city, I headed to the Upper East Side to Two Little Red Hens bakery (www.twolittleredhens.com).  2LRH came in second place for best cupcakes according to Serious Eats (www.seriouseats.com) and is located just down the street from where I was residing for part of my trip so I had to stop in.  It is a teeny bakery just off 2nd Avenue.  When I walked in I was not hit with the aroma of baked goods...instead it was the smell of fresh ground coffee (guilty for going at 8AM).  Now don't get me wrong I love the smell of coffee, but when I walk into a bakery I want to be knocked down by the smell of sugar and chocolate.  After some aggressive nudging I finally made my way to the counter full of delicious baked goods.  

Everything looked delicious!  2LRH was super crowded so I knew I had to make my decision quickly before getting pushed to the side and called a tourist...again.  I decided on 2 minis, the classic american and boston cream.  I ordered to-go since I knew there was no way I would be able to give a full review while being elbowed by people trying to get through and trying to mute out the sounds of the screaming children.  Am I painting a clear enough picture of how pleasant this shop was at 8AM on a weekday? Clearly, I was without caffeine! 

Classic American - yellow cake with vanilla buttercream.  1)the cake was slightly dry.  I should mention that I did not eat the cupcakes right away.  My mom had called as soon as I made the purchase telling me she was on her way in from the airport.  I scurried back to the apartment to meet her and we headed out for some light shopping.  The cupcakes probably sat in the bag for a good 5-6hrs.  So, I will give a little wiggle room on the dryness.  I still think a cupcake should stay moist for several hours if not a day or two.  2)the icing - It was very sweet and had a hint of coffee.  I imagine this was unintentional and that the sugar just absorbed the coffee aroma that was floating through the air.

Boston Cream - 1)the cake was a plain yellow cake, again battling the dryness.  I feel it should have had a filling since it was called a boston cream, but maybe it did in the larger size.  2)the icing - a rich chocolate ganache like frosting with white chocolate shavings.  It was decent, but nothing to write home about.


Individually I found the presentation to be pretty standard, but I did enjoy the look of all the Classic American cupcakes on the plate together.  Would be pretty to present at a party.  Creativity - not much.  They had pretty standard flavors, but the Boston Cream was a unique twist.  Overall happiness - eh.  I wouldn't make it a point to go back, but I also wouldn't purposely avoid it.  If I find myself wandering the UES I would give em another shot.


Looking back I think I made a few key mistakes 1) Picking a Boston Cream.  That is something I would never do in the right mindset.  They are okay as donuts, but I don't think they make for good cupcakes.  Especially over a standard chocolate.  2) Not trying their coffee - the smell was so wonderful yet I still walked directly across the street to Starbucks for my standard iced coffee.  The coffee could have changed my whole perspective on the place 3) not eating right away.  I'd like to think that if I had them right away they would have held a much better consistency.  It does leave me questioning if they bake more throughout the day or if the same cupcakes would have been sitting out on the plate all day until sold??


I was able to end my day with a Yankees game!  

 Was hoping to see Jeter hit 3,000 but I was only able to catch 2,998

xo
j