Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
We start all of our New York Craft Cocktail Tours with a cocktail. Except we’re not in a bar. We’re actually standing in the middle of Tompkins Square Park. I’m sure we’re not the only ones consuming alcohol in the middle of the park, but technically it is not legal to do so.
The law has never stopped anybody, of course. It’s just made people get more creative about hiding their booze. It was the case during Prohibition and it’s the case today in many urban parks around the country. Except nobody is hiding their booze as deliciously and creatively as we are.
That’s because our first cocktail is hidden inside delectable little cupcakes. Prohibition Bakery is the brainchild of two friends – one is a baker, one is a bartender. And they now have a little Clinton Street storefront where they turn out seasonal cupcakes all modeled after classic cocktails.
Every cupcake I’ve tasted has been ingenious. My favorite is their premium Scotch & Cigar (which is comprised of molasses and tobacco cake with a Laphroaig scotch frosting). More approachable (and always a hit on our tours) are the Dark & Stormy (with a ginger-rum filling, rum cake, and lime garnish), the Old Fashioned (whiskey, bitters, orange, and a whiskey-soaked cherry), and the Prohibition-era Bee’s Knees (gin, lemon, honey, orange, and bee pollen).
The best part about these cupcakes is that you can actually taste the booze. Unlike most liquor-infused desserts, the alcohol is added to the cake and the frosting after its baked, so the booze is not cooked out. That’s why you must show ID before you buy these seriously potent cupcakes.
And the presence of booze certainly makes it both more fun (and more difficult) because it’s impossible to eat just one.
| PROHIBITION BAKERY |
| 9 Clinton Street (between East Houston Street and Stanton Street), Lower East Side (646) 596-8294 |
| prohibitionbakery.com |
