Minnie’s Bake Shop: Scrumptious Bite-Sized Cakes at Grub Street

Minnie’s Bake Shop at the 2014 Grub Street Food Festival

2014 Vendor Lineup at the Grub Street Food Festival

The Grub Street Food Festival filled my Sunday with delicious treats created by talented, visionary food innovators. It is one of my favorite events of the year, not only for the amazing food, but also for watching peoples’ faces as they ate the sweet and savory creations from 75+ local food vendors.

James and I began our first scouting pass around the festival, thinking we’d map out our strategy and then come back around to start the feasting. Of course, that never works. We’ll spot something that looks intriguing, tell ourselves we’re just having a look and then go ahead and start eating.

For obvious reasons, the very first thing that caught my eye was a teensy rainbow layer cake from Minnie’s Bake Shop. By teensy, I mean that these cakes are one square inch and frosted together in two layers.

“They’re actual cakes, each individually baked,” Minnie’s co-founder Cathy Cook told me. “They’re not cupcakes.” (I had called them cupcakes when I first walked up to Cathy’s irresistible pastry covered table.)

Minnie’s Caramel “Wyatt” Cakes

And so our feasting started with dessert, which was fine with me.

We had two of the tiny cakes, starting with vanilla cake and vanilla bean icing, and covered with irresistible rainbow sprinkles. I think it was the Gayle, and Cathy told me she had some rainbow sprinkles leftover from a custom order. So these ones were special for Grub Street goers and passing unicorns. Then we had a Wyatt, burnt sugar caramel cake with salted caramel buttercream frosting and topped with caramel drizzle.

I carefully lifted off the top layer of the Gayle and savored the little gems of frosting. James, meanwhile bit right through both layers of the Wyatt. “Oh,” he said. “I guess I could have just eaten a layer.” But no matter – we still shared. Either way you devour a Minnie, it is going to be scrumptious.

Minnies are the perfect size too – just big enough to fill your mouth with rich flavor and buttery sweetness, and just small enough to be irresistibly cute and guilt free.

Minnie’s Bake Shop is part of HBK Incubates. Partners Cathy and Susanna have been selling their mini cakes, and also their yummy Minnie Sticks, in the Hester Street Fair. And they offer custom orders and delivery.

Definitely add Minnie’s cakes to your holiday gift idea list for family, friends, clients. And for me. Just putting it out there.

~Karen Seiger, Markets of New York City