Cupcake Compulsion

Ok- anyone who knows me knows I have an unhealthy (mentally and physically) obsession with cupcakes (have you seen the cupcake blog link to the right?). I don't know what it's all about. It's just a small cake... but I crave them all the time. And I'm really particular about how the frosting should be. I like all kinds, but for my favorite- the basic buttercream, I only like the sugar-grainy kind. Cause if it's too buttery and smooth, I feel like I'm eating sweet crisco. I need the full-on sugar-grit overkill. BUT! It also has to have the vanilla flavor... otherwise, it's just sugar paste.

I think my favorite place in NY for cupcakes is Sugar Sweet Sunshine. They know their frostings! Plus they have all the other goodies like banana-nilla-wafer pudding, carrot cake, etc. They serve good coffee and have a nice, comfy atmosphere with plenty of seating. They also make my favorite cupcake- golden cake with buttercream frosting (boring, I know) perfectly. Theirs is as good as Magnolia's, but less dense and rich. So I'm less likely to get in the fetal position after eating one. That way, I can eat more. Yay! Everyone wins!

In fact, after our wedding last year, my husband and I invited all our friends to one of our favorite bars in the Lower East Side, and served lots and lots of assorted cupcakes, instead of cake, from Sugar Sweet Sunshine! Everyone was stoked and I ate four, for the record. See them here- the big bag of my wedding cupcakes:



Anyways, I came across this great food site: SMITTEN KITCHEN.
It's pretty great. And it's not all desserts...they have some nice savory stuff on there too (Molly!). But one of their last entries had me pressing my face against the computer monitor...check it out:
"All Better Now"