Baked By Melissa (Times Square)

Cupcakes are definitely the "trendy dessert" here in NYC. There are so many different shops selling these cute little gems, each having their own unique way of reaching out to customers. Whether it is the homey taste (Magnolia), vegan recipe (Babycakes), or even manly appeal (Butch) there is always a selling strategy that makes these culinary endeavors a success.

A few days ago I happened upon a cupcake store that is really unlike any

other: Baked By Melissa. Whoever Melissa is, she must be a genius. Her bakery features the tiniest cupcakes I have ever seen, each having a diameter similar to that of a quarter. They were sold 3 for $3...literally a buck per bite. The gimmick was that you can get a taste of a variety of the many creative flavors available, and I gotta admit, it was pretty tempting. Too cute to resist, and the flavors all sounded so good!

My friend mentioned how each of these cupcakes probably cost no more than a few cents to make, yet are being sold at a price of a dollar each. And each person who walks into the store has to buy at least 3. The average person would probably buy about a dozen, I would imagine. Talk about profit!

So I bought the minimum amount of 3 cupcakes (because I am a poor college student): red velvet, peanut butter cup, and rice krispie (this month's special). They even came arranged in a cute little box!

It took quite a bit of patience to take the delicate cakes out of the box without crushing them...

Now these little babies may look small, but don't let that fool you when you take a bite (slash pop the whole thing in your mouth). The cake is soft and moist, and the flavor of each of them really stands out. My favorite was by far the peanut butter cup. I was amazed at how peanut-buttery it tasted, despite the minuscule size of the peanut butter frosting on top.

And aside from the scrumptiousness of these cupcakes, the perk of it all comes from the lack of guilt after devouring them. I mean, it's the equivalent of eating 3 bites of cake; no harm done, right? Plus, it's 3 different flavored bites. Can't get any better than that. Definitely will revisit sometime later in the summer to try more flavors...maybe I'll try their s'mores cupcake, or pb&j...ooh and the mint chocolate. Good thing I don't have a choice but to get more than one. Hehe.

Til next time,

D