How Sweet It Is

Fantastic!
The store is closed, but you can buy their cupcakes from some Dean and Deluca stores. The one across the street from Port Authority sells them.
The cupcake is fantastic.
Moist! I HATE dry cupcakes more than anything.
Nice flavor! Try the Mexican chocolate.
Stuffed! The cupcake had a filling… love it!
Bright cupcake liners! Love the colorful, playful colors.
But alas, the frosting was too sweet. And the price WAY too high. $ 6 for a small cupcake? Really? Yes, I am the fool that paid for it, I know. I heard good things about their cupcakes and wanted to try it. I enjoyed it, but I won’t be buying any more. it is just too expensive.

Although their retail location may be closed, Dean & Deluca now carries their cupcakes — which are definitely some of the more aesthetically pleasing cupcakes I’ve ever seen. With gourmet flavors like Nutella and Mexican Hot Chocolate among standards like Red Velvet and Carrot Cake, its difficult not to be tempted to try one of these individual cakes.
So I got two! Brought the Nutella and Carrot Cake home, placed them each on a small plate with a tiny fork (for whatever reason, it seemed appropriate), and me and the bf got down to the business of cupcake consumption. First thing I noticed as I delicately peeled off the paper liner was, «Hmm, this appears to be a rather dense, possibly dry cupcake.» Indeed, it kind of was. Maybe they’re best served immediately after baking, or maybe that’s just the way they are, but the cake was not the moist, light version that I prefer. Then came the frosting. Perhaps it was just me, but the consistency was borderline… rubbery? That’s the closest I can get to describing it, it wasn’t the fluffy, creamy kind that most bakeries seem to use. However, I do enjoy the stuffed aspect — more icing is always a good thing — and the flavors themselves were spot-​on, especially for the Nutella cupcake (and who doesn’t love Nutellla?!). Assuming that the ones I got were perhaps slightly old, these cupcakes will definitely impress anyone, both in appearance and taste. But if they actually are that dry and dense… well, as my mom told me, beauty should never be only skin deep.

This place was good… while it was open.
For anyone who’s doing cake research, How Sweet It Is closed its retail shop a while back. Their pastry studio is still open though a few doors down.

HUGE FAN!
I seriously adore this place.
First, the décor is beautiful. Black and White with pops of fuschia complemented by the cutout wood. There is also window seating which really can accommodate 2 comfortably and squish 3 to enjoy the delicious goodies here.
Second, the treats! My all time favorite is the earl grey chocolate muffin. You have the sweetness of the chocolate with the clean taste of the tea. The croissants are also delicious, especially the ham and cheese. I’ve also had their chocolate caramel sea salt tart which is amazing. The fusion of saltiness and sweetness work together beautifully. The cupcakes are also delicious and I know that other Unilocalers have mentioned that they don’t always have the best stuff in stock, but I kind of like the idea of the homemade exclusivity of not being able to access everything at any given moment.
Third, service is amazing. I will have to say that I am kind of a b*tch when it comes to service. If the service is good I will holler at the manager and let them know what stellar service we received that topped off our dining experience. On the flip side, if service sucks, the waiter will surely feel the wrath of my words because I am brutally honest. Sorry, back to How Sweet It Is… Everyone who works here is super friendly. One saturday morning I came in to grab some coffee & a treat for myself before a solitary excursion at the museum. They were out of a fresh batch of coffee and I was told that I need to wait for 10 minutes. I was ready to head out so I declined to wait, but the girl offered me half a cup for free. How nice!
Come visit and get your sugar fix on!

This place is great for a sweet fix. I went in to get coffee, which was really good, and ended up getting tres leches, which I highly recommend. I actually went off the recommendation from the worker and I was not disappointed. It was tasty and sweet, but not too sweet and went well with the coffee. They also have gelato cookies (cookies filled with gelato) that I want to go back and try. There is only a bench there, so plan on getting it to go. They have a lot of items to choose from like cookies, brownies, cakes, etc. This is a really good find on Allen street and there aren’t too many places like this in the LES.

3 words… red…velvet…cupcake.
Amazing. Delicious. I crave it.

Laura G. and I came here in search of all things elusively pumpkin, and after hearing from Daily Candy that How Sweet It Is had pumpkin cupcakes, we went in desperate search of it’s cute little shop.
Apparently HSII does wholesale cakes and the like, but opened up this retail shop to sell VERY limited quantities of all sorts of delectables. They had a smattering of filled cupcakes, huge macaroons, all manner of cookies (including gelato filled cookie sandwiches), tres leches, puddings and parfaits, mini carrot cakes and like.
The girl behind the counter was delightfully engaging, chatting us up while we sat on on the window seat and munched through the devil’s food cake (filled with chocolate mousse) and when the pumpkin cupcakes, which were gone by the time we got there, were replenished while we were still working through the devil’s food cupcake, we couldn’t help but get the pumpkin one as well.
Both cakes were delicious and flavorful. The girl, Sarah, behind the counter said that the devil’s food cake was moist and delicious, but I feel like it could have been better. The spice cupcake with pumpkin cream cheese frosting (how can that sound bad at all?) was really moist and they made it with Guiness Beer, which was unique and the ultimate result was this dark, complex, spicy flavor.
They are a bit on the pricey side, but since we mentioned Daily Candy, we got a 25% discount. Maybe you can try it too!

This is a quaint (and tiny!) bakery… they have unique items like mexican chocolate cupcakes, among many other items. I like their unique twist on things. However, the portion sizes are pretty small, and it’s not necessarily cheap. One thing I like though, are their ice cream sandwiches, which you have to ask for. They have unique flavors like thai iced tea, with oatmeal… it was pretty good! (but $ 3 for a mini). Not bad to try though!
Generally, the service is good.

pretty and cute cupcakes and other delights. but you know what they say… if it looks too pretty to eat. it probably is.
my friend had the nutella filled cupcake which she said was ‘just ok’
i had a mini peanut butter cup — which was just like a mini reeses pb cup with this golden coating on top. pretty… but nothing special.
i also had a mini red velvet cupcake — which was too buttery for my taste.
maybe i’m just over baked goods — but yeah. beautiful stuff… but really not that tasty.

coffee is super. people behind the counter are terrific too. it is the real thing too, a partnership struggling to create something classy, with their bakery a block away and dedicated professionally trained bakers — really got to give them credit!
i go there and try different things, always seeking to be impressed. the first times i was delighted. but i’m in there less and less — i still return occassionally, hopeful and even confident that in the hit-​or-​miss nature of things i’ll have something super. but hit-​or-​miss is hit-​or-​miss. i think that’s why they call it that.
i recall really liking the multi colored italian layer cake, i was impressed, i never had one so tasty! anyway, i think part of their problem is the refrigeration, because if the frosting is too chilled the cupcake just doesn’t taste fresh, so i can’t rate take-​home items, only items eaten in the store. if the buttercream tastes like a refrigerated pat of butter i’d just as soon scrape it off. one of my peak experiences though was one of their cupcakes long ago, fresh, frosted, filled. mm. i’m confident this sweet bakery will work out some kinks. they’ve got what it takes.

The cupcake competitions are so…2006. But on my way to a neighborhood watering hole and needing a sugar fix, I walked in and the first thing and ordered just about the first thing I spotted… a German Chocolate cupcake. A fellow Unilocaler once made a poignant comment how it’s better to experiment with more complex desserts rather than a simple cupcake. Oddly enough, it still resonates with me and I feel a little guilty even reviewing a cupcake. This one was good though, really good. Confession: I went back a second time.

Had a taste of a couple of ice cream sandwiches (coconut macaroon and pistachio and snickerdoodle with thai ice tea) and they were good but not amazing. This could have been because I just finished eating at Clinton St Baking Co and was completely stuffed, but that should have been offset by the walk in 97 degree weather over to this place. Either way, I left relatively unimpressed but thoroughly satisfied.
The shop itself is really pretty cool (but not literally… this may be the only shop in all of Manhattan that wasn’t blasting their AC today). The ceiling and walls are custom made and movie set style so it can all be dismantled and moved if need be. They were designed after the pillows. The shop is tiny — I’d be surprised if you could fit a 8 people comfortably in there. The lady behind the counter was extremely nice.
As a sidenote: The regular sized ice cream sandwiches should be enough to share.

Cute place but there wasn’t anything there that I tasted left me wanting for more.
The gelato sandwich sounded enticing but instead the texture of the cookie and the softness of the gelato left me feeling disappointed. The cookie was hard as a rock! I had ice cream sandwiches before and the cookies were never so hard where it could chip my teeth.
I tried T’s red velvet cake — whoa, hold the buttercream will you? It was awfully sweet! I make better red velvet cake than here!
I bought C a coffee cake, she said it was good and moist. I am not sure if she was just saying that because she didn’t want to be rude.
Okay I finally got to try the Tres Leche and it’s worth going back there for this dessert!
I am obsessed with a good Tres Leche!

Mini Berliner– A.) small resident of German city, B.) new VW model, or C.) puffy, sugar-​studded lemon zest pastry filled with raspberry jam?
If you guessed «C», you’re correct! Saw these little wonders staring at me as I waited for my cappuccino and had to get one. They are worth every one of the 75 cents you’ll pay to get your paws on one! Delicious!
The coffee was also good, the girl who made it was very friendly and explained about their coffee distributor, who makes custom blends of beans for How Sweet It Is. Next time, I’m going to try the house coffee – she said it changed her mind about drinking coffee (now she drinks it).
The only reason I can’t give five stars is the prices are on the high side, so it’s not a deal-​buster find. A word to the wise – don’t come here hungry! The lavish display of sweets, chocolates and tarts will drain your bank account in a jiffy!

Omg… new favorite bakery! I had a snickerdoodle, a homemade mini peanut butter cup, and a mint brownie (I know). Everything was delicious and fresh. I really want to try the chocolate caramel sea salt tart.

I needed the shelter of a tasty cookie, and there you were
I need a cupcake to fill my belly and there you were
With sweet cream and banana
Caramelized cake and cream cheese
I want to stop and thank you baby
I just want to stop and thank you baby
How sweet it is to be loved by Claw (x2)
I close my eyes at night
Wondering where I would be without sweet cake in my life
Everything I eat can be a bore
Every other bakery I went to was such a snore
But you brighten up for me all my days
With treats so sweet in different ways
I want to stop and thank you baby
I just want to stop and thank you baby
Finally, I like a cupcake in this City. I’m not one of those cup cake freaks, but I do enjoy a good treat. The red velvet cupcake was sinful, nice and small, moist, flavorful and they used the correct icing! The oatmeal cookie was divine, I wouldn’t have minded if it was a bit crispier, I like cookies a little burnt.
My favorite of my selection was the banana upside down cake… holy crap that shit was like crack it was so good. Really moist cake, not too sweet, caramelized bananas on top, I think it had a stick of butter in it, which is probably why I liked it so much.
Now for the negativos, customer service is totes lacking. I came in with a smile, and they could’ve cared less and the place was empty so I didn’t get that. And, it’s pretty pricey for what you get, as the portions are small but the price is high.
How sweet it is indeed.

This is how far I went to eat a cupcake: The A train from Morningside Heights (see review for Max’s Soho), switched to V train to get to the Lower East Side. One side of the island to the other (long ways).
The original goal was the Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery, but by the time we got down there it was 5 till 11pm (closing). So instead, we headed to a bar to meet a college friend who lived in the area. If not cupcake, a drink right? Makes sense to me; I need one anyways.
Along the way, we met «How Sweet It is».
The décor is really well done — a sort of understated elegance. Clean, but elaborate at the same time. How Sweet It is had this carved flower work set into the ceiling that really impressed me. But we’re here for cupcakes right?
Filled cupcakes seems to be the specialty here. I ordered a devil’s food cupcake with mexican hot chocolate frosting filled and on top. It was also dusted with gold. Nice right? They also had a red velvet cupcake with vanilla bean frosting filled and on top and a similar one but with carrot cake. Plus a lot of others I don’t remember. Cookies, pastries, cakes, tarts.
Ah the frosting — how sweet it is. So good. The only drawback: the actual bread part of the cupcake was a little stale. Granted it was closing time and the cupcake had probably been sitting out a good part of the day. I’ll have to come back at a decent hour and have another tasting. Purely for evaluation purposes you understand.
The girl behind the counter was cool in a quirky sort of way. It was closing time, but she let us browse, take our time choosing and ordering, and let us eat our cupcakes in the shop (it was raining pretty hard outside).
I’ll be coming back later to try a fresh, hopefully moist cupcake.
review 3÷9÷08
I.M.Y.

«Throwing pearls before the swine» was the recurring thought in my mind as I saw the server slowly pour the cappuccino from the ceramic cup into a disposable one, after the customer changed his order from «stay» to «go». I stepped back, aghast, as this was the most elaborate cappuccino art that I had EVER seen in a New York bakery and it was all going waste. When I later asked the server, Tan, about her skills she confirmed my suspicion of having been trained by one of the baristas at Ninth Street Espresso.
«how sweet it is» is a recently opened retail outlet on the LES, even though the co-​owners Ellen and Beth, have had a custom pastry and cake studio for a while. On display is an extensive array of sweets, enough to boggle the mind of a customer casually walking into the store. But, that is exactly why you’re reading this review, right? To avoid the minefields of empty and soulless calories that litter the bakeries of New York!
On a related note, there is no accounting for good taste, a point reinforced to me by two patrons trying to outdo each other in proving who the bigger snob was! In an enactment of Beavis and Butthead, one of them snickered: «You know, I don’t like cupcakes or chocolate chip cookies». Not to be left behind, the other one boasted: «You know, I just don’t like chocolate». It appears that many people confuse being a tool, with being cool!
I would think the shop would do better with a narrower product range. They have plenty of forgettable offerings: Macarons, Opera Cake, Baklava Purses, Italian Trio Cake, Honey Caramel Panna Cotta, Brownies, etc. At the same time, they also have some intriguing options: Lemony Cheesepuffs, Goat Cheesecake with candied Kumquats on a Kataifi nest (interesting variation to the expected Graham cracker crust), Guiness Spiced Cake, Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Biscotti… to name just a few.
Ellen (who deserves special mention for soliciting honest feedback) and I had a long debate over their cupcakes — Red Velvet, Carrot, Key lime, Devil’s Food, etc. — given the fact that they are all «filled», and thus refrigerated. My point was that people want to wolf down a cupcake right where and when they see it, as opposed to taking it home and waiting for an hour or more for it to thaw. I suspect that the fillings in the cupcakes stem from a desire to distinguish themselves from the nearby Sugar Sweet Sunshine. If patience is your forte, do take the cupcakes home. They are quite good.
To me, their star act is the Chocolate Caramel tart with sea salt. After the earlier hit or miss experiences, it is totally disorienting for the taste buds — as if someone had switched the music from a moody conversation between guitar and sax to one that allows for a sensuous Latin Tango. Every bite of the tart is an indulgence where the extravagance of the generous caramel is countered by the restraint of the melting salt crystals.
One must highlight the somewhat inconvenient location. When I first visited, one of the servers had remarked that she had noticed the sense of purpose I appeared to have while crossing the street. It was late in the evening and she had made the assumption that I was making a stop after dinner at a LES restaurant. Not so, I responded and mentioned that I had made the trip from uptown just to check them out. Impressed, she inquired if the late dessert wouldn’t impact my dinner plans. I asked her if, as a child, she had never wished to skip dinner and just have dessert. When she replied in the affirmative, I added, «Well, I just never grew up.» :)

Came back a few months later for the oatmeal raisin cookie, and I am sorry I ever gave it such a raving review the first time. Completely disappointed, I think I might have been able to bake a better one myself. The cookie was dry and cakey — lacking flavor. Sigh. Inconsistency is unacceptable. I’m taking one star away — will give this place one last chance the next time I’m back in this neighborhood.
+
I might have found my absolute favorite oatmeal raisin cookie in the city (yet again). Although the title for Pam’s favorite chocolate chip cookie still stands with Paris Petrossian, the keeper of my new favorite oatmeal raisin cookie in NYC is this new sugar joint that opened up in late October.
Tiny counter, very cute shabby-​glam décor, friendly staff and delectable desserts. We tried the banana foster which was also pretty good. moist and just the right density. Not overly sweet.
I’d come back again to try the other stuff — but the oatmeal raisin cookie though. will be a new staple.
Mmm, mm, good!

New bakery! LES. Cute small little store with beautiful decoration. They have a flower pattern on the ceiling! And when you’re looking for it, don’t blink! Otherwise, you’ll walk right by it. Just look for a small round sign with a cupcake on it jutting out into the street. Inside is the counter and a window seat with flower-​patterned pillows. The people there are extremely friendly. The girl pointed out her faves and didn’t pressure me at all. Everything looked so good (which justifies me going back).
Made it in today for a lovely muffin and the best rooibos tea I’ve ever had. Morning glory muffin ($ 2.25) and tea ($ 2). Muffin had a heavenly spiced aroma. Very chunky (which is right up my alley) with carrot shreds, tiny dried apple bits, raisins, coconut shreds and walnuts. Had a crisp top. Was also pretty greasy. But I loved it!
«What about the tea?,» you ask. Well… the girl called it Bucaneer tea and got it from a pretty shiny tin on a high shelf. It smelled soooooo good. It’s the African red bush tea (rooibos) and had hints of chocolate in it. I never knew those two flavors were so compatible. I even went to Whole Foods today to search for a rooibos tea with chocolate but couldn’t find one. Yet another reason for me to come back to How Sweet It Is.