Cupcake Market, a quaint little bakery in the east village, gained instagram fame when they put face cookies on the menu and consequently, on the NYC food map. They started out with cookies related to the election, depicting Bernie, Hillary, and Trump with their classic facial expressions.
On their first day, they sold out of these cookies in just an hour. They had created a new food trend.
The cookie process is complicated
Alicia, the awesome woman behind the counter, explained to me how baking these incredible creations is actually very labor-intensive. They first make the stiff icing moulds shown in the picture above, each color painted in separately by hand.
Because they work with royal icing, which is hard and used specifically for decorating, the faces take 30 minutes to dry. The baker then pastes the icing face onto a delicate sugar cookie. Sarah Silverman, (not the comedian) the co-owner and pastry chef of Cupcake Market, shows Thrillist this process as she creates an Adele portrait cookie.
Silverman claims that her customers frequently called the Trump cookie, "the cookie monster", and that they were desperate to take a bite out of a billionaire. She hoped that this would encourage customers to get out there and vote on November 8th
Face cookies for everyone!
Of course, they didn't just restrict their cookies to the candidates. They made enough face cookies to create the Cookie Wall of Fame in their bakery. Along with Kanye, Taylor, and Kim above, they also make Obama and Michelle, the characters from Hocus Pocus, Kylie Jenner, Joe Biden, Drake, Larry David, Buddy the Elf, Bill Murray, and even Beyonce!
Of course, you're not going to find all of these faces on a given day at Cupcake Market, but that's why you've gotta keep up with their instagram to find out which faces you'll have the honor of biting into!
They also make custom cookies for weddings - what's more romantic than biting into your loved one's face?But that's not all they make
As evidenced by the name of the bakery itself, this place makes a lot more than just cookies. They have a beautiful selection of cakes with frosting flowers that look too real to be made of sugar. Some of their rich cupcake flavors include banana with peanut butter frosting, vanilla with cookies and cream frosting, pumpkin with maple cream cheese frosting, and more.
Wait, there's more!
On top of the cupcake display case, they have a vast selection of other treats - pies, banana pudding, and these humongous cinnamon rolls.
Alicia claims it's the best part about working at Cupcake Market. "It's rare to work in a place where everything is equally amazing," she explains. "Every new item is as good as the one that came before it but in a completely different way."
If you're looking for a delicious treat, or just something expressive and hilarious, swing by Cupcake Market!