Billy’s Bakery

A few weeks ago, I wrote a quick mini-review on Billy’s Bakery (which was never published, thus the lack of a link).  Directly after I’d finished writing it, but before I posted it, I received an email from someone on behalf of Billy’s Bakery, letting me know that they’d opened a second location in TriBeCa and wouldn’t I like to come in for some cupcakes? 

I responded immediately that I’d coincidentally literally just tried their Red Velvet cupcake, and truthfully admitted that I hadn’t been too impressed.  The woman was quick to respond asking if she could send me a dozen cupcakes for review, maybe I would change my mind.  Well, who am I to say no?  (I’m a broke college student!)  And it’s true, I’d only tried the Red Velvet – a very difficult cake style to get right, I’ve found (by eating, not by trying to make it!) – so perhaps I should try some more.  So she sent me over the above dozen cupcakes…

Expect lots of cupcake porn.

Chocolate frosted chocolate.

Doesn’t that look tempting?

The frosting was sweet, but not overwhelmingly sweet, while the cake was dense, moist, and actually, pretty damn good.  You may have heard me say before that I’m not big on sweets nor do I love chocolate, because I’m not.  These weren’t too sweet, despite being chocolate-chocolate.  They’re also not as big as a softball, they’re sized perfectly for a sweet treat.

Chocolate frosted vanilla that’s been dyed green.  I thought these might be chocolate mint cupcakes, but unfortunately, I was wrong. 

Vanilla frosted vanilla.  See above comment.

I received a lot of this one style, but that was good, because…

My boyfriend really loved this style cupcake.  Surprisingly,

he didn’t like the chocolate frosted vanilla as much, though I would have told you before that this is his favorite style of cake.

And I’d have been right, but for whatever reason, he didn’t like the chocolate frosting too much.

This is one of their specialty cupcakes, cream cheese frosted banana cupcake.  I actually really liked this one quite a lot – it wasn’t too sweet, and while the banana flavoring could have been a little stronger, it was still very good, moist, and dense. 

Carrot cupcake frosted with cream cheese.  I didn’t like this one that much but mostly because of the texture – little papery bits that were reminiscent of coconut, but were probably just the carrots. 

Oh, and the raisins.  I didn’t like it.  It was good, but just not to my taste. 

And for the red velvet?  Well, you can read my original review, because though I tried again, it still remained the same:

…

One of the summer associates in my group brought in cupcakes to celebrate it being Friday.  I know – so adorable.  She is one of the sweetest people, too – I hope she gets into the group she wants!!! 

Red Velvet cupcakes from Billy’s Bakery, where I haven’t previously had cupcakes!  I love Red Velvet cupcakes, my favorite being from Cakeman Raven, though its location make it impossible for me to eat them often (thank goodness!), plus I’m not even a great sweets fan. 

Initially, I tapped my finger into the frosting a bit and found it not too sweet.  Slightly sour (in a good, cream cheese way) with a nice lemon tang to it. 

When I finally took a bite, though, the sweetness of the frosting in addition to the sweetness of the cake part overwhelmed and unfortunately made my teeth hurt.  The cake itself was dense and moist, which is a good point, except… that red just looks so unnatural.

Turns out…

Well…

It is.  It stained the napkin I rested it on (I waited until post-lunch to eat this, though she brought them in in the morning) in the first picture, and the napkin on the right in the 2nd picture is how much I had to wipe my lips… after ONE bite.  That napkin was destroyed after I ate the whole thing, craziness.  Even with the obsessive mouth-wiping, though, my cup of tea was stained with the red dye.  I also took a photo of my lips after I was done eating but I decided no one needs to see a close up of my mouth-area. 

Yvo says: While the cupcake was moist, it was a bit too sweet once you began eating it in earnest.  I would pass especially because of the excessive food coloring… an unnecessary addition to any good Red Velvet cupcake, truly.
meh

…

Well, while I’m no fan of the red velvet cupcake at Billy’s, I did quite enjoy their other cupcakes.  It’s good for what it is: regular cupcakes.  And the banana cupcake.  Yum!

Yvo says:  There are hits and misses here, but they do a solid job of getting the basics right; chocolate chocolate, vanilla vanilla… banana cupcake… yum!  I would definitely not get the Red Velvet cupcake here, but I’m also really, really picky about red velvet in general.  It’s a good cupcake.  The best ever? Earth-shattering?  Nope, but it satisfies that cupcake craving when you have it.
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