Empire Cake, NYC

Update Review, Summer 2025 Visits

I was in New York more than a month before I encountered extra Empire Cake in the office.  Perhaps a record for me, as that office is usually the mecca of extra cake from my favorite place.  I was nearly about to actually, gasp, purchase some myself to satisfy the craving, but luckily someone came through - on my actual birthday no less! (Now, granted, it was to celebrate someone else's 10th year work anniversary, but that didn't stop me from pretending the cupcakes were for me!).  I was late to the party and only snagged the last bits, but I was still thrilled.  I was able to try three cupcakes, all flavors I'd never had before.  And two days later?  A full size cake (an actual birthday cake, uh, for a dog). The next week? Two more cakes.  Finally!

As always, I adored the cupcakes/cake, and continue to think Empire makes the best classic American high sugar/buttercream style cake in NY.

Cookies & Cream.

"Chocolate cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and chocolate cookie crumble."

Regular readers know how I feel about Oreos, and yet, I couldn't resist trying this final hunk of the cookies & cream cupcake.

It was a good cupcake, very moist, deep chocolate flavor, open crumb structure.  Sweet frosting that was a very creamy consistency.  I barely noticed the bit of cookie crumble on top and integrated into the frosting.  I still would prefer not cookies & cream, but this was good.  My least favoritei though.  3.5/5.

Strawberry Fields.

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream and a dab of strawberry preserves."

Next up, this pretty pink one, which turned out to be strawberry.  I adore Empire's vanilla crème fraîche cake base in general, and this was no exception.  So moist, so tangy, love it.  And the swiss buttercream frosting excellent as always, again, fluffy, sweet but not cloying, well balanced in the butter levels, and bursting with strawberry flavor.  The dab of strawberry preserves accented that strawberry flavor even more.  My first time having this flavor, very big fan.  My favorite of the flavors I tried, and one I'd gladly get again.  4.5/5.

Bananas Foster.

"Banana cake frosted with cinnamon rum Swiss meringue buttercream and topped with a caramel drizzle and walnuts."

The last one I got was brownish, and clearly had caramel drizzled on top.  I assumed it was dulce de leche, a flavor I knew Empire makes, but it turned out to be ... bananas foster!  The cake itself was mildly banana flavored, subtle but definitely there.  Moist, good cake as all of theirs are.  The frosting was sweet and enjoyable, but I didn't really taste cinnamon nor rum.  The caramel drizzle on top was super sweet, and definitely did make this more bananas foster like.

But ... this cupcake had more than the description said, and more than I realized it would have.  The center was a core of sweet dulce de leche adjacent gooey goodness.  Yes, it made this whole thing very sweet, but it was quite good.  My only criticism of this cupcake is that it really wasn't strong in the bananas department, which was fine, but if you were looking for bananas foster, you'd find it a bit lacking.  Low 4/5.

Very Vanilla.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

And then, actual cake!

The birthday cake was just the very vanilla, which, yes, is simple and very vanilla, but I do love their cake, and this was no exception.

The cake was moist, and had Empire's signature tang from the crème fraîche.  I adore their buttercream, yes, just vanilla in this case, but not too sweet, great balanced butter/sugar, and, very importantly, plenty of it.

4/5, a very reliable third pick for me.

Very Vanilla.

Another day, another slice of very vanilla.  The layers weren't particularly even (the cake or the frosting), so I'm sure a judge on a baking competition would seriously dock them for that, but I didn't mind.  Same great cake and frosting as before, and the ratios still totally worked, plenty of buttercream in every bite.  4/5.

Black Forest.
(Deluxe)

"Chocolate cake layered with kirsch brandy-marinated Morello cherries and crème légère, frosted with dark Belgian chocolate ganache."

I recognized this cake immediately, as I had it last year.  The only Empire Cake that doesn't have their amazing buttercream between the layers and on the outside, but rather, uses the crème légère within, and very thick dark Belgian chocolate ganache on the outside.  I gleefully took a giant slice of cake, and of course, lots of the debris hunks of that excellent ganache that fell off.  I don't understand the humans who leave all that goodness behind!

It was exactly as I remembered.  Moist, deeply chocolately, yet somehow light chocolate cake.  Insanely rich dark chocolate ganache, such a thick layer of it.  Plenty of crème légère to balance out all the richness.  I do really love Empire Cake's buttercream, but the lightness here is needed to combat the intense chocolate nature of the cake/ganache.  And of course fancy cherries on top as decoration AND within the layers.  They were super soaked in kirsche, and nicely boozy.

Put it all together, and this is a fantastic cake, and a great pick when I don't want buttercream.  4/5, maybe even 4.5/5, my second favorite I had this trip.

Update Review, December 2024 Visit

It used to be, without fail, that when I visited my NY office, some group would have an extra cake or cupcakes from Empire Cake, several times a week.  Literally.  But the past two visits I didn't encounter *any* stray Empire Cake goodies.  Yes, I had other cupcakes (like from Buttercup Bake Shop) and other cake (like from Mia's), but not from Empire.  So I broke down an picked up a simple vanilla cupcake myself.

It remains my favorite place for cake and cupcakes.  No question.

Very Vanilla. $4.25.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

Love these damn cupcakes.  Moist, dense cake that is sweet and slightly tangy, and has such strong vanilla flavor.  Love the sweet but not cloying buttercream.  Love love love.  Simplicity perfected. ****+.

Update Review, August & October 2023 visits

Whenever I used to visit my New York office, I kid you not, I discovered extra Empire Cakes cupcakes or full size cakes in our microkitchens every single time. Usually this would happen on my first day there, and often nearly every day thereafter.  Everyone seemed to order from Empire Cakes (which, makes sense, it is right across the street), and everyone seemed to always be having celebrations, and copious leftovers.  I'm sure if I worked there normally, I'd get a bit sick of Empire Cakes eventually, but for me as a visitor, this was such a treat.  I really, really like Empire Cakes, definitely the best I've had in New York, and some of my favorite cake from anywhere really.  I've liked nearly every flavor, and every format, I've tried.  It is just my style of cake.  If you prefer a lighter, less sweet sponge cake and minimal or very fluffy frosting, this isn't the place for you, but for moist, dense, American style butter cake, it is perfection.  And, swoon, that buttercream.  

So when I recently visited New York for the first time since 2019 (damn that pandemic!), and I didn't encounter any Empire Cake the first two days, I was a bit sad.  But, my luck all changed by day 3, and then again on day 4.  And day 6.  And 7.  And the next week. Phew.  And, I was thrilled to see that I do still absolutely adore this cake!

Cakes

The most common goods I find are abandoned layer cakes, from a party of some kind.  I'm always thrilled the actual attendees don't seem to have great cake appetites.

Chocolate On Vanilla.

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake with our rich Belgian chocolate buttercream filling and frosting."

Oh, this cake.  Just as good as I remembered.  Even the simple chocolate on vanilla.

The cake was perfectly moist, dense, sweet, buttery, slight tang from the crème fraîche.  Exactly my style of cake.  I could almost even just eat the cake, no frosting nor ice cream pairing needed.  Which is really saying something for me, a person who usually sees cake just as a vessel for frosting.  ****+, simple cake, but, fantastic.

And then, the buttercream.  This isn't a light, fluffy buttercream, but rather, a more firm style.  Which might not sound great, but I really like it.  I even like it straight from the fridge, when it is super firm, although, letting it warm up a bit is best.  The chocolate flavor here was mild, and the buttercream was sweet but not cloying.  Again, simple, but just how I like it, ****+.  I also appreciated the ratio of frosting filling and topping to cake.

<3 this cake!

Liliko'i (Passionfruit). *Deluxe*

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake layered with passion fruit curd and frosted with a light coconut Swiss meringue buttercream."

Another day, another abandoned Empire Cake in the kitchen.  This time, a flavor I haven't yet tried: lilikoi!

This one had the same excellent moist vanilla cake, but also a curd filling and different buttercream frosting.  It was interesting that the passionfruit curd didn't go all the way through the layers, rather, it was in the center 60% of the cake, with buttercream around the outer part.  I've never seen a layer cake broken down that way before.  It made for some very fruity bites (any from the center) and some great buttercream bites (from the edges), and I liked being able to pick my own adventure that way.

Anyway, the curd was tangy but sweet, lovely passionfruit flavor.  No seeds though, I kinda wished it had those for some crunch or to make the curd seem more "real".  Still, quite creamy and enjoyable.   The buttercream was softer and fluffier than most I've had from Empire Cakes - maybe the host hadn't refrigerated this one at all?  I still quite liked the buttercream - as always with their buttercream, a nice balance of butter, cream, and sugar.  The coconut flavor came through well.  Together, this all combined to a tropical island feel.

This wasn't my favorite of the Empire Cakes I've had (I'm not generally one for fruity cakes, or coconut in cakes), but, it was well made.  Like most of the more interesting cakes with fillings other than just buttercream, this is a "deluxe" offering, so priced a bit higher.  ****.

Black Forest Cake. *Deluxe*.

"Three layers of chocolate cake filled with kirsch brandy-marinated Morello cherries and crème légère, frosted with dark Belgian chocolate ganache."

This is the first Empire Cake I had that didn't have their incredible buttercream frosting.  Instead, the exterior was covered in very thick, very rich, dark chocolate fudge.  I was thrilled to see so much extra "debris" left behind by others, as that fudge-y frosting really could make a dessert in itself.  It paired wonderfully with my afternoon coffee for a little pick me up!  But, beware, richness abounds in that fudge! ****.

The cake was the same as other Empire chocolate cakes.  Always a reliably good cake.  ***+.

And then, the filling.  I didn't know what cake this was when I tried it, and I was describing the white cream to co-workers as "it is sorta like whipped cream, just a touch thicker.  Not nearly as heavy as a pastry cream though, and definitely not buttercream.  It is lighter, than those, but more stable ...".  Turns out, it is crème légère, which is literally crème pâtissière that's lightened by folding through whipped cream.  It was exactly the contrast this cake needed against the very decadent and thick fudge ganache coating.  Perfect level of light sweetness too.  I really liked this element. ****.

And finally, the cherries.  Yup, a bit boozy, soft due to soaking.  I don't actually love black forest flavors in general, and at first I thought there was just the cherries on top, but I kept finding them throughout, so I think they were within the layers as well.  I'd rather not have these, but that is just a personal thing, and clearly what make it black forest in the first place.

Overall, I was happy to try something different from Empire, and as always, it is their frosting/filling that really shines.  ****.

Cupcakes

Less common to find are cupcakes, but they made several appearances as well.   I do prefer the layer cakes, as I think the cakes are generally a bit more moist, and the frosting to cake ratio even more in the frosting's favor (my style!), but, the cupcakes are still top notch.  

Chocolate on Chocolate.

"Our moist chocolate cake with a rich Belgian chocolate buttercream frosting."

I had this as a day-old leftover from someone else's party, so it wasn't particularly fresh.  That said, I did still absolutely love that buttercream - the texture, the flavor, everything.  I love it.  It is best soft at room temperature, but I do even like it when refrigerated and a bit hard.  <3.  ***+.

Chocolate on Chocolate #2.

A few weeks later, another party, more cupcakes, this time fresh.  

The cake was light and fluffy, great cocoa flavor.  <3 the buttercream.  A very good chocolate cupcake. ***+.

Very Vanilla.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

This is the cupcake that shows you that vanilla on vanilla is not boring and basic.  The crème fraîche in the cake makes all the difference, giving it a slight tang. Truly great vanilla cake.  The cake is always moist and enjoyable, and, swoon, that frosting.  Sweet and perfect consistency.

I truly cannot fault a thing about this cupcake.  ****+.

Pistachio Praline.

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream and a sprinkle of pistachio praline."

Finally!  The pistachio praline cupcake.  This flavor was at the top of my list of flavors to try when I finally ordered from Empire myself, rather than relying on the leftovers from other events.  This was for Chrome's 15th birthday party, and we had them customized with the Chrome dino game dino with a Google "Noogler" hat on.

I was slightly let down by the pistachio praline cupcake.  It was a very good cupcake, don't get me wrong, but, I wanted a stronger pistachio element.  The base of this was the regular (great, but plain) vanilla crème fraîche cake, rather than a pistachio cake.  Standard, very good, basic cake.  The toppingg is where the pistachio elements came in to play.  The buttercream had a reasonable mild pistachio flavor (and light green color), and the sprinkle of praline added a touch of crunch and of course a bit more pistachio flavor.  

I really did like the very sweet fondant custom printed topping too.  Mmm, sugar!

So, overall, good, quality Empire cake, but, not dramatically better than the very vanilla.  I think a pistachio cake, or maybe some pistachio paste filling, would really amp this up.  ****.

Gluten-Free Chocolate w/ Vanilla Buttercream.

"Our moist gluten-free chocolate cake with either a rich Belgian chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting."

We also had gluten-free cupcakes available, and there were plenty extra.  I tried one, as it had been a few years since I had the gluten-free ones.

The gluten-free cake really was good too. Slightly lighter than the regular one, but, I liked it just as much.  Good cocoa flavor.  And of course, I just adore that buttercream.  This one sorta reminded me of cookies and cream, in a good way (I'm not usually a lover of Oreos or Oreo-adjacent things).

This is a gluten-free treat that gluten eaters will never notice.  ****.

Cookies

Most of my encounters with Empire Cake have been with, well, their namesake cake, but I also finally got a chance to try some of their cookies.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.

This cookie might not look like anything special, but it was great.  Perfectly soft, slight chew.  Great peanut butter flavor.  Plenty of sugar and butter.  Little chips.

A very satisfying, totally normal size, unassuming cookie. ****.

Callebaut chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon.

A very standard coconut macaroon, with the bottom dipped in high quality dark Callebaut chocolate.  The coconut is shredded, sweetened, and bound together well.  Very coconut forward taste, which you'd expect, and overall quite sweet, a bit too much for without pairing with a black coffee.  The dark chocolate was fabulous.

Overall, good execution of a classic, albeit a touch sweet for me.  ***+.

Original Review, August 2021

It seems that every time I visit the New York office, I encounter Empire Cake.  Probably because it is located close by my office, and they make custom items.  Admins love it for easily getting special goodies for the team.  And because it is good.  Really good.

"Empire Cake brings you the best in American baking with a gourmet twist. We feature fresh-baked cakes, cupcakes, cookies, breakfast pastries, brownies and bars, and sophisticated versions of classic snack treats, including our own “twinkies,” “snowballs” and Swiss rolls."

Every single cake or cupcake I have had from Empire has been good.  Moist, sweet, flavorful cakes, and that buttercream!  Swoon, the buttercream.  I just can't get over it.  

Setting

The bakery is, literally, across the street from my office.  It was easy for me to go check out in person.

Store Front.

The front of the store is quite inviting, with huge cakes in the window, although, alas, those are not real.

Cupcakes.

However, there are plenty of real ones once you step inside!  Cases and cases of goodies.  The cupcakes are what seem to show up constantly in my office.

Other Goodies.

They also make standard cakes, assorted bars, and some fun novelty items, like snowballs and swiss rolls!

Cupcakes at the Office.

It still shocks me that, literally, something like 80% of the time I visit the NYC office I find cake or cupcakes from Empire Cake in a microkitchen.  I know the boxes now well.  This is a very normal sighting - extra cupcakes, free for the taking!

Cakes & Cupcakes

Given the name, Empire Cake, it should come as no surprise that cakes are their speciality.  Available in many sizes, many tiers, many flavors, all sorts of customizations, buttercream or fondant decorated, etc.  I'd love to see their wedding cakes sometime!

The cakes all feature one signature thing: buttercream.

"Buttercream is what you’ll commonly see on many traditional cakes.  It is made primarily of butter, egg whites and sugar.  At Empire Cake we make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream which has a silky, delicious taste and will allow for a nice, smooth finish on your cake."

Yes, most cakes have buttercream frosting, but ... the buttercream at Empire Cake, uh, takes the cake for being the best I've ever had.  The quality of their sourcing, local butter and cream, is apparent, as is the commit to quality throughout, like using fresh seasonal produce from the Union Square Greenmarket. 

July 2018

My first encounter was in July 2018 when I walked through a microkitchen and found a bunch of cupcakes, many only halves or quarters remaining.  I remember trying a few kinds, including a shockingly good gluten-free one.  I liked them enough that I paid attention to the brand, so I was rather thrilled a few days later when the event I was attending had cake ... from Empire Cake!

All The Cakes: Vanilla, Carrot, Red Velvet, Chocolate, and Raspberry Lemon.

The event was large, and our hosts went all out, ordering 5 massive, supersized, cakes.

These cakes had a huge diameter, and were 3 very thick layers tall.  Slicing off "just a small piece" of any of them was impossible, comical even.

We ... didn't come remotely close to finishing them.  I took some extra back to hotel and had it as midnight snacks most nights.

Very Vanilla:
"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

Carrot:
"Spiced organic carrot cake with pecans, layered and covered with cream cheese frosting."

Red Velvet:
"Our moist red velvet cake filled and frosted with cream cheese frosting."

Raspberry Lemon:
"Vanilla crème fraîche cake layered with raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream and lemon curd filling, covered with raspberry buttercream."

Seriously so much cake!

I had them all, and didn't take notes at the time, but my favorite was the carrot, loaded up with goodies/nuts/raisins/pineapple/etc.  But I remember liking them all, and again, zomg, that buttercream.

October 2018

The next time I was visiting the office, my very first day, basically the same experience as in July.  Walking through a microkitchen and ...

Box for Cupcakes.

Yup, boxes of cupcakes!

And these ones *weren't* all cut up.  They did have only simple vanilla and chocolate left, but I was still pleased to find them.

Two days later?  Same thing.  Ones does not need to look hard for Empire Cake in this office.

Very Vanilla.

"Our moist vanilla crème fraîche cake frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

I started with a simple, classic "Very Vanilla".  It was a good cupcake.  Seriously, for a cupcake, this was great.  Sweet dense moist well made cake.  As good as a vanilla cake is going to be.  The creme fraiche clearly helps make it good.

On top?  Perfectly sweet fluffy buttercream.  And plenty of it.  That buttercream is really shockingly good.  But yes, sweet sweet sweet.

I really enjoyed this, enough so that I took a second cupcake (a different kind!), and I had literally just had other dessert before it ... thank you, random team, for having extra cupcakes!

Very Vanilla.

Two days later ... more cupcakes.  Another event.  More extra cupcakes.

I gladly snagged a vanilla, this time with blue icing and a different fondant topper, but still, the same cupcake essentially.

I again adored the frosting, and I think the blue color made me enjoy it even more.  I know that sound silly but ... I loved it!

Vanilla on Chocolate.

"Chocolate cake with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream."

Next I had the chocolate cake version, same incredible buttercream.

The chocolate cake was also good, it had an interesting flavor to it, a bit of a tang almost?  I think I preferred the vanilla though.

Vanilla on Chocolate.

Two days later, yup, more of the cupcakes.

This time, I preferred the chocolate to the vanilla.  But my preference is slight, as both versions are truly wonderful.

The blue buttercream was again just slightly more fun.

GF Vanilla on Chocolate.

"Our moist gluten-free chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting."

And finally, since there were plenty of these still left at the end of the day, I opted for the gluten-free one, remembering that the gluten-free cupcakes I tried before were actually quite good.

It too had the same great frosting, and looked almost like the regular chocolate, but was a darker brown.

It too was good, and honestly, I would have never guessed it was gluten-free.  Such good cupcakes.

Hazelnut Cake. (Oct 2018).

"Vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with hazelnut Swiss meringue buttercream and hazelnut praline, topped with a bittersweet chocolate glaze."

And then ... yes, that same visit, just a few days later ... a cake!  This was also very good.

Same moist tangy creme fraiche based cake, this time with the same style of incredible fluffy sweet buttercream, just, nutty hazelnut flavored.  Loved it.  The chocolate glaze complimented it well.

I first thought this was peanut butter and chocolate, but once I learned it was hazelnut it made more sense.

Very tasty cake, would gladly eat again.

July 2019

I can't make this up.  Seriously, every visit to the office, cupcakes.

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes.

These all had orange colored buttercream, but it was just plain vanilla, not flavored in any way.

I adored the buttercream as always, soooo generously applied, and sweet and buttery and tasty.

The vanilla cake was good, very sweet, moist enough, but not quite as magical as I had remembered.

The chocolate however?  OMG.  So very good.  Rich, dense, chocolately, and balanced nicely by the super sweet buttercream.  This place makes me like cupcakes!

Uh, congrats "Vector" team?  And thank you.

Classic Treats

"We are well known for our homemade, gourmet versions of classic American treats, which have been featured in such publications as The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Martha Stewart Weddings, and even presented by Whoopi Goldberg to Jimmy Fallon on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!"

It was hard to stray from the cupcakes and cakes, but when I actually visited the bakery myself, in person, to purchase some goodies, I decided to expand my horizons and try some "classic treats". These treats range from homemade Twinkies, to Swiss Rolls, to Snowballs. or, you know, their take on them. 

My Goodies.

Since I didn't plan to eat them right away, I wanted something that would hold up ok a few days, although, I knew from plenty of experience, that the cupcakes do hold up absolutely fine for a couple days in the fridge.

Still, I wanted to branch out.

I went for a couple items, really just impulse shopping at this point.

Snack Cakes (Homemade "Twinkies")

The item I've been eyeing on Instagram is the snack cakes, basically, their version of Twinkies: cakes filled with a cream filling and covered in a white or milk chocolate coating.  I was told these would hold up even better than cupcakes.

The snack cakes were available in a few flavors, including Brooklyn Blackout, Red Velvet, and a Pride special Funfetti version.

Red Velvet.

"Red velvet cake with cream cheese filling, dipped in Belgian white chocolate."

I couldn't remember if I liked the red velvet before, but I knew I really liked the carrot cake, and that had cream cheese frosting, so, I mostly selected the red velvet to try the cream cheese frosting again.  Also, I wanted a white chocolate shell rather than milk.

The white chocolate shell was fine, pretty standard white chocolate, thicker than I expected, sweet.

Red Velvet: Inside.

Inside, the cream stuffed cake.

I was hoping for more cream cheese filling inside.  I realize now this is still a totally reasonable filling amount, but, I adore the frosting from Empire Cake so much, and I appreciate their usual ratio of very generous frosting, so, this was far less filling compared to the usual frosting, which left me wishing I had a cupcake.

The cake seemed more dense as well, and I wasn't really into the red velvet flavor.

I ... wished I had gotten a cupcake.  The snack cake didn't seem to be the thing for me.

Funfetti.

"Confetti cake filled with cake batter frosting, dipped in white chocolate & drizzled with rainbow colors."

But I also opted for the fun Pride themed snack cake, Funfetti!  Of course, I got this before I tried any snack cake, and didn't realize I wasn't a fan of the form factor.

I wasn't drawn in by the rainbow colors exactly, but I do generally like a good funfetti cake, and also, I really wanted to try the cake batter frosting.

The shell on this was the same thick white chocolate, this time drizzled with rainbow colors.

Funfetti: Inside.

The filling amount was pretty much the same as the red velvet too - the amount appropriate for a Twinkie, but, not nearly as much as I wanted.  The blue color was fun, and I liked the colors in the funfetti cake.  Clearly, this was a fun item.

But ... it was much like the other snack cake.  The cake was fine, dense, fairly standard cake.  The frosting amount was too minimal to really taste.  I can't say I tasted birthday cake. 

The snack cakes are cute, but ... I'm a frosting girl, so these aren't what I'd go for again.

Cookies

"Our cookie selection changes daily, but some of our most popular are classic chocolate chip cookies with Callebaut chocolate, walnut thumbprints with apricot or raspberry jam, Russian tea cakes, oatmeal raisin cookies, molasses ginger snaps, rainbow sprinkle sugar cookies, cinnamon sugar snickerdoodles, and the “8th Avenue”—our almond-flour cookies with dried fruit and nuts."

I'm not a cookie person.  You know this.  I know this.

Cookies Galore.

It wasn't until I visited the shop that I learned that, along with cupcakes and cakes obviously, cookies are a big focus of Empire Cake's offerings.

I wasn't drawn in by most of them, but on the bottom shelf were cookie sandwiches, filled with buttercream.  Swoon, that buttercream.  I almost went for one of those, but the cookies themselves really didn't look special.

Plus, I had read many reviews of the black and white cookies.  People love them.  Available in several sizes, including mini.  How could I not at least try a mini?

Mini Black & White Cookie.

"Our Pride inspired white chocolate covered "Black and White" rainbow cookies are available all month!! Come taste the rainbow!!"

The black and white cookies are normally, well, black and white, but for Pride, in addition to the classic black and whites, they had several different rainbow color choices.  I went for purple, just because.

This is the mini size, a regular size, and larger size, are also available.

It was ... boring.  It was much like the snack cake, but, without frosting at all.  Just plain cake, and white chocolate coating.  Very uninteresting, even though the white chocolate was good quality.

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Curry Up Now

Update Review, October 2025

I last visited Curry Up Now, a chain of casual Indian street food focused restaurants, back in 2014.  I think they were relatively new at that point, and certainly hadn't expanded nationwide.  I didn't actually visit in person again this time, but rather, encountered their products at an event I attended that used them for catering.

Catering Kathi Rolls.

The event I attended had boxes of kathi rolls, in either chicken or paneer.  They were well labelled, and wrapped up in foil to stay warm.  Kathi rolls are probably Curry Up Now's most famous item, they certainly introduced the Bay Area to them.

Kathi Roll.

"Egg washed flaky paratha, onions, cilantro chutney, choice of protein."

The roll was relatively well wrapped.

The paratha was reasonably fresh tasting, kinda soft and a bit soggy though.  It didn't seem egg washed as described, but the flavor was good, and I appreciated that it wasn't too oily.

I ended up deconstructing it and pressing it on my panini press to make it crisp and that worked very well.  

Paneer Kathi Roll.

"Egg washed flaky paratha, onions, cilantro chutney, paneer."

I went for the paneer version. It was not very full - this is how it looked when I opened it.  It was all mixed up with the cilantro chutney, which was fairly mild, and not particularly complex.  I definitely wished I had other chutneys to add to it, particularly as it ate a bit dry.

Paneer Kathi Roll: Inside.

Inside was the expected paneer (kinda crumbled, more broken up than I had thought it would be), onions (red, kinda harsh, raw), and a pretty dominant amount of unexpected tomatoes and bell peppers, all with some mild spices.  Neither the peppers nor tomato were listed on the menu, and the ratio of them to other ingredients was pretty high, which was sad for me as I dislike bell peppers, and although I like fresh juicy ripe tomatoes in salads and sandwiches, I didn't actually want lukewarm ones here (although I appreciated the substantial soft element they added).

Overall, the roll came together reasonably well, and I suspect that getting it fresh would likely improve a couple of my key issues, namely, hopefully it would be less soggy and I could order it spicy (since this was event catering, I think they just did them all mild?).  Still, I'd prefer some different ingredients inside, bigger chunks of paneer, and more chutney.  I'll give it a 3/5 as everything was fine, just not my preferences.

Original Review, November 2014

Curry Up Now is a small chain of indian restaurants in the Bay Area, with a location in San Francisco, plus others in San Mateo, Palo Alto, and San Jose.  They also operate a food truck.  I've only visited the San Francisco restaurant, located in the Mission.

The menu is not standard indian cuisine.  Instead, the focus is on street food.  This includes a number of classic chaat, plus some more interesting Mexican influenced items, like ... burritos (perfect for the Mission right?)  The tortillas are filled with rice, garbanzo beans, onions, and indian filling of your choice, like chicken tikka malasa, lamb stew, or allo gobi.  Or go for a quesadillix, made with aloo paratha as the bread, stuffed with cheese and a filling of your choice, with pickles and yogurt.  They also have "unburgers", fried ravioli, and "deconstructed samosas" (a mound of garbanzo beans and chutneys, garnished with mini samosas).  Their most famous item is probably the kati rolls, a wrap made of pan fried flat bread similar to roti, pickled onions, chutneys, and your choice of filling (remember the crappy kati roll I had from the Kasa indian food truck?).  The menu is rounded out by "naughty naan", open faced naan sandwiches with tikka masala, cheese, greens, onions, and jalapeño.  Like I said, not exactly standard indian cuisine, no simple curries and rice here.

Service is casual, order at the register, take a number back to your table, and your order is brought to you when it is ready.

After I placed my order, I went to use the bathroom.  I don't normally review bathrooms unless there is something notable, and, here there was.  Once you enter the bathroom, a recording starts playing, educating you all about the benefits of hand washing.  I guess this is more effective than the signs that no one reads?  Still, I'm not sure why they cared ...

Silverware Buckets on Tables.

Each table had a bucket in the middle with silverware and napkins, self-service.  Unfortunately for me, my bucket contained only spoons and no napkins.  I had to go steal the utensils I needed from a neighboring table.

The seating is fairly diverse, a bunch of tables for 2 along the window, all with really unique padded chairs.  Picnic table larger tables make up the other side of the room, and a few tables are out on the sidewalk as well, for al fresco dining.

The main focus of the dining area is the open kitchen, complete with large oven, similar to a pizza oven.  I'm guessing this is where the naan is cooked?

Criss Cut Sweet Potato Fries, Maggi Ketchup.  $4.35.

Since most of the menu is sandwich based, and I just wanted a snack, I just got an appetizer: sweet potato fries!

My fries arrived very quickly, so it was clear that they weren't fried to order.  They were also only lukewarm when they arrived, and cooled down even further very fast.

The fries were ... good.  They were crispy, but not overcooked.  They weren't too oily or greasy.  But, they didn't have a strong sweet potato flavor, and they were woefully under-seasoned.  I am not actually sure they had *any* salt on them.  I also do like criss cut fries, like the ones from Phat Philly, but for sweet potato fries, I really want to taste the sweet potato, so I prefer a thicker form.

However, there was a star on the plate.  The ketchup!  Now, that was something special.  I'll be honest, I had no idea what Maggi Ketchup was, and wasn't ordering this for the ketchup.  I just wanted sweet potato fries.  I usually dip my sweet potato fries in some sort of honey mustard.  Or bbq perhaps.  (For regular fries, I'm all about aioli.  Or sweet chili and sour cream.  Rarely plain old ketchup there either).  I love my sauces.

It turns out that Maggi Ketchup is the number one ketchup in India.  I tried to find out what the ingredients were, besides standard ketchup ingredients, but the best I could find was "spice extract" or "mixed spices", along with onion and garlic.

Anyway, this stuff had some kick.  Like, serious kick.  But not too much kick, just enough to keep you both addicted, and in mild pain.  I couldn't stop going back for more.  If I were a beer drinker, I think these fries would have gone great with a beer.  Speaking of drinks, they are all served in cute mason jars.

$4 was a fine price for a basket of fries, which was large enough to be sharable with a meal, or perfect for a snack on their own.

Hot Chai.  $2.50.

Unlike most places, Curry Up Now does not sweeten the chai.  I was very surprised when I took a sip and it was just milky, bitter, black tea.  They did have sugar available to add in yourself near the water dispenser, but no other sweetener alternatives.

I appreciated being able to make it as sweet as I'd like, but, it really wasn't remarkable chai, on par with what many Indian places give you complimentary.

Ginger Mint Lemonade.  $3.

I also tried a cold beverage, which I was hoping to be refreshing on a hot day.  I'm not sure if it was fresh squeezed or not.  I didn't like it, the ginger was way too strong, and the lemonade too sweet.  Perhaps it would be nice with spicy curry?

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Snak Club x Hot Ones

Snak Club is a pretty commonly found generic packaged snack and candy distributor.  I see their products regularly in convenience stores or airports, nationwide.  They distribute a lot of snack mixes, nuts, candies, etc, and frequently do random collabs with other brands, like Hidden Valley Ranch or Tajin.

"We believe snacking should be the best part of your day—full of flavor, excitement, and a little bit of extra crunch. If we’re bringing you the same, old, boring thing, then we’re not doing our jobs right. Our snacks are powerhouses of authentic seasonings, exciting flavors, and hearty ingredients that will energize your mind, body, and soul. Each bite bursts with deliciousness, making each Snak Club moment truly satisfying."

As an avid snacker myself, I quite like their philosophy.  Their reach seems pretty wide, and they've been around since 1984.  I've definitely picked up their products before (sour gummy worms in particular come to mind), but I didn't ever really think I'd review them, so didn't take photos or notes until I stumbled upon one of their collabs.

"Snak Club is spicing things up with Hot Ones, the hit YouTube series where host Sean Evans interviews celebrity guests as they take on increasingly spicy chicken wings while answering even hotter questions."

Now, do I watch Hot Ones? Nope. In fact, I didn't know it existed until now.  I was just drawn in because it was a fun looking snack mix.  And I do love the adventure of devouring snack mixes.

Smoky Sweet Snack Mix.

"An enticing blend that tantalizes the palate with medium heat, featuring the smoky essence of chilies, sweet fruit, and tart tomatillo. This smoky and spicy fusion promises an irresistibly intense flavor, capturing the essence of the popular celebrity interview show. These vegan snacks draw inspiration from the flavorful Los Calientes Verde Hot Sauce, spicing up the medium-heat mix of peanuts, pretzels, sesame sticks, toasted corn, cashews, and spicy seasoning."

Here you can see a pretty standard handful of the mix.  You may notice that there are no cashews here, even though the description mentions them.  That is because, um, I didn't realize it had cashews until my second day eating the mix, when I was already more than halfway through the bag (side note: um, do not pass any judgement about the fact that if I was at <50% remaining my second time having this, and they say the bag is 9 servings, that means I had ~5 servings as my first serving ... gulp.  Snack mixes like this are my nemesis!). There *were* a few cashews (halves) but they were hard to come by.  The other ingredients were in reasonably equal distribution (although peanuts definitely outnumbered the corn nuts).

Anyway, as you may have guessed given the fact that this most definitely did not last me anywhere near the specified 9 servings, I quite enjoyed it.  Every element was good.

The peanuts came in both full size pieces and halves, and were well salted and seasoned.  Fairly standard, but they carried the mix well.  The aforementioned cashews were much the same, although, far, far, far fewer.  Both were fresh, not too soft, just, good standard nuts. 3.5/5 for these elements.

The sesame sticks were the ones I honed right in on, as I always like a sweet element to my mixes, as these are often the sweetest.  These were not as sweet/candied as some other versions, but still had some light sweet glaze on them.  They had decent sesame flavor, good crunch, and they too were well seasoned.  Another 3.5/5.

Next, the pretzels.  The component I was least excited by, but turned out to be pretty good.  I'm super fickle when it comes to pretzels (not the shape, but the actual pretzels, I sometimes love them, sometimes hate them, and I can never really pinpoint what makes me like or dislike a certain pretzel).  Anyway, these were good, again fresh, crisp, well seasoned.  They really let the seasoning cling to them, so were the most flavorful pieces. Standard little twists shape.  They gave the mix some body and a carby element. Another 3.5/5.

And finally, the "toasted corn" which was like ... corn nuts, but somehow both crispier and airier, if that makes any sense.  These were wonderful, although hard to know if you were getting a peanut or corn piece, unless you looked very closely, as they were about the same size and both well coated in seasoning.  I absolutely loved the crunch they added. 4.5/5, probably the best corn nuts I've ever had (although clearly differently made compared to normal ones). 

So all the components, good on their own, distribution of components fairly good, and then there is the all important seasoning.  It was a fairly fascinating flavor.  I wasn't sure what chilies, sweet fruit, and tomatillo would really taste like, nor am I familiar with Los Calientes verde hot sauce, but this was, well complex.  It was savory and sweet and spicy, yep.  The ingredients tell me there was salt and sugar of course, but also apple cider vinegar, jalapeno, onion, parsley, and cumin.  The salt/sugar/acv/jalapeno/onion I definitely tasted, and made sense, but the parsley and cumin were total wildcards in there that I would not have guessed.  You may also notice that I didn't list any fruit, despite their description of having "sweet fruit", nor did I list tomatillo, again, despite being in the description.  I didn't taste them really either, although there was the sweetness (yay, sugar!) and there was something sorta verde tasting.  It was mildly spicy, and the heat did build reasonably well (uh, once you downed half the bag in one sitting).  I found it fairly compelling as it went well with all the mix-ins.  

Overall, I'm not sure I'd buy this exact flavor again, but I really enjoyed it (and all the other bags I had of it, as I got it in bulk by the case), and it was a bit different from your standard pub mix.  Strong 4/5, perhaps higher, as it just came together very well, and I liked every bite I had.

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My Most Favorite Food, NYC

My Most Favorite Food.

Well, that is a business with a lofty name.  In New York no less.  It was previously called "My Most Favorite Dessert", but expanded the name to encompass apparently all food at some point.  And at some point, it actually was a restaurant serving food (and a bakery, and a catering company).  But it shuttered post-covid, and now remains only as a caterer / online ordering venue.  Their products are all kosher.

"Our bakery will continue to feature specialty cakes for any occasion, as well as the cakes, cookies, sugar cookies, brownies, pies, tarts, breads, challahs, gluten-free and vegan options that have graced your table for years. You can call us, email us, or order online to have your favorite baked goods delivered right to your door. "

I didn't seek out this business, but when groups at my office in NY hold small events, they often order a few items from My Most Favorite Food in addition to their regular offerings, so that there kosher guests can be included.  Inevitably, they have extra of those items in particular, so of course I was happy to try leftover desserts, even though I don't keep kosher.

Pecan Diamonds.
$27/12.

The first item I tried was a fairly average looking pecan bar, er, "pecan diamond".

This was actually very good. Pecan pie in bar form.  Sticky, gooey, sweet, exactly what I want in a pecan pie.  Lots of nuts on top, cut up but not too chopped.  Buttery shortbread base.  Nothing I'd change really.  4/5.

Assorted Cake Pops.
$30/12.

A few days later, someone else had goodies from this place, so I snagged a cake pop.  It turned out to be chocolate inside as well as outside.  

It was a highly forgettable.  The shell was just average quality milk chocolate, the filling sorta standard dense cake pop.  Nothing special about it.  3/5.

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Eureka Popcorn

I love snacks.  I'm addicted to popcorn.  Since discovering it a few years back, I'm extremely into Singaporean and other Southeast Asian flavors.  So you can imagine how elated I was when I stumbled into a trio of products from Eureka Popcorn that a co-worker brought in to share after returning from Singapore.

"We’re a bunch of popcorn lovers on a mission to spread our snack! It all started with an idea to create the best snack around, (our “myEureka moment”) and from there, we’ve redefined what it means to have a great “Snack Time.”"

Eureka's entire product range is pretty compelling to me, mostly popcorn, with spicy heavy hitters like nasi lemak, mala, kimchi, tom yum,and wasabi, to more muted but still interesting savory flavors such as seaweed, salted egg, or lobster cheese, and of course sweet offerings like matcha, durian (!), cocoa malt, and cereal butter.  They also make mini popiah rolls in different flavors.

I would absolutely *love* to try the durian and salted egg flavors, but was still happy to try the three on offer: chilli crab, spicy cuttlefish, and tomato.  All had perfectly popped large kernels, and all were very well coated in flavoring.  Each and every piece of every variety was a flavor powerhouse.  You couldn't actually eat it too fast, as the flavors were that intense.  But I adored them all, and would love to get my hands on more.

Chilli Crab / Spicy Cuttlefish / Tomato.

Tomato:

"I’m sweet and sour and full of power. What power? I’ll have you craving more!"

I liked this, although I didn't find it sour as described. It mostly tasted to me like a bloody mary. Not a flavor I'd normally go for, but I liked it.  I did really need to be in the mood for strong tomato flavor though.  I probably wouldn't get again, but wouldn't say no if it was gifted to me.  Low 4/5.

Spicy Cuttlefish.

"Come savour the taste of the ocean and burning hot chilli that'll keep you on your toes! Spicy cuttlefish popcorn -- myeureka snack."

Next up, spicy cuttlefish.

Wow.  The flavor was very distinctly identifiable as cuttlefish.  I'm not sure I've had anything quite as clearly cuttlefish flavored before.  If you don't want a fishy flavor, definitely look elsewhere.  But I quite enjoyed it, when in the mood for such a thing.  My favorite of the flavors.  I'd gladly get again.  4.5/5.

Chilli Crab.

Chilli Crab:

"Think of a seafood delicacy, and you'll surely think of chilli crab – created after one of Singapore's national dish, I'm here to satisfy with each mouthful."

Finally perhaps their signature flavor, chilli crab.  In addition to the popcorn, this one also had crispy crab flavored filament sticks, which you see above.  The sticks were nicely crispy, and had a mild fishy flavor.

The popcorn itself I didn't think tasted much like crab.  But it was a bit sweet, and a bit tangy, sorta like bbq that lacked the mesquite or something. Very flavorful even if it doesn't sound it.  I did really like it.  My second favorite of the flavors, and it was fun to have the sticks in there too.  I'd get this again too.  High 4/5.

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