America's Best Cupcakes

Photo by: Alison Conklin.

Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, Philadelphia

"To be sure, Brown Betty is a bakery and not a cupcakery, but there is no denying the popularity of our cupcakes. The secret? Our cupcakes are really small versions of our delicious cakes," writes Norrinda Brown Hayat, co-owner of Brown Betty and co-author of Brown Betty Cookbook (Wiley). The maple cupcake, which is topped with maple buttercream, is the newest cupcake for fall ... more 

Photo by: Alison Conklin.

Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, Philadelphia

"To be sure, Brown Betty is a bakery and not a cupcakery, but there is no denying the popularity of our cupcakes. The secret? Our cupcakes are really small versions of our delicious cakes," writes Norrinda Brown Hayat, co-owner of Brown Betty and co-author of Brown Betty Cookbook (Wiley). The maple cupcake, which is topped with maple buttercream, is the newest cupcake for fall and uses Hayat's grandmother's signature vanilla pound cake recipe. But the most popular cupcake is the red velvet. "My mom developed the recipe for our red velvet cake when we first opened at the request of one of our brides for her groom's cake," says Hayat. "We used the extra batter for some cupcakes, and it started from there." brownbettydesserts.com less