SUGAR SWEET SUNSHINE

He says:
Let the cupcake wars begin! Magnolia threw down the gauntlet 12 years ago with its delicious $2 cupcakes, setting off a craze that has swept across the country and even infiltrated Atlanta in recent years. Few of Magnolia’s imitators have come close to the original, though. Too often their cupcakes are dry or airy, and the icing just not distinctive enough to justify their high prices.

But with Sugar Sweet Sunshine, we have a contender.

Unlike Magnolia, there is no half-hour line that wraps around the block. We walked right into SSS on a Monday afternoon and ordered our cupcakes and coffee, which is a good thing. Also unlike Magnolia, there are more than three flavors of cupcake. Actually, there are more like ten, and they look amazing. What to choose? The Sunshine, a yellow cupcake with vanilla buttercream? Or the Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting? Perhaps the Lemon Yummy, a lemon cake with lemon buttercream? It’s hard to decide because they all look and smell delicious.

From the first bite, it’s clear that SSS’s frosting is lighter than Magnolia’s and the cake less dense. I actually prefer this to the “heaviness” that accompanies Magnolia’s cupcakes. However, the flavored cupcakes are where Sugar Sweet Sunshine really takes flight. The pistachio cupcake was wonderful, the cake simultaneously rich yet not too sweet, with a pistachio current running through every bite. The vanilla frosting was sprinkled with crushed pistachio nuts for enhanced texture and flavor. Awesome. The strawberry cupcake was nearly as good, with fresh strawberry slices baked right into the moist cake.

She says:
Ok, step back. I may be incredibly biased, but the only valid way to assess a cupcake shop is through its chocolate cupcakes, or – to be generous – at the very least its chocolate-frosted vanilla cupcakes. Because what is a cupcake if it does not contain chocolate?

And so I sampled the Ooey Gooey, a chocolate cupcake with chocolate-almond buttercream frosting. My first complaint – the cupcake itself. It was barely chocolate. I don’t even think something that subtle should be allowed to call itself chocolate. Not to mention that the cake was lighter and drier than cake should be. And then there was the frosting, which was way more almond-y than chocolaty, and for a buttercream, it was certainly lacking in richness. Overall, there was nothing ooey or gooey about this “cupcake.”

After the disappointment of my cupcake, I did try a bite of Downtown Boy’s strawberry and pistachio cupcakes to see what he was raving about. My impression? Muffins. That’s right, these imposter cupcakes taste exactly like what they should be – muffins. Last time I checked, a muffin is not a cupcake.

He says:
For their range and expertise in cupcake flavors, I’m going to give the nod to Sugar Sweet Sunshine in this latest round of the cupcake wars.




She says:
Magnolia may only have 3 flavors, but they do cupcakes right – rich, moist, and chocolaty. Unlike Sugar Sweet Sunshine, where any true cupcake essence has been lost in the quest to diversify.




Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002
http://www.sugarsweetsunshine.com/