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Gravel cupcake and Pinisi
Oh I have got a story for you. I was on a multi-stop food trip and the first stop was at Pinisi. All my blogging friends are big fans of Pinisi. Robyn, Kathy, and Tina all like this bakery. My expectations were sky high. I walked in and requested a single red velvet cupcake and paid 4 dollars for it. I was kinda shocked at the price tag, but this is my life. Not yet ready to eat a cupcake at the time, therefore I carried it in the plastic take-out container and walked towards the Lower East Side (LES). After buying something else and having dessert in both hands I was ready for my quest. Here was where it started to go all wrong...
My backpack was hanging loosely on one shoulder so I tried to swing it around my other should, then it happened. I dropped the cupcake and it felt flat, icing side down on the sidewalk. Whaaaaaa! I picked it up immediately, and applied the five second rule and tried to not freak out about how my uber expensive cupcake kissed the pavement. Sad.
I walked to the park and texted all my friends about what to do. The early responses by some of my friends were not encouraging:
"Buy a new one"
"You should probably throw it away unless you are a starving child."
"Take photos and abandon ship!"
And then some answers of clarity:
"Scrap off the dirt and eat it."
"Cut the part out that was exposed to the floor, depending on how big the cupcake is."
"Obvious answer."
Obvious answer was right. Because honestly I was gonna eat it all along. $4 dollars! Cupcake! R U 4 serious? The question was how much of it do I eat? I could scrape off all the icing but what a waste! I wanted a better solution. I could just scrape off just the gravel part of the icing and eat the rest! The safe move would have been to just cut off the top part completely but this was a 4 dollar cupcake! Guess what? It was disappointing.My cupcake was slightly dry and the icing was the only redeeming part of the cupcake. The best part of the cupcake was the frosting! Tart and not too sweet, it was the sole provider of moisture. And I had to scrape off half of it. So here is the question, should a cupcake be considered only with the full amount of icing? Or should it stand alone, and the icing just add to the enjoyment? Some of you might believe the cost and cleaning hassle reduced the potential for full enjoyment, but the truth is after this cupcake I ate something else at full enjoyment level.
There are so many things at Pinisi though, and I vow to make a return trip and NOT drop anything! NOTHING! I will eat it soon after the purchase instead of letting it grace the incredibly hygienic sidewalk of the LES! Consider this lesson learned...
Pinisi Cafe and Bakery
128 E 4th St .
New York, NY 10003
212-614-9079
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Like what you've read today? Subscribe to my RSS and never miss a post!Posted by Danny on May 12 2008 at 12:55 pm
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Jonathan on May 12 2008 at 2:39 pm
It is my firm belief that both frosting and cake have to be equally good but the cake has to be out of this world. A cake should be able to stand on its own two feet, because hello, look at the came. cup-CAKE! But we all know that sometimes the frosting is the best part. Case in point- my only venture to magnolia bakery left me utterly disappointed. I split two cupcakes, a chocolate one w/ buttercream frosting and a red velvet one, and the cakes were dry and tasted old. But the frosting for both was holy-crap-good. But it wasn't enough to redeem the cupcake.
Amanda on May 12 2008 at 3:19 pm
Oh, sad! I probably would have done the same thing re: frosting scrape-age. $4 is a serious price tag for a cupcake. I might have even played the pity card and taken it back. See if they have a heart for sad customers. While it was totally not their fault, unlike when people scoop ice cream so that it gingerly rests on the cone, ready to be dislodged with a single lick--hey I used to be a scooper, that's just not how you do it--it would definitely create some serious goodwill if they would be willing to replace the fallen soldier.
Any way...to the frosting debate. When you are dealing with the upper echelons of cupcakery and cupcake price tagdom, I firmly believe that the actual cupcake has to be good. Now I can forgive a lot when a cupcake has delicious frosting, but seriously, in my book, when you are paying more than like $2.50-$3.00 for a cupcake, the cake AND the frosting had better be a transcendent experience.
Brownie on May 12 2008 at 11:15 pm
"Cut the part out that was exposed to the floor, depending on how big the cupcake is."
lolz sorry my resposnse came a little later but hey you took my advice somewhat. Hey at least u still have the cupcakes holder or else i would have thrown it away entirely. $4 cupcake/?! Are u Effing out of your mind? You can buy a Betty crocker with some rich chocolate frosting for $3 and cake yourself a batch of 20 maybe? you can then sell it for a mere $2 and profit like WHOA!
Anywayz i'm not a Zbig fan of cupcakes but i wouldnt mind one once a season. I'm on a strict diet now so anything too sweet is a nono for me. Bring some cupcakes to Portland =)
steve on May 13 2008 at 12:59 am
Gravel builds character
Adam on May 13 2008 at 6:01 pm
US$4 for a Red Velvet cupcake?! That is almost as bad as Kyotofu's $6 Chocolate Souffle Cupcake (which would have been worst if I dropped it.) And at $4 a cupcake, the cupcake itself has to stand alone and be heavenly. If it had to rely on the icing then it is sure as hell not worth the money. Save it for Sugar Sweet Sunshine. :p
thateatconomist on May 14 2008 at 1:12 pm
I would have recommended the chocolate cupcake at Pinisi the next time you go. The chocolate one I feel is much better, since it's more cake like and not too sweet. I had both the chocolate one and the red velvet one, and the chocolate one won out.
Anne on May 14 2008 at 8:12 pm
This is a tricky question. Red velvets, in my opinion, usually warrant a strong icing and that it's part and parcel with the cake for the red velvet experience. But then there are other cakes that should be able to stand on their own with the icing just adding to general enjoyment (banana and chocolate spring to mind). Brownie and I are in the same price point boat (over $2.50, both better be effin delicious.) That all being said, I'm glad you got to enjoy something at full enjoyment level.
Blondie on May 14 2008 at 10:28 pm
Jonathan,
Yea dun hate :)
Amanda,
Yea Magnolias... I really do not remember what their cupcake taste like, but it is not worth a 45 minute wait to find out again! A lot of people say they think their frosting is too sweet...
Brownie,
Serious price tag indeed! You said it right, for that kind of price, both the cupcake and the frosting must be amazing. Maybe it was just an off night for Pinisi, but we shall see.
Steve,
Yo, why are you on a diet now?!? What is up with that? You weigh like 60 pounds less than I do! Wow, that is kinda wrong on my part, maybe you are right... I should watch what I eat!
Adam,
Yes, so does heroine. I am trying to cut back though because my character is getting really big. Wait what am I talking about now?
thateatconomistOh man, $6 dollars at Kyotofu??? That is amazing. I do not know if that kind of price is do-able for me! And yea, SSS is the best :)
Anne,
Good idea, next time I will try the chocolate cake. My life needs more cupcake anyway! Thanks for the heads up about the free coffee, btw.
Blondie,
Yea I really want a cupcake where both the icing and the cake is deliclious. When you and Brownie are not baking super cupcakes, where do you two like to go for delicious cupcakes in the city? :)
Danny on May 15 2008 at 10:26 am