The Quintessential Cupcake

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The Devil's Food cupcake from Amy's Bread is the best chocolate cupcake in Manhattan.

I don't know if you've noticed, but New York City has a lot of freakin' cupcakes. Somewhat surprisingly, I've never made it my goal to sample every one. And the reason for that is, I'm so blissfully content with the cupcakes at Amy's Bread.

Basically, when I want a cupcake, I want just that, a cup-sized cake. Nothing outrageous, nothing pretentious; just give me something simple and pretty, wholesome, and yes, delicious. Finding old-fashioned cupcakes is not the easiest thing to do these days, as more and more bakers seem to be taking a Lady Gaga approach to cupcake making. Everyone's pushing the envelope. There are a lot of crazy concoctions out there, a lot of bold flavors, bright colors and frostings drizzled and bedecked with caramel, cookies and candy. Even bacon—bacon! Then there are Magnolia cupcakes, which I do love. But Magnolia cupcakes, with their pale pastel frostings and mildly sweet cake have a kind of ceremonious feel to them. Consequently, they don't speak to my soul the way the more traditional, homey cupcakes at Amy's Bread do.

Pictured above, is a Devil's Food cupcake from Amy's. Sometimes, I try scraping off a third of the frosting to cut calories but after one bite I'll spread it back on because it's so darn good. And the cake—oh the cake! It's the richest, most perfect, chocolate cake. The vanilla cake with pink frosting is also excellent.

Bottom line, if you're in New York City and want a classic, delicious cupcake, then find the nearest Amy's Bread. I obviously recommend the Devil's Food cupcake. But if you really want to be decadent, if you really want to be sinful, go for a slice of their Devil's Food cake!