This weekend, since I was stuck in New York thanks to Delta canceling my flight to Kansas City (again, from personal experience, I'd say do NOT fly Delta if you want to actually go anywhere), I decided to visit some local bakeries and see what was going on. I have a few places that are new to me to visit in Astoria that were recommended by friends, and a few that aren't new but whose cupcakes I've never tried.
I stopped in at sugar Sweet sunshine on the Lower East Side, who usually have the same delicious, reliable flavors. This time, I noticed their strawberry cream cheese frosting cupcakes. I'm not the biggest cream cheese frosting fan, but I figured I'd try one. They also had lemon cupcakes, which they normally do, but normally, they are not this yellow:
Actually, when I bought mine, there were only two left, which were quickly replace by the above tray.
Now, I like their lemon cupcakes okay, but when I got these, I was more excited than normal, and I can tell you, for me it's because the frosting was yellow. Did they actually taste different than the usual lemon cupcakes with their white frosting? I'd have to do a side by side comparison to really be sure, but I can tell you I really enjoyed that lemon cupcake in a way I don't normally with theirs. It was perfectly tart, which is what I needed, especially if I was going to eat two cupcakes (love their prices, only $3 for 2!).
I don't know if you can tell from the above photo, but there were actual chunks of strawberry in the very light cake. I even managed to enjoy the cream cheese frosting, which was thick but not too "cheesey" (that's the part I don't like about cream cheese frosting).
Both of these were perfect for a hot summer day, because they were sweet, but didn't kill you with sugar, and I could even feel a little bit healthy for eating something with fruit in it!
I also felt a bit silly because I've probably been in sugar Sweet sunshine at least 50 times over the years, and had never truly looked at their adorable cupcake flavor logos:
As to whether cupcakes actually taste better depending on their color, I think you'd have to talk to Joanne Chen, author of the excellent book The Taste of Sweet. As a consumer, I can say that if they have these yellow lemony lemon cupcakes again, those are the ones I will order before even my beloved Sunshine (vanilla/vanilla).
See all my photos here.
I stopped in at sugar Sweet sunshine on the Lower East Side, who usually have the same delicious, reliable flavors. This time, I noticed their strawberry cream cheese frosting cupcakes. I'm not the biggest cream cheese frosting fan, but I figured I'd try one. They also had lemon cupcakes, which they normally do, but normally, they are not this yellow:
Actually, when I bought mine, there were only two left, which were quickly replace by the above tray.
Now, I like their lemon cupcakes okay, but when I got these, I was more excited than normal, and I can tell you, for me it's because the frosting was yellow. Did they actually taste different than the usual lemon cupcakes with their white frosting? I'd have to do a side by side comparison to really be sure, but I can tell you I really enjoyed that lemon cupcake in a way I don't normally with theirs. It was perfectly tart, which is what I needed, especially if I was going to eat two cupcakes (love their prices, only $3 for 2!).
I don't know if you can tell from the above photo, but there were actual chunks of strawberry in the very light cake. I even managed to enjoy the cream cheese frosting, which was thick but not too "cheesey" (that's the part I don't like about cream cheese frosting).
Both of these were perfect for a hot summer day, because they were sweet, but didn't kill you with sugar, and I could even feel a little bit healthy for eating something with fruit in it!
I also felt a bit silly because I've probably been in sugar Sweet sunshine at least 50 times over the years, and had never truly looked at their adorable cupcake flavor logos:
As to whether cupcakes actually taste better depending on their color, I think you'd have to talk to Joanne Chen, author of the excellent book The Taste of Sweet. As a consumer, I can say that if they have these yellow lemony lemon cupcakes again, those are the ones I will order before even my beloved Sunshine (vanilla/vanilla).
See all my photos here.
Comments
This is a very interesting topic. I think definitely the colour adds to your enjoyment of the cupcake - I mean, one of the most appealing things about lemon is the bright sunny colour. We eat with our eyes as well as our mouth, it is a total sensory experience. The challenge for me is to make appealing and fun colours naturally rather than using artificial dyes. In Toronto I went into a natural food store looking for colouring, and they gave me the "food doesn't need to be coloured" speech. I agree that artificial colouring is used too widely especially in kids foods, but I truly believe natural colour adds to the eating experience if used well. It was interesting that myself as a holistic nutritionist could have such an "alternative" attitude from the hardcore nutritionists in the natural food store ha ha. Anyway sorry to ramble on but this is a topic near and dear to my heart!
-Cordelia