The sweets of Buenos Aires

I've been good, actually. There hasn't been an insane amount of indulging here in Buenos Aires. But plenty of looking...

Everything is big, sugary and pretty. And it's no surprise that cupcakes have made their way here, too.

Many of the confiterias are quite Americanized. Nucha would give any New York bakery a run for its money, with their exquisite cakes and tarts...

...chocolates and traditional pastries...

  And, hey, what do you know? Cupcakes/muffins!

I brought a couple of them home just so see how they compare. In a word, they were asombrosa.

Amazingly moist and flavorful.

 

To die for.

There had to be some sampling...

Meanwhile, uptown at Sprinkles...

Having gone to Georgetown Cupcake on the very day it opened made me feel a little guilty. Not for my insatiability or gluttony, but because Sprinkles, a Los Angeles import, has been in New York for nine months and I had never gone. So, seeing as I was in the neighborhood (Upper East Side, kitty corner to Bloomies), I did my due diligence.

In many ways Sprinkles and Georgetown Cupcake are similar: scads of amazing flavors, beautifully decorated cupcakes, and lines of people waiting to eat them up.


And since I tried two flavors at Georgetown Cupcake, I felt it my duty to indulge in two cupcakes at Sprinkles. As always, it was a tortuous decision.





Did I want Madagascar bourbon vanilla cake copped with a fudgy milk chocolate cream cheese frosting? (Why, yes, I did…)

Or, Belgian chocolate cake, studded with chocolate chips and topped with luscious raspberry frosting? Impossible to decide, I tell you.

So I went with two of my favorite flavor combos: peanut butter and chocolate, and banana and chocolate.


Delicious.

The peanut butter cake batter—dense, moist, yum—had nice rich chocolate chips buried inside and was frosted with a fudgy milk chocolate cream cheese frosting and covered in sprinkles (which, truth be told, I’m not such a fan of).


In a twist on a good old banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting, I got the one with the bittersweet chocolate frosting.


It’s too soon to choose between Georgetown Cupcake and Sprinkles. All my cupcakes were heavenly. So now I have to do further recon. Perhaps a Smackdown. It's vital that we find which imported cupcakery is worthy of Manhattan standards....

Cupcakes in San Francisco

Sure enough, cupcakeries have also taken over San Francisco.

SusieCakes was the most like Magnolia and Billy’s.


Uber sweet frosting, slathered on generously and dusted with sprinkles or other sugary bits.


American Cupcake had its own things going on, with a poppy sensibility, perfectly formed frosting toppers and fun flavors.




And then there’s darling Miette.

Cute and perfect.


When I'm back in the spring, I'm hitting up Cako Bakery and Kara's Cupcakes.