Chikalicious Dessert Club and Chikalicious Dessert Bar

Last week I was lucky enough to experience a cupcake tasting at Chikalicious Dessert Club and to eat at ChikaLicious Dessert Bar with Blondie and Brownie. We all met up with both locations' general manager Angie for cupcaking (and chat).






Blondie and Angie.



We started at the Dessert Club, where cupcakes are king. Angie confided that only two people bake all the cupcakes they sell. One baker makes the cupcakes six days per week! This makes the cupcakes very consistent, giving you the same cupcake each time you visit -- no need to worry about uneven results, as can occur with different bakers.









The buttercream the bakery uses is probably a European-style cooked and beaten frosting, as it tasted grainless and grit-free. Smooth and airy without any heaviness or sandy undissolved sugar crystals. No sugar oxidizing causing hardening either. These are adult cupcakes. Not too sweet (a big plus in my opinion) with a perfect cupcake to frosting ratio.








And speaking of frosting, I was able to ascertain that the bakery actually pipes its frosting on the cupcakes, not dipping them, as I previously thought. Afterward I think the cupcakes are agitated somehow, to make that perfect smooth shape. Angie did admit to some sort of postpiping maneuvering. Each one of the cupcakes is perfect. I suspect the bakery edits them and the bakers eat anything that isn't at 100%. What a great job perk, huh?








This bakery and cafe has a certain swankiness -- cool jazz, modern furniture and decor. No retro-bakery feel at all. Chikalicious Dessert Club started its life selling only puddings. Puddings! (Is there a pudding blog? Paging Rachel...) They still remain on the menu and are quite popular, but I was there to cupcake, and cupcake I would.

Blondie and I sat down to taste the treats. (Brownie was late, and it's only because we like her a lot that we didn't eat up her quarter of the cupcakes. If she's come even 5 minutes later she would have been without any banana cupcake to taste on account of how much I loved it.)






Here's Angie slicing up the cupcakes.




My personal faves were the banana (with a caramel-y frosting) and (surprisingly for me) the black and white (a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting). The banana was unbelievable. I drool just thinking about it. And I am surprised to find myself enjoying the black & white so much -- I usually don't like chocolate cakes, but this one was an exception.



















I also appreciated the coconut, with actual toasted coconut, not just extract and flavorings.







The vanilla vanilla ones had cream cheese frosting and were delicious.








The red velvet with cream cheese frosting (a best-seller) was good but not great. It wasn't bad -- at all -- it just wasn't any different than a hundred other red velvets I'd tasted. I think this bakery could probably elevate the red velvet to a new art form if pressed.








The caramel cupcake (which I was surprised to find was not my hands-down fave) had a true caramel filling: burnt sugar. No chewy, overly sweet or cloying caramel taste here. Also, there's not a lot of filling inside the (filled) cupcakes. It's almost as if the bakery used actual needles to inject the filling, as opposed to the Stacie method, or using a pastry bag.









My least favorite cupcake (predictably, for me) was the triple chocolate. Maybe if I'd had it with a tall glass of almost-frozen milk or some creamy iced coffee I'd have enjoyed it more. It was just...too much for me. Your mileage (especially if you are a chocolate lover) may vary.









I probably would have loved the S'mores (and know Rachel would have!), but I could only try the cake portion, as the frosting is made with marshmallows, a no-no for vegetarians. The cake was yummy, with a spiciness to it. Not a classic spice cake recipe, but it tasted of cinnamon, molasses, cardamom and maybe clove. I had a hard time deciphering the ingredients, but they all played well together. It was no doubt better with the frosting, but I'll wait to hear from Blondie and Brownie regarding that.
















After the ritual cupcake slaughter and resulting carnage was removed, the three of us went across the street for even more sugary goodness at Chikalicious Dessert Bar. The three-course pre fixe "dinner" was a wonderful dining experience. A very small and precise restaurant (approximately 20 seats), we sat at the curving bar and watched the chef prepare and serve the courses. First and third courses are selected by the chef and are meant to be a surprise to the diner.














We were served blueberry gelato in a very light caramel, um, liquid. The liquid (syrup? sauce?) was very light in taste, almost a textural element more than a flavoring one. The blueberry gelato was bright and very blueberry-ish. We were off to a good start.








I had the fromage blanc island crustless cheesecake.









Blondie had the creme fraiche cannoli on strawberry confiture with mint-lemon sorbet.










Brownie had the cantaloupe melon parfait in watermelon gazpacho with vanilla sablee and black tapioca pearls.







Of course, we all shared but I (not-so-secretly) liked mine the best. It's a restaurant specialty, and worth the trip for it alone. I did feel it could have used something to sort of break up the smooth unending creaminess of the cheesecake. Not a crust, but something...berries maybe? Some lime? Something with color and texture. The cheesecake sat in what Brownie referred to as "its mother's milk." Very apropos, I think.








The closer course was a slection of petit fours. One member of our party has tree-nut allergies, and was relived to find out that the sweets (as well as the cupcakes) are tree-nut free.






Toasted coconut marshmallows, chocolate truffles, and candied ginger lemon peels (left to right). I didn't try the marshmallows, but the truffle and the candied peel were spectacular.





We didn't check out the extensive wine list (two of us are teetotalers) and were surprised and pleased to see this nifty water decanter used to keep us hydrated. Seriously, a water decanter.





Come on, that's cool, right?



At this point, between all the cupcaking and the three courses of sugar-based food, I was in a food coma (mixed with a sugar high), so I packed up my camera and enjoyed the pleasant buzzing sensations until it was time for us to leave. I should point out that there were many people waiting for a seat when we left. Come early, or be prepared to wait.




ChikaLicious Dessert Bar
203 East 10th Street (between First and Second Avenues)
East Village, NYC
open 3:00 pm until 10:45 pm daily
no reservations, no parties greater than 4, be prepared for long waits during peak hours


ChikaLicious Dessert Club
204 East 10th Street (between First and Second Avenues)
East Village, NYC
open 1:00 pm until midnight Monday through Friday
noon until midnight on Saturday
noon until 11:00 pm on Sunday


New at Chikalicious: cupcake towers for weddings, minis (for large orders only), and cakes. Yes, cakes! There are also some new flavors in development, but I can't tell you what they are yet. If you guess (unlikely) I would let ya know you were right though...
Delivery is available, locally, for $20, call/email for out-of-area requests.



All photos by Stacie Joy. You can see the rest of the images here.



:)