Banana Cupcake w/ Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Frosting - Butter Lane Cupcakes (New York, NY)

Butter Lane Cupcakes
123 East Seventh Street
New York, New York 10009
Website

2.25.12

 

The inside of the cute little cupcakery

First of all, I have to say that I am VERY picky about banana-flavored things. I only like some banana breads, for instance. They are usually better with nuts. Anyway, this banana cupcake was delicious and not too banana-y or fake tasting at all (I do love real bananas!). And that frosting!! Not overwhelmingly chocolate-y or caramel-y or salty. The sea salt perfectly balanced the sweetness of the frosting. The cake was soft, fluffy, and tasty. According to this blogger, Butter Lane uses real butter and real banana in the base of this cupcake. Plus the guy working there (pictured below) was helpful and friendly. Bonus points! I'd definitely go there again. Thank you, Ted Allen of the Food Network, for recommending their banana cupcake. He talked about it on The Best Thing I Ever Ate on their episode on "The Classics."

Puttin' the caramel on top!

Mia, Melissa, and I split it three ways! We were trying to save money, but we seriously could have each had three. SO GOOD.

Cute! On their window

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I finally found a soft/chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe that I like! I've tried a few times alone and with others to make cookies that STAY SOFT the next day, and these are it! At first I was worried because Catherine and I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (not everyone likes darker chocolate), but they were SO good, and a lot of people liked them! They're soft and small. Pretty excited to try more soft/chewy cookie recipes.

Just out of the oven:

 

Soft/Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

(from Apple a Day, who adapted it slightly from Anna Olson of Food Network Canada)

Makes ~3 dozen

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 c. brown sugar 

1/4 c. granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 c. all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
(2) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (we just used a hand mixer), cream together butter & sugars until fluffy & light in color. Add egg & vanilla & blend in.
(3) Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda & salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.
(4) Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or tablespoon (we used tablespoons and regular spoons), drop dough onto a baking sheet (we didn't spray them or anything)
(5) Bake for 8-10 minutes until barely golden brown around the edges (tops will not brown but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes)
(6) Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes
(7) Remove from baking sheet & let cool completely

By George! Pizza, Pasta, and Cheesesteaks

By George!
Inside the Reading Terminal Market
12th & Arch Streets
Website

Reading (pronounced "Redding")Terminal Market is an indoor marketplace with a bunch of different stores selling things like pizza, fresh smoothies, sushi, bakery treats, etc. Mia, Melissa, and I tried this cheesesteak in hopes of finally finding a really good one.

Cheese = Mix of cheddar and gouda (yum!)

I liked the cheese, but I could easily see people disliking its grainy-ness/chunkiness. This sandwich wasn't amazingly fantastic, but it was delicious, fresh, and hot, and way better than the cheesesteaks at Pat's and Geno's. I do have to say that I wish the bread had been less dry and tough. I like bread that's a bit crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. I do love sesame seeds though. Someone on Yelp said the bread was "tough" too, so it wasn't just me. I keep hearing and reading about how great Tony Luke's is, but we never went there due to our limited time. After all, we were there for a conference--not to just goof off, although we did goof off outside of Philly and a teeny bit in Philly.

Loong!

Pat's vs. Geno's - Philadelphia, PA

Pat's King of Steaks (since 1930)
1237 E. Passyunk Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website

Geno's Steaks (since 1966)
1219 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website
Celebrities who have eaten there

Here is Pat's. Nothing fancy. Seems like a cool, relaxing hang-out.

 

Here's the Pat's "pepper cheesesteak" with a side of onions, which looked and tasted not so great.

Notice anything about the cheese? It's a little bit cold and not melty AT ALL. So sad. The meat was good but not amazing. I didn't like the sour peppers, but some of my friends did. The bread was good.

Bleh. Did not even eat this after I tried it.

Provolone is still not melted.

 Now...on to Geno's:

Very different than Pat's on the outside. Very Vegas-like and fancy.

The bread was good

Cheese was slightly melted, but there wasn't a lot of it, and the meat was soooo dry and flavorless!

Slightly better onions than those soggy ones from Pat's, but Pat's had a better overall sandwich.

Overall notes:
* Neither Pat's nor Geno's has terrific cheesesteak sandwiches. I would not go back to either. I've heard from other people who have tried both places and people who are now living in Philly that neither is that good and that other less popular places are good like Bui's on Spruce & 38th, Tony Luke's at 39 E. Oregon Avenue. I did not try those places, but I am blogging about others soon.
* Pat's had a better cheesesteak overall. I had hear other people say this as well.
* Geno's had terribly dry and flavorless meat
* The cheese options at both places and in other places in Philly are whiz, provolone, and American
* The service was fast at both places, which might explain why the quality and flavor are not so great.
* Both places are open 24 hrs a day!
* Both had good bread - Soft, easy to eat, not soggy or hard
* I tried these places with three other girls who had very similar opinions
* It was fun comparing the places since they are right across the street from each other, but the so-called rivalry between the two is way over-hyped.