Long Over Due at Billy's Bakery

This title has a number of hidden meanings.

First and foremost it refers to the fact that this post should have gone up a very long time ago. You'll see what I mean by the rainy dreary day captured in the pictures, as well as the winter caps and coats that also make appearances.

Another would be the fact that Billy's and I (and Nicole) were supposed to meet quite a long time ago. Almost a year to be exact.

And finally, I was accompanied on my visit by fellow blogger and all around great gal (and new MOMMY to be!) Miss Sofia Zimmerman. She chronicles her life as a savvy foody in Brooklyn, here, on Brooklyn Baba.

Billy's is adorable with a kitchy old-school feel and atmosphere that's reminiscent of both Magnolia and Babycakes Bakeries. Two former Cuppie Tour stops. The taste -- we both opted for vanilla on vanilla cuppies -- very similar to Magnolia and Buttercup Bakeshop. I believe I'd heard that Billy's is also owned by one of the founders of Magnolia (as is Buttercup). Does anyone know if that's true?

Anyway, here are a couple shots of the shop:

And one of my fellow cupcake lover:

Sofia says another good choice, although a bit on the sweeter side, is the banana cupcake. I brought home the red velvet and carrot cake to try as well and both were D-LISH!!!!!!!!!!

~AnnMarie

The Trip to Billy's that Never Was

Hmm...Nicole and I better cover our tracks back to Billy's Bakery before Sept. 15!

If you guys don't remember, Billy's was originally a scheduled stop on this year's Cuppie Tour, before I jumped ship. We've been trying to schedule a day to get back to the Brooklyn flea and also stop there and at Buttercup (the other neglected bakery on our tour). But it's been a jam-packed summer...

Anyway, Billy's is partnering with a pretty cool organization called Baking for Good. This is an adorable online bakery, started by founder Emily Dubner. Fifteen percent of every purchase you make on the site goes to the charity of your choice!

Until Sept. 15, Billy's is offering a back-to-school cupcake designed exclusively for Baking for Good. When you purchase it, 15 % will go to Free Arts NYC, a nonprofit that provides under-served children and families with educational arts and mentoring programs.

Get over to Billy's Tribeca location and pick one up. If you do, take a pic and upload it to our Facebook page!

~AnnMarie

ps, click on the image to read that tiny type better!

Cuppie Tour '10 lineup

That is if it doesn't downpour on Saturday.

Ugh.

Anyway, sorry this has taken so long. I'm completely swamped at what I hate to call "my real job."

Here's the lineup for Saturday's Cuppie Tour '10. We are both VERY EXCITED and hoping that it doesn't rain. That would suck. Big time.

1.Sugar Sweet Sunshine
2.Buttercup
3.Cupcake Stop (in the Limelight)
4.Billy's
5.Butter Lane
6.Baked by Melissa
7.Kumquat (if we can find her...I think she's at the Brooklyn flea market on Saturdays)

Not necessarily in the order we'll be visiting, but this is in order of popularity from the votes we received on our poll. A number of our possibilities were tied for certain spots, so we called ranked and picked the ones we wanted to visit more.

So there!

~AnnMarie

Cuppie Tour '10

It's May again, and at the end of the month, Nicole will be turning 24-years-old.

I'm trying to prepare her, as 24 is a rough one. For me, that was the year it really set in that no, I would not be going back to college EVER AGAIN, and that I was damned to this life of getting up and going to work EVERY DAY.

I mean, "they" had warned me, but I guess I just never really believed "them."

Anyway, before I digress...last year for her birthday, we started what will hopefully be a very long and carried tradition, and it was probably what spawned our cupcake obsessions: "Cupcake Tour."

Or more aptly known as "Cuppie Tour."

What we did was made a map of five cupcake havens throughout New York City and followed it throughout the day. No taxis were allowed (unless we got lost, which we did on our way to Babycakes) and we were only allowed to walk and/or take subways.  I met Nicole at Port Authority and we went from Cupcake Cafe (545 9th Ave.), to Buttercup Bake Shop (973 2nd Ave.) to Magnolia (401 Bleecker), to Babycakes (248 Broome St.), and we finally ended at Sweet Revenge (62 Carmine St.).

Cupcake Cafe: Voted overall least favorite, but great atmosphere

Buttercup Bake Shop: This is Nicole's favorite and my second favorite as far as flavor goes. Delicious but Magnolia (my #1 will always hold a special place in my  heart). For those of you who aren't icing fans, Nicole is not either yet she admittedly "could eat a tub" of Buttercup icing.

Magnolia: Ammy's fave. Nicole's second fave.

Babycakes: We got lost on our way there and were losing enthusiasm/energy at that point. So we decided to split one and were impressed by the amount of flavor accompanied with freshness. If I remember correctly it was a carrot cake cuppie we got.

Sweet Revenge: We thoroughly enjoyed this place as it again had great atmosphere and the cupcakes were fantastic, served in parchment paper which was a very nice touch. Again though, this was the last stop of the day and we were a bit cupcaked-out. So if it had been up higher on our list we would probably would have enjoyed these cuppies even more. We did each pair a glass of wine with them as Sweet Revenge is known for it's cuppie and alcohol offerings!

So this year, Cuppie Tour '10 is scheduled for Saturday, June 5. Our custom-made tank tops are on their way.

Oh yes, let me repeat, we will be wearing customized tank tops. So keep an eye out for us. This year's slogan?:

"Only the strong survive..."

And that will definitely be put to the test this year, as Nicole wants to add 2-3 more stops onto the five we originally conquered last year. And many of them are in BROOKLYN!!!!

My feet are tired already. We'll be making final selections for this year's stops within the next couple weeks. Stay tuned...

~AnnMarie