Butter Lane Cupcakes - East Village

Partners and long time friends Pam Nelson, Linda Lea and Maria Baugh had long talked of opening a cupcake shop down South. Realizing that they would be living and working in New York City for a while, the three busy women decided to begin baking their dream locally. Co-owner Pam Nelson tells us, "Setting up shop in the East Village was the obvious choice." Located on East 7th Street, Butter Lane Cupcakes was the first cupcake bakery to open in an area dense with retail shops, and is quickly becoming a neighborhood favorite. 

While Pam supervises day to day operations, Linda who is also an executive producer at the Food Network's cooking show “Chopped”, is in charge of quality control and developing savory cupcake flavors.  Finally, Maria, a managing editor for the Food Network, handles Butter Lane's press and marketing. It takes commitment, team effort and talent from these three women and their small baking staff to produce these amazing cupcakes.

Pam remarks,  "Butter Lane makes cupcakes for grownups. They have a lot more flavor and are less sweet than traditional cupcakes." Customers may select from cream cheese, American buttercream or French buttercream frostings. Butter Lane uses 1/3 less sugar than traditional bakeries, and never includes artificial additives or colorings. Their signature French buttercream icing is made with whipped fresh egg whites, making this icing unusually light and creamy; It practically melts in your mouth. After one bite it is clear that Butter Lane recipes emphasize flavor over sweetness.

We asked Pam what her favorite cupcake flavor is, and she told us, "Chocolate icing on anything. We begin with the basics using two really great flavors, vanilla and chocolate." High-quality fresh ingredients such as Callebaut's fine Belgium chocolate and fresh whole vanilla beans are hand scraped in Butter Lane's kitchen. In a typical week the little kitchen uses over 200 pounds of butter.

From Butter Lane's original concept of basic vanilla and chocolate cupcakes in 2009, the recipe list has expanded onto a chalkboard wall menu offering over 15 cupcake flavors and style combinations. A few tempting examples are the vanilla cake with grapefruit ginger frosting and the "Elvis" named for its banana cake and peanut butter icing topped off with mini marshmallows. With each season are new flavors such as key lime and lemon for summer, eggnog and pumpkin for fall.

Better-than-a-cake is Butter Lane's cupcake tower to satisfy everyone's taste with a mix of different cupcakes and icings; an ideal choice for weddings and events. Emulating a traditional pedestal cake, cupcakes are beautifully displayed on a serving tower for something a bit different and completely intriguing and tempting.

For the ultimate cupcake experience, one door down from Butter Lane is the "Cupcake Classroom" where three-hour cupcake making classes are offered twice a week. These classes are a great way to meet new people and an whimsical idea for a memorable first date. Cupcake making parties are available for private groups - popular for birthday parties and to entertain business associates.

The store is at its busiest in the evening and you can expect to stand in line on Friday and Saturday nights. Try to pop in during off peak hours and know you will be promptly served with a smile, the Butter Lane way.