(credit: NYSF)

The FREE cupcake promotion today from Food Network Magazine and Sweetery NYC celebrates the specialties of 8 different travel destinations, 7 of which are US states.  For example, I had a Cinnamon Praline cupcake (above), which is a specialty of Louisiana.

Other cupcakes being given away were Rocky Road (Colorado), Mississippi Mud (umm?), Vanilla Peanut Brittle (Virginia), Sweet Potato & Marshmallow (South Carolina), Pineapple Crunch (Hawaii), and Banana Pudding (Texas).  There is also a Tropical Rum Colada from the Cayman Islands, which is like another state to our 1%’ers.

The truck will only be at Hudson & King until 10:30.  After that:

11:00a-1:00p – 50th St between 6th & 7th Ave.

1:30-3:30p – 7th Ave between 36th & 37th St

4:00-5:30p – Broadway between 52nd & 53rd St.

Enjoy, and don’t forget to send us a tweet with your photo!

(Credit: NYSF)

How would you like to score a FREE cupcake tomorrow, May 2nd?

The Food Network Magazine and Sweetery are joining forces for a FREE cupcake giveaway.

The truck is currently being wrapped, but it will look like the mock-up above.

There will be 4 different locations and times for the Cupcakes On The Road giveaway.  Click through for more details.

(credit: NYSF)

Cupcake Crew has been around the streets of NYC since late 2010, and are easy to spot with their distinctive black and pink truck.  But the nicest looking truck won’t last if the food being served is not up to snuff, and Cupcake Crew delivers on that front.  They were Best Dessert Finalists at the 2011 Vendy Awards, and you’re about to see why, if you haven’t already tried them.

Their menu rotates on a daily basis, and you can see the selection and prices here from the day I visited last week.  In order to try a few, I usually get an assortment of 3 mini-cupcakes for $5.  I got ‘smores, Brooklyn blackout and the very last red velvet mini-cupcake.

red velvet mini-cupcake (credit: NYSF)

I started with the red velvet, which had that sweet cream cheese frosting found on red velvet cake.  Frankie put little candy hearts onto the frosting, which added sweet crunchiness, and the cake itself was moist and tasty.

Next up were the ‘smores and Brooklyn blackout cupcakes.

'smores & blackout mini-cupcakes (credit: NYSF)

Both the ‘smores and blackout cupcakes had dark chocolate cake that was delicious.  The ‘smores had a couple of dusted marshmallows on top, and some ground graham cracker mixed into the frosting.

The blackout cupcake is a tribute to the blackout cake from the old Ebinger’s Bakery in Brooklyn.  When I was a kid, my grandparents used to bring Ebinger’s blackout cake from Brooklyn to our house, and it was amazing – dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate pudding frosting and chocolate crumbs!  Ebinger’s Bakery is no longer around, but they were one of the best at the time.

Cupcake Crew’s homage does not have chocolate pudding frosting, but it was still very good.  If you love chocolate, this one’s for you.

I enjoyed the mini-cupcakes very much and was about to leave, when Frankie said I have to try a bacon maple cupcake, his most popular seller.  I didn’t want to be rude, so what else could I do but accept his offer.

bacon maple cupcake (credit: NYSF)

He didn’t have any minis left, so I had to take a full-sized cupcake.  The sacrifices I make for NYSF are unbelievable!

The frosting was maple flavored with a small strip of bacon on top.  Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I bit into the cake.  Not only was it maple flavored, but there were small pieces of bacon mixed into the batter. Yum!

Cupcake Crew make it around to different neighborhoods, and you can find them on twitter here or on our Mobile Munchies twitter feed.  Give them a try. You’ll be glad you did.

Cupcake Stop cupcakes (not used in the assault)

In the heat of a domestic dispute, a Chicago woman pelted her husband with cupcakes before police arrived to arrest her Saturday night, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The fight started with a verbal quarrel about 7:45 p.m., according to a police report, but escalated until the woman started hitting her husband over the head.

After that, she reached for the box of desserts and directed a barrage of cupcakes at his head and body, her husband told police. Several of the confections apparently hit their mark, as the man’s head and shirt were smudged with icing when officers arrived, according to a police report.

He told officers he feared for his safety, and she was verbally aggressive with officers, the report states. Police said she admitted hurling the treats at her husband.

Records indicate that the alleged victim himself has been arrested three times since 2003 on domestic battery or battery charges. Charges in all three cases were later dropped.

Now if this couple lived in Topeka, these altercations wouldn’t even be on the police record.

Cake & Shake last year at Washington Square Park

First Cake & Shake had to deal with impostor carts.  Now they have to deal with other vendors exploiting the “veteran loophole” to conduct business in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

As mentioned in Gothamist, A 19th century law permits veterans to sell in areas where others are not allowed to.  Cake & Shake, who reportedly are paying over $100,000 to the NYC Parks Dept for this primo spot in front of the Metropolitan Museum, are suffering.

Other carts have been employing veterans to exploit this loophole, and Cake & Shake’s Derek Hunt said his business is down 40%, and will be out of business by the end of the month if nothing is done.  The Parks Department tells the Post that they are working with the NYPD to determine whether “additional enforcement measures can be taken.”

At this point, Cake & Shake is refusing to pay the rent because of license-less vendors who sell there by using the veteran loophole.

If you’re by the Met, stop by and give them your business.  In addition to delicious cupcakes and shakes, they have savory pastries as well.

More to come…

Sweetery NYC will be giving away hundreds of FREE cupcakes today courtesy of the Michelin Man.

Stop by their truck on 50th St between 6th & 7th Ave at 12:30 for this tasty free giveaway.

"High priest" Anthony Bourdain blesses the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop

With the weather expected to be rainy for the next few days, you can still enjoy great street food indoors from some of your favorite vendors.  Here’s brick-and-mortar news from a few of them – Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, Mexicue and Cupcake Stop.

On Saturday, the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop opened at 125 East 7th St between 1st Ave and Ave A.  The Grand Opening of the store was blessed by “high priest” (wink, wink) Anthony Bourdain, and there was a lot of other craziness going on too.  Click here for the Big Gay Ice Cream blog, which has video and more info on this special event.

Lunch from the first Mexicue store

In early July, we brought you a sneak peek of Mexicue’s brand new store at 345 7th Ave.  Now word comes they are opening a second store on the Lower East Side at 106 Forsythe St (between Broome and Grand St).  The soft opening is this Friday, September 9th, and the official opening is a week later .  By the way, Mexicue is putting a 2nd truck on the street as well.

Cupcake Stop variety pack

Cupcake Stop, who currently have two trucks on the NYC streets, will be opening a kiosk in the Staten Island Mall in October.

The kiosk will feature specially-lit counters and the“cupcakes will be displayed like jewelry,” said Richard Kallman, CEO of Cupcake Stop.

Makers Mark Bourbon Chocolate Cupcake

A few months ago, we were given a bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon, and thought it would be a good way to dust off the old Friday’s Recipe feature.  My wife came up with a delicious Bourbon Glazed Chicken, and it looks like we weren’t the only ones with this idea.

Yesterday Sweetery and Makers Mark teamed up to develop fun recipes that incorporated Makers Mark into their wonderful goodies.  They had a private promotion for employees of 3 different publishing houses, but said a few would be given out to the public as well.  I don’t work for a publisher, but am a member of the public, so I was able to snag one when Sweetery was by the Hearst Building.

Light, sweet frosting atop a chocolate cupcake that had a nice bourbon undertone.  You could definitely taste the bourbon, but it was a delicious dessert.  Nice job Sweetery!

Click here for the Sweet Bourbon Glazed Chicken With Makers Mark recipe, and Sweetery’s Makers Mark Bourbon Chocolate Recipe is after the jump.

Sweet Bourbon Glazed Chicken with Maker’s Mark

Maker’s Mark® Bourbon Chocolate Cupcakes

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1/3  tsp of salt
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 2 tsp of Maker’s Mark® Bourbon
• 2 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate (cooled)

Topping

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate
• 2 tbsp of heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a medium mixing bowl beat butter and sugar with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one by one followed by Maker’s Mark® and chocolate until blended well, about another 3 minutes.

Combine and sift flour, baking soda and salt into a separate medium mixing bowl. Blend half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Add milk followed by the remaining half of flour mixture. Spoon the mixture in the muffin cups filling half full in each.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back to touch. Remove tin from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Remove from tin and allow to continue cooling.

Combine semisweet chocolate and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Using low heat, stir slowly until smooth. Spoon over tops of cooled muffins.

On Sunday, the first day gay marriage will be legal in NYS, Cupcake Stop will be celebrating with the above cupcakes on their trucks.

No word yet on where they will be parking, but somewhere near City Hall sounds about right!

I walked by Cupcake Stop at lunch and took this picture, with the intention of stopping for a cupcake on the way home.

What I didn’t know was that one of the bosses bought 3 dozen (!) cupcakes from Cupcake Stop for one of our co-workers birthdays.  He is taking some time off for medical leave starting tomorrow, and we all wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday and good luck with the medical stuff.  It was a very nice gesture from the company.

Keep in mind, nobody in my office knows that I am New York Street Food, so I played dumb and said – “Oh, did you get these from that truck over on 58th St” knowing full well the answer was yes.

People started eating the cupcakes and the superlatives were flying. “These are delicious”, “much better than Magnolia”, and “I can’t believe these are from a truck”.  I said there were a lot of good food trucks out there these days, but clammed up after that.

I would say people’s favorites were the nutella, funfetti and red velvet, although they all went pretty quick.

One of these days, people in my office will find out about New York Street Food and they will be able to put two and two together.  Until then, it’s my little secret.

There were 3 dozen of these babies!