While on my way to visit a friend on the Upper East Side last week, I decided it would be nice to bring a little something over, and also to have a something to use for my monthly blog entry. Unfortunately the last few weeks I've been living on Starbucks cake pops and while I absolutely love them, I can't blog about anything that comes from a Seattle-based chain restaurant! There are a few places that have opened up on the UES in the past few months that have made it to 'the list' - including Pips the gluten free bakery and the place that has all the candy from London. But I had heard about the cupcakes at Two Little Red Hens and decided this was the way to go.
Now I'm usually a little bit anti-buying things that say Brooklyn when they're not from Brooklyn (I will never, ever shop at any Brooklyn Industries if it's across the Brooklyn Bridge). But the most popular cupcake at TLRH is the Brooklyn Blackout, so I had to make an exception just this once. There is a limited but good variety of cupcakes available, and most come in both mini and large versions. The regular cupcake flavors include red velvet, carrots, banana, ginger, pumpkin spice and marble. Then you have the specialty filled cupcakes - peanut butter fudge swirl, boston cream, key lime, coconut creme, and the Brooklyn Blackout, our flavor of the day.
The Brooklyn Blackout consists of a dark chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling, topped with chocolate icing. I got the miniature version to try and it was perfection, but I think the large version would probably be a little overwhelming. All of the small versions cost $1.75, and the larger versions are $3 for the regular and $4 for the filled; on par with NYC cupcake prices. There was only one mini Bk Blackout when I got there, so I'm glad I made it in time! The marble and red velvet were just okay, to be honest. I wasn't a fan of the cream cheese frosting on the red velvet and the marble was a little bit boring. They wrapped my three mini cupcakes in a heart shape which was super cute. I listened in on what others were ordering and it seems like cheesecake and the red velvet cupcake are high on the list. Maybe I was having an off day with the red velvet, but I would recommend trying the Brooklyn Blackout if you make it uptown and can find the shop behind the scaffolding (will the 2nd Avenue subway line ever be finished?!)
Two Little Red Hens is located at 1652 2nd Avenue between East 85th and 86th streets. Hours of operation are Monday-Friday 7:30am-9pm, Saturday 8am-9pm and Sunday 8am-7pm.
http://www.twolittleredhens.com/
