Buttercup Bake Shop

Though it might be hard to believe, I didn’t always appreciate cupcakes. Having spent much of my time out west rolling my eyes at the likes of Sprinkles and ho humming my way around here over Magnolia, the appeal for a mini overpriced cakes for a shot at childhood nostalgia simply didn’t appeal. Then Buttercup Bake Shop turned me around.
Beyond Lincoln Center and the only true IMAX theater in the city, it might’ve been one of the only reasons I ever ventured to the Upper West Side. The interior was clean, bright, and inviting and the intoxicating sugary smell of bakeries like this was too tough to ignore. Crack in odor form is alive and real.
Their cupcakes were hefty, hearty spreads of frosting, with a solid amount of cake. Other cupcake shops use vanilla for their red velvet concoctions, Buttercup used cream cheese. Gamechanger? Absolutely. Speaking of vanilla, their yellow vanilla cupcakes were always a safe choice for the confused cupcake patron. What I missed most of all were their PB&J cupcakes from heaven. Addiction had found a new friend. A tart, creamy, and delicious new friend.
But just like that, Buttercup packed its bags and called it quits. The only other location is in Midtown (
), where unfortunately PB&J isn’t a part of their cupcake itinerary.
Rest in Reese’s Pieces.

As an offshoot of Magnolia Bakery, they serve all the same mediocre baked goods that Magnolia does. Dry cake with overly sweet grainy frosting. A wonderful dessert treat? I think not. Find a better bakery to go to folks, believe me there are plenty.

I met this couple back on July 4^th who gave me a list of *the best eats* in NYC. Buttercup Bake Shop made it on that list. I hadn’t gotten around to going, and then… as if the stars were aligning to tell me to finally go to Buttercup… a groupon appears!!! $ 10 for $ 20 worth of cupcakes? How could I resist?
Totally forgot about using it until a coworker started raving about the cupcakes here and her absolute *fave* is the lemon. (She sometimes takes a taxi in the middle of her shift from the Upper East Side to the Upper West Side and back to get a dozen of these babies to share!) I’ve never had a lemon cupcake before, so I was intrigued.
I arrived with the intention of ordering a dozen for my mom’s bday. Yay! They have 12 different cupcakes — perfect! I ordered one of each. The only downside was I asked for a mini menu of some sort to bring with me so we could figure out which one was which, and they didn’t have one. =(booooo.
I wasn’t steered wrong. The lemon cupcake was the bomb. Tart like a lemon should be, but moist and fluffy. My brother had the peanut butter and jelly and really enjoyed it (and he is hard to please!) All the others were yummy too, but we couldn’t tell what they were except for the obvious ones.
This is definitely one of the better cupcake shops in the city, IMHO. At $ 2.25 a cupcake, the price is not bad either.
Buttercup: My only recommendation… please make a to-​go list so we know what we are eating. Other than that, keep your bake on’!

How cupcakes should NOT be.
I’m a baker, always trying new things to compare to my own, to find my favorite bakery, or to give me ideas on flavoring.
I’ve been meaning to come to buttercup and my expectations were so high. I am so sad. I do not like this place at all :(
1^st– Maybe it was crappy staff day, or maybe the two counter ppl were in horrible moods, Idk, it made for a bad first impression of buttercup.
2^nd– They look so messy! Messy in a bad way, not a cute frosting way, but in a 3^rd grader frosted these type way. To back up that opinion, there are SPRINKLES on a RED VELVET CAKE. WHAT!!! Oh dear God. Someone let them know thats disrespectful to all things red velvet.
3^rd– I literally just posted a review on Magnolia, and how I hate when people say things are «to sweet» there b/​c magnolia is a southern inspired place and southern = SWEET.
But this? This was just, beyond sweet. It took over the flavor. Sweetness is great for southern desserts because we don’t go so overboard you can’t taste the flavoring, this was done so wrong. The lemon frosting does have a slight lemon flavor but its SO sweet! Lemon frosting shouldn’t be super sweet. It should almost be a bit tart.
The red velvet is dry and has such a lack of cocoa flavor. Then theres the sprinkles issue. Yikes.
Oreo– again, oreos are sweet, but all i taste is sugar. no yummy oreo.
And then lastly, all the cakes taste the exact same. The texture is dense and dry and I think they are all 1 base recipe with a bit of flavoring to make different cupcakes. That isn’t how it should be at all. I will eat anything sweet, seriously, i have no will power when presented with sweets… but this box of cupcakes sitting in front of me, will probably not be finished by me.
ButterCup…you made me sad :(

Came here on a sad rainy day for a red velvet cupcake. I needed a little happy in my life and red velvet cupcakes make me happy. However, today, I remain sad. Very sad. The cake itself was moist but lacking in hints of cocoa flavor. The deal breaker was the icing. It was ridiculously sweet. To add insult to injury, red sugar crystals were generously sprinkled on top of the icing. Oh great, thanks for the over-​sweet, texture-​ruining crunch. No thanks!
Service was very good though, but still, no thanks.

I had these at a friend’s party recently. They’re pretty standard. Not too big, not too small. The cakes are moist and the cake-​frosting ratio is pretty good. So why only 3 stars? Because they don’t have that something extra that will make me Ooh and Ah at the sight of them.

This review is based solely on their red velvet cupcakes.
With that said, their red velvet cupcakes don’t taste like red velvet whatsoever. They are dry and taste like a regular vanilla cupcake drenched in food coloring so it «looks» like a red velvet cupcake. The icing is far too sweet, then again I’m not much of an icing fan, in general. But for me, way too sweet and the «sprinkles» on top were unnecessary.
I’m a snob when it comes to cupcakes, if you couldn’t tell from this review. I’d be willing to try a different one if they would take out the bag of sugar they pour into every batch of icing, frosting, whatever you want to call it. I call it sugar overload.

The Golden Globes are on tonight, and since I’m an Oscar junkie, I’m a little too excited to don my floor-​length designer Snuggie-​gown and get ready to pre-​game for the real deal in February.
A special event such as this requires copious munchies, so I stopped by Buttercup this afternoon for some black-​tie worthy banana pudding.
I’d never been to this location, but being a huge fan of the 2^nd Ave spot, I imagined it would be generally the same.
It’s not.
In this case, we could compare this westside location to the westside of the US, let’s say, California (hey, I’m a CA girl, I can make fun). It’s bigger, but there’s a lot of unused space: most of the display cases are totally empty, leaving you wondering exactly how old these cupcakes are. And, of course, the people aren’t as quick: «I’ll have a small banana pudding please», «uhhh, we don’t have any pudding», «oh. .. ok. Like, today, or. .. ever?», «Um. .. today?», «.. . ok, then». Don’t ask how long I had to wait in line for that exchange to happen.
I love Buttercup, but if you’re specifically seeking out their goodies, head to the 2^nd Ave shop. If you’ve got a baked goods craving on the westside, you might as well trot down the street to Magnolia.

Buttercup is my favorite. They sell icing shots!
A slice of cake is $ 5 and is definitely big enough to share. The bakery itself is clean and very cute. You can sit in the back and watch the bakers icing the cakes, which is really cool.

I visited Buttercup at their West Side location. Walking in, it felt a bit like a deli, I’m not sure why. We ordered a Lemon cupcake, and a Red Velvet. Both were so delicious! The Lemon had very tart frosting, and was filled too, with a sweet, moist cake. The Red Velvet was yummy as well, the cake was super rich and moist, and the frosting was sweet, but not overwhelmingly sweet.
Buttercup cupcakes do not have the best presentation, they nix the sprinkles, and cutesy presentation and all… but don’t let that fool you! Their cupcakes are absolutely delicious, tastier than some of the cutest cupcakes I’ve tasted before. I would definitely recommend Buttercup Bakeshop! I wouldn’t buy here if you’re looking to sit down and enjoy your cupcake in the shop… but buy one, take it to Central Park, and enjoy! And again, even though these may not be the CUTEST cupcakes out there, they surely are of the best tasting. They also have a location in the East Side on 2^nd Avenue. If I’m in the area, I would definitely make a stop again at Buttercup!

This is actually the review of three cupcake spots: Buttercup, Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery, and Butter Lane. I had a buddy in from San Diego, and we decided that nothing would make more sense after watching college football than to do a head to head cupcake comparison. (I really wish I were making this up.) Here goes:
— A distant last: Buttercup. The cake was dry. Really dry. And the frosting, while not bad, just wasn’t all that and a bag of chips. The special cupcakes were interesting, but they seem to be covering otherwise «meh» cupcakes by adding an interesting flavor or two. It’s like the sushi spots where the fish is only okay and the avocado is a day from being ripe, but they come up with a unique spicy /​citrus roll. Same concept here — sure, the flavor of the interesting cupcakes is pretty good (not too sweet, true to description), but they’re still not good cupcakes. Plus, I felt that they were a little stingy on the frosting. Two stars. Meh.
— Second place, and by far the best value: Sugar Sweet. This is maybe 100 feet from my apartment, and that’s a problem. Loved this place. Yes, I still felt the cupcake was on the dry side for my taste, but you have to factor price in at some point, and it’s freaking $ 1.50 a cupcake. Plus, it’s kind of a cool space in that typical wait, is that a skull chandelier and are those the chairs from my third grade classroom l.e.s. way. One of the cupcakes was a very assertive peppermint, which was kind of awesome. Three and a half stars for the food, and it’s four stars because of the price.
— First place: Butter Lane. I mean, wow. Light and fluffy cake, perfect frosting (both in the sense of taste and quantity… we didn’t do the cream cheese based, although I’ll go back to try), chill friendly guy taking orders, just awesome. Was there maybe some bias because one of our cupcakes was still a bit warm? Yeah, I’m sure there was. But life is hard when you’re running a cupcake shop. Now, the caveat: I could imagine a better cupcake, at least for my tastes. They do the whole light and fluffy thing, whereas my favorite is dense and moist. Still, this place rocks, and they get 5 stars (really 4.5, but I’m feeling generous and rounding up today).

When people talk about cupcakes in the city, most only mention two shops. Magnolia Bakery and Crumbs. Now, don’t get me wrong both are really great at making a great tasting cupcake but let us not forget about Buttercup Bake Shop!
Buttercup Bake Shop is just that, a bake shop. They don’t just sell cupcakes to the adoring public. They sell many other sweet goodies that taste just as good as their delectable cupcakes. However, I’m a cupcake connoisseur, so I can’t pass them up when I see them. I’ve tried many of the cupcakes they sell and once again Red Velvet reigns supreme. So moist and delicious and that frosting! There’s quite a bit of frosting, sometimes I’ll lick all of the frosting off before I even get to the cupcake. Hey, you don’t have to follow my lead, that’s just how I do. The cupcakes are a bit easier to eat since they’re not as big as the ones from Crumbs. That doesn’t mean they’re packing less flavor though.
While you’re there try the Lemonade. Cupcakes & Lemonade? Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. It just works.

ok so I’ve been to this cupcake place a few times both by myself and with my boyfriend and of those few times, the cupcakes were mostly ok. They weren’t bad, but were not by any means spectacular. It seems as though there more special cupcakes taste better than the plain butter cream and vanilla cupcakes. The peanut butter and jelly cupcakes are good. Much more moist and the icing is delicious. The other day I recently tried one (don’t know the name because someone bought it for me :)) that was a banana walnut cake that was supposed to have pineapples in it. It didn’t sound good, but i liked it! Didn’t taste any pineapples, but you do get chunks of walnut and the cake and icing again were complementary of each other. This place is really hit or miss. sometimes good sometimes dry lol but def worth checking out for their flavors. hope this helps! :)
p. s. they also used to have this peanut butter cheesecake in individual servings that was DELICIOUS (if you’re a peanut butter fan)! If you want it from this place though, you’ll have to special order it, most likely as a cake. The one in midtown had it when i went, but that was months ago.

The only reason I stop here is because I live nearby. If it weren’t for that…
The coconut cake is basically regular vanilla cake + frosting with shredded coconut. Not that great.
Banana pudding is almost the exact recipe as Magnolia’s.
Cupcakes are better and cheaper at Sugar Sweet Sunshine.
The few times I’ve had brownies here, however, they’ve been pretty good. Chewy, chocolately though not overly rich.
Strange that the prices at the East Side location are slightly lower. For instance, the banana pudding is 50 cents cheaper.
Nice, cheerful place to sit down, friendly people at the register.

Being a visitor to this bustling Metropolis, I came armed with lists of places to try — including many cupcake places. I ended up stopping at Buttercup because it wasn’t far from the subway or my hotel. Bonus points for the name which reminded me of How I Met Your Mother (a fave of mine).
As a connoisseur of Chicago’s many cupcake joints, I figured I’d give one of the NYC varieties a try. I got two — the PB&J (I know) and the red velvet (I think). The PB&J was good, but not as remarkable and awesome as I imagined it would be. I don’t really remember much detail about my second cupcake, which unfortunately doesn’t say much.
I didn’t find the prices to be out of line with what I pay for cupcakes in Chicago — both are expensive, but I’ve grown accustomed to the city pricing. Fairly easy to order, despite a line and a couple of older women who were indecisive and confused. One had to be told four times that the sugar for her coffee was right behind her and the other kept walking back and forth in front of the case, unable to choose anything.
In the end, I found Buttercup to be cute and the cupcakes to be good, but neither were out of this world amazing. (I’m still loyal to Molly’s in my Chicago ‘hood)

The secret to enjoying buttercup, much like Magnolia, is to NOT order their cupcakes.
If you must sample one, however, I’d recommend the peanut butter & jelly cupcake. For some reason the cake is more moist than the others (perhaps the jelly center has something to do with it?) and the peanut butter frosting is a nice blend of creamy and chunky PB. It’s definitely not as sickeningly sweet as their regular buttercream frosting.
My personal favorite at Buttercup is their banana cream pudding. It probably has all the exact same ingredients as the one sold at Magnolia, but for some reason I feel it’s better at buttercup. Perfectly chilled and creamy with the occasional banana or crust bits, it’s a spoonful of heaven in your mouth.
Buttercup is cute but only a few of their items are worth the calories. The cupcakes are super cute and super sweet, so unless you’re ready for an onslaught of sugar, it might be best to direct your attention towards their other goodies.

Being my first time here I asked for a cupcake with a very moist texture. My eyes fall quickly onto the Devil Dog, but I was quite disappointed. With what seemed like more frosting than cake, my mouth ran dry pretty quick and had to wash the rest down with water.
What absolutely puzzles me is that the same cake batter and same frosting can be found in a traditional cakes, and yet, every woman I know, shaves off even the best tasting frosting then eats just the cake part. But when it comes to cupcakes, suddenly less cake and more frosting is desirable??? Where’s the logic in that?

Super yummy cupcakes! Just split a lemon cupcake and a devil dog cupcake. Both were nice and moist, not pre-​frozen or too dense and cupcakes were a good size: not too big and not too small. Just perfect for this Goldilocks!
Lemon icing was certainly very lemony but the cake itself wasn’t so it was a good balance. Icing was nice and light not too heavy.
Devil Dog was a really cool unusual flavor. Light chocolate cake with a marshmallow based icing. mmmm, going to get that one again.

I prefer it to Magnolia and Crumbs. I’m not a Crumbs fan at all, they aren’t moist, are too large, and the frosting is hard.
Buttercup’s frosting is fresh, creamy, and their cupcakes melt in your mouth. My faves are the Carrot Cake (it’s all about the cream cheese frosting), Red Velvet and Peanut butter and jelly!

Oh little Buttercup.
The little engine that could…
drive right through my heart…
and kill me if I ate here as much as I wanted to. How morbid, but this place is delicious!
Of the 3 cupcake places I hit, Buttercup I pronounce you my favorite.
I had mentioned to some of my new NY pals the recent cupcake obsession hitting San Jose (or at least my mind) and that my interested seemed to peak by a certain westie loving, baking bite creator. Luckily, after seeing Wicked, one of my pals agreed to take me on a walking tour, and hit up Buttercup after our pedicure. I was so excited!
When posed with the option of going back to my room or heading for NY stroll, I opted for the stroll. Truth be told, I had a hidden agenda with the cupcake stop, and I did not want to spend a single day in my hotel room, unless I had to. We walked from Gershwin theater on 51^st to Buttercup located on 72^nd. Yeah… that’s right. Walked for what seemed like days. A pedicure sounded amazing, and chowing down on some cupcakes sounded even better.
The anticipation was building as I approached Buttercup. When I saw the little yellow awning, my excitement leaped from my tummy to my feet. I walked in and was hit with an amazing, intoxicating aroma of CAKE.
Oh yeah… let’s pause for that smell…
pause…
pause…
Okay…I am back.
I was greeted by cupcakes, cakes, YELLOW FUN, and banana pudding. Truth be told, when my pal told me about the the banana pudding, I looked at her twisted. I said «I am here for cupcakes, not banana pudding.» Oh boy was I wrong. The banana pudding was amazing. Creamy, delicious, and the stuff dreams are made of. Loved the variety. This is not just a cupcake shop. I guess you kinda can’t be in NYC.
I bought a bunch of cuppies and had one on the spot. Words cannot describe the soft, delicate, pillowy, sugar goodness in my mouth. It was like having a new drug. The cake was so moist and light. I really enjoyed it. I love the basic vanilla cake with vanilla icing. Simplistic perfection in one bite. I found it funny how the NYC frosting is flattened down with a spatula rather than peaked up like the CA cupcakes. Again, love the variety.
Knowing that I am one of the taste testers of a certain San Josean cuppie maker, I decided to take some cuppies home with me. They survived the flight, and still tasted amazing.
Buttercup, please come to CA. I love you!