Cupcake Walking Tour

Last Friday, Eric and I redeemed a Living Social deal we had purchased for a walking tour of various cupcake spots in the Village. This tour promised to lead us to six fine establishments in the Village with sweets to sample at each location. Does that sound right up our alley or what?! Of course, Ellie joined us, but only for the learning. The only cupcakes Ellie got to enjoy were the ones adorning her clothing. Meanest parents ever!

The tour met at Union Square. We got all checked in and waited for the rest of the group to gather before officially kicking things off.

Waiting for our tour to begin

We held hands. Good heavens, she's precious.

Our guide giving us the overview

Our first stop was Baked By Melissa, known for their tie-dye cupcake. Melissa started her bake shop after being laid off from her advertising job, and now it is quite the popular cupcake destination. The cupcakes are little bite-size morsels, but they had a nice assortment of flavors. We sampled the cupcake of the month: carrot cake. Quite tasty!

Baked by Melissa

Display case of tiny cupcakes

Our carrot cake sample

Next up was Amorino, actually known for their gelato (although I believe they do serve cupcakes). Hey, I'm not going to be a stickler and say we can only try cupcakes, you know? We sampled the passion fruit gelato and it was delicious. I approve.

In front of Amorino (totally being photobombed by our tour guide)

Gelato!

Mmmm, samples

Hmm, I think I would like some gelato, please!

Our third stop was my tried-and-true favorite: Crumbs. Sure, they're everywhere nowadays, constantly opening new stores (and recently teamed up with Starbucks), but I love them. Giant cupcakes, delicious flavors, all around good stuff. On the tour, they opened up a couple of their sampler packs and let us choose what we wanted to try. I had a red velvet, Eric had coconut, and we split a chocolate swirl.

Crumbs

With my red velvet cupcake and goofy baby

From there we walked through Washington Square Park and past some utterly adorable side streets that looked like they were straight off a movie set. Our guide also stopped to tell us a cupcake joke: "Two cupcakes get put into the oven to bake. The first cupcake looks over at the other and says, 'Hey man, it's getting hot in here!' The second cupcake looks back and says, 'Whoa! A talking cupcake!'" Ba-dum-dum.

People covered in pigeons at Washington Square Park

Tell me this street doesn't look like a movie set.

Walking through town

We ended up at Molly's Cupcakes, another one of our favorites. I love the whimsical interior of the shop (swings at the bar!), and if one of their delicious pre-made flavors doesn't suit you, you have the ability to build your own cupcake by choosing the cake, filling and frosting and then hitting up the sprinkle bar to top it off. They allowed us to create our own mini cupcakes on the tour, so I chose chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Eric went with vanilla and chocolate. Their cakes are so moist and the frosting is divine. Move over, Crumbs! Molly's is stealing my heart!

Molly's Cupcakes

I know I'm about to consume something delicious.

My cupcake is on the left, and Eric's on the right

Our next stop was another non-cupcake destination (although they, too, also sell cupcakes): Milk and Cookies. They sell everything from the classic chocolate chip to more exotic cookie flavors (our guide mentioned something about a bacon cookie), or you can also call ahead to order your own cookie creation and they'll have it baked for you within 30 minutes. If you prefer your own home to smell like fresh-baked cookies, you can also just purchase the dough to bake on your own at home. We sampled their Salted Oat cookie, which I enjoyed very much.

Our guide handing out our Milk & Cookies samples

I thoroughly enjoyed this cookie.

Our final stop was a New York staple, and Eric's favorite: Magnolia Bakery. We stopped at the original location, the one that was featured on Sex and the City (and on our way there, we walked past Sarah Jessica Parker's actual street, as well as the street that was used as "Carrie's" street on the show). This location often has a line out the door and around the block. They gave us red velvet cupcakes to sample, and Eric picked up a couple of his favorites for the road. (Actually, by this time we were stuffed, so even our samples hit the road with us, to be enjoyed later!)

Carrie Bradshaw's street

Magnolia Bakery

You know the cupcake butt had to make an appearance on this tour.

A cupcake-loving family!

We had such a good time on this tour! It was a gorgeous afternoon in a charming part of the city with delicious treats at every stop. What's not to like?