Manhattan is filled to the brim with specialty shops, clothing stores, restaurants, and even crystal stores. If you want something, you can find a store for it there. In the cake, ice cream, and sweets industry, Manhattan has hundreds of shops to choose from, and City Cakes is an option that is considered high-end. They have a variety of cakes, cookies, and cupcakes to choose from, with dozens of flavors, fillings, and toppings. Below is everything you need to know about City Cakes.
What Is City Cakes?
City Cakes is a small sweets shop known for their half-pound cookie batches. They use fresh ingredients, never use pre-mixed or pre-packaged ingredients, and they bake everything fresh and daily. You can preorder and pick up your sugary delights, or you can place your orders on delivery websites like Grubhub.com, Seamless.com, Chownow.com, and Postmates.com. Though you can’t sit down in the small shop and eat, you are always welcome to take your orders to go.
The Brains behind City Cakes
City Cakes is run by three Chefs: Benny Rivera, Sarah Pleitez, and Marc Coolrecht. These three chefs are the backbone of City Cakes and keep the business running optimally.
Benny Rivera
Before working at City Cakes, Benny Rivera worked as a financial analyst. After years of finance work, he took on a more creative and inspiring career. His culinary studies took place in the Institute of Culinary Education and the French Culinary Institute.
Rivera and his work have been featured on many magazines and television shows. He was on TLC’s Fabulous Cakes, The Rachel Ray Show, My Secret Wedding, and was on the cover of Cake Masters. His work has been featured in Brides Magazine, The Knot, New York Magazine, and Traveler’s Magazine. Benny is also a member of the Food Artist’s Group.
Benny specializes in 3D cakes, fondant, royal icing, and buttercream icing. With his amazing amount of knowledge and prowess, he teaches cake courses and his methods around the globe.
Sarah Pleitez
Sarah Pleitez studied at the California School of Culinary Arts in the Le Cordon Bleu program. She studied as an intern under Benny Rivera. Now Pleitez manages all the City Cakes inner workings including partnerships with other companies and wholesale business sales. Sarah’s specialties are custom sugar works, cookie recipes, and cupcakes.
Marc Coolrecht
Marc Coolrecht also studied at the Institute of Culinary Education and the French Culinary Institute, like Benny Rivera. Marc has been involved in the hospitality industry and the food industry, since the tender age of 14. He specializes in flavor development and recipe design.
Consultations and Tastings
All consultations are sent through email even if you request one over the phone. Why? To keep consistency between the consultation and the order.
There are currently no drop-in consultations or tastings. If you’d like a tasting, you can schedule it ahead of time. This way the shop can make the necessary preparations to provide the requested cake, frostings, and fillings.
Hours of Operation
City Cakes are open Monday through Sunday, 11:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Products
City Cakes offers cakes, cupcakes, cookies. They also boast homemade frostings, fillings, and ganaches.
Cakes and Flavors
If you’re a chocolate lover, the Chocolate Decadence or the Rich Chocolate Mocha cakes will be right up your alley. Looking for something with a kick? Try a boozy flavor like Lush Amaretto, Caribbean Brandy, or Strawberry Champagne. If fruity is your thing, opt for Pinch of Pineapple, Tropical Coconut, Light Lemon, or Banana Tenderness. Feeling nutty? Go for Pistachio or Almond Wonder.
If you like more traditional flavors with a twist, they have that, too:
- Charismatic Carrot
- Cookies ‘n Dream
- Practical Pound
- Heavenly White
- Precious Yellow
- Red Velvet Extravagance
- Salted Caramel
- Pumpkin Spice
Gourmet Cupcakes
For gourmet cupcakes, choose from six delectable options:
- Double Chocolate Decadence
- Precious Yellow Original
- Red Velvet Extravagance
- Salted Caramel Fantasy
- Precious Yellow Birthday Cake
- Chocolate Decadence Original
Fillings and Frosting Options
Along with their wide variety of cake flavors, City Cakes also has many special frostings, fillings, and toppings.
- Lime Cream
- Bailey’s Irish Cream
- White Chocolate
- Cherry
- Vanilla Sinful
- Chocolate Sinful
- Salted Caramel
- Cinnamon Swirl
- Strawberry
- Coconut
- Raspberry
- Cookies ‘n Cream
- Peanut Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Original (Almond) Sinful
- Espresso
- Orange Cream
- Hazelnutella
- Maple
- Lemon Cream
Cookies
There are 26 different cookie packages available online that come in half-pound orders. All prices vary depending on the of cookie. Here are some available cookie packages, their prices, and price per cookie breakdown (note that all prices are subject to change at any time and are for general reference only):
- Assorted 8 pack: $41 or $5.13 per cookie
- Chocolovers 8 pack: $42 or $5.25 per cookie
- Double Stuffed 4 pack: $22.00 or $5.50 per cookie
- Gluten-Free Macamochip Nutella Filled 4 pack: $24 or $6 per cookie
- Killer Stuffed Red Velvet 8 pack: $40 or $5 per cookie
- Double Stuffed Assorted 8 pack: $44 or $5.50 per cookie
- Triple Chocolate Spice 8 pack: $40 or $5 per cookie
- Signature Sugardoodle 8 pack: $40 or $5 per cookie
- Hearty Oatmeal Raisin 8 pack: $40 or $5 per cookie
Ganaches
There are four spectacular ganaches you can choose from at City Cakes. A ganache is usually a fluffy, whipped chocolate cream. Though ganache is typically chocolate, there are alternatives along with the traditional:
- Strawberry
- Chocolate
- Bailey’s Irish Cream
- Raspberry
Fruit Curd Fillings
Fruit curd is a spread made with fruit. It can be used on cakes, cupcakes, and even to make cookie sandwiches. Fruit curd filling flavors include:
- Coconut
- Lemon
- Orange
- Lime
- Pineapple
Cake Pricing
City Cakes takes all consultations via email. They determine prices by individual order, but usually, prices are determined by slice or serving. A basic fondant cake slice is around $10 and a buttercream cake slice runs around $8. Fancier cakes are available at a higher cost.
Specialty 3D Cakes
Depending on the amount of work it takes to make the cake, a small, 25-serving cake will cost about $500. This breaks down to around $20 per slice of cake. While this may give you some sticker-shock, once you see one of their 3D cakes, you will understand the cost. They are works of art.
Location and Contact Information
- Email: info@citycakes.com
- Phone: (646) 688-2286
- Address: Lower Level 251, W. 18th Street, New York, New York 10011
Conclusion
City Cakes is a small cake shop with a variety of high-quality baked goods. Everything is handmade with fresh ingredients every day. Though their shop is not a sit-down eatery, you are always welcome to stop in and pick up your order. From wedding cakes to gourmet cupcakes and cookies, there’s something for everyone.
City Cakes is run by three passionate, qualified chefs who inspire each other to create the most delectable of desserts. Though their specialties differ from one another, Rivera, Pleitez, and Coolrecht combine their immense talent to create delicious and sophisticated desserts that will spoil your palate and keep you coming back for more!
They offer a variety of baked goods, including cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and specialty items. The 3D specialty cakes (Benny Rivera’s specialty) cost around $500 for a 25-serving cake. This price can vary based on size, ingredients, and level of difficulty. Though the price sounds high, keep in mind that Benny Rivera will be involved in the creation of your 3D cake. This means an expert who has graced many television shows and magazines with his designs will be personally ensuring that your cake is amazing. When a cake god makes a cake for you, $500 doesn’t seem like so much!
City Cakes has many flavors to choose from. If you love traditional flavors but want a little twist on them, try the Heavenly White, Precious Yellow, Charismatic Carrot, or Chocolate Decadence cakes. For those who like spirited desserts, City Cakes has Strawberry Champagne, Caribbean Brandy, and Lush Amaretto to satisfy you. And if you want to try something different, they have Pumpkin Spice, Rich Chocolate Mocha, and even fruit-flavored cakes like Pinch of Pineapple and Tropical Coconut.
Though the name of this shop is City Cakes, they are well-known for their batches of cookies and cupcakes, too. Please note: All of their cookie batches online are in half-pound packages. Though there are only nine cookie packages mentioned above, they have all those and more on their website.
City Cakes is a fierce competitor among all the many sweet shops in Manhattan, and it would not be at all surprising if they change and influence trends in the baked-goods industry with their innovative products, methods, and flavors. While prices may be higher than what you’d find at your average bakery, anyone who has tried City Cakes swears their culinary creations are worth the money.
