[As you can tell, I’m all about sophistication]

Since I had nobody holding me back on this trip I decided to do a cupcake round up.  There were 3 contenders: Crumbs, Baked by Melissa, and (of course) Magnolia.

[It’s Friday – you deserve a giant picture of a cupcake on your screen]

The Elvis Cupcake is a cupcake with banana frosting, peanut butter chips, and a dollop of peanut butter.  It was a good cupcake, but I had to eat it in 2 sittings, since it was quite big.  Crumbs definitely goes for size, but I do love their novelty.

I like how small the cupcakes are and how the frosting is not overpowered.  But that being said, they weren’t my favorite.  They were a bit …  I think they might have used too much oil in the batter.  It’s a novelty to choose from all the different flavours (and not to have to eat an entire cupcake for each), but I’ve tasted better.

And then there’s good ol’ Magnolia.  Truthfully, I’ve never had any cupcake there other than a vanilla/vanilla.  If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I say.  I think it’s the frosting that wins me over, although there’s nothing bad about the cakey part.  It’s simple, it’s a good size, and it’s classic.

But what if you don’t like cupcakes?  What if you like your cake full-sized and with cheese?

I like Junior’s cheesecake.  It’s tasty and conveniently located in the Theatre District.  You can go to a show, and then stop by Junior’s afterwards to get a slice to take home.  I recall that I was underwhelmed by their Pineapple cheesecake, but I liked their strawberry (even if strawberries aren’t the ripest in January).  Also, I have delightful memories of a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing…

If cheesecake is perhaps too rich for you, how about some cookies?

Yes, these are packaged cookies from Starbucks.  No, I don’t care.  Yes, they are delicious.  No, I won’t disclose how many I ate.  Yes, they are perfect to take home with you in your suitcase (if you don’t eat them all).

I’ve become obsessed with New York black & white cookies.  I don’t know why or how but I love them.  I’ve even discovered a recipe that (with a few tweaks) is perfect – but you still have to love the real thing.  Besides, go into a Starbucks, eat some cookies, and use their wi-fi.  Everybody wins!

And for last – I know this isn’t food-related, but it is drink-related.  And drinks and food go together very well.

In most theatres you’ll see that they have these to-go cups for their drinks, so that you can take the drink into the theatre proper.  The price seems insane (the first purchase includes the cup & drink), but if you bring the cup back you only have to pay for the drink the second/third times.  If you’re a frequent theatre-goer it might be handy to keep one of these with you.

I did not buy a drink for most of the shows I saw, but I got one at Seminar.  It makes a nice souvenir.  One of the theatre signs is for the Lyceum, which is the theatre where I dislocated my knee.  Oh, memories…