Ordered a cake for my Daughters birthday. Red velvet it was moist not dry and the frosting was amazing. I went to the location to pick it up they have a lot of pastries and the place looks nice and clean and the staff were very friendly I would recommend ordering your cake to the three days ahead of time I'm not going to just pick one up out of what they have on display. read more

Gourmet Ring Dings! The Swiss rolls are the best ever. They taste like Ring Dings but with better ingredients. I also enjoyed the passion fruit snack cake with passion fruit cream and white chocolate frosting. How did I not know about this wonderful bakery until now? Will have to go back and try more cakes, including the snowballs. read more

Thank you Drew! Empire cake made the cutest and best tasting cake for my wedding day. Being from out of town I wanted the NYC skyline on the cake and the design was amazing! Cake was delivered to the restaurant with no issues. Thank you again! read more

Empire Cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Ordered the raspberry lemon cake for my friend's birthday party! Cake was ready for pickup when I arrived and staff were very friendly. As for the cake itself, it was pretty good. Ordered the 6 inch size, which feeds 6-8 people (8 max). Frosting wasn't too sweet and it was very creamy; I thought it could have had a bit more raspberry flavor though. Also it tasted quite heavy; I prefer my frosting a little lighter. Cake was moist and flavor was good, if just a touch too sweet for my taste. I think I would have enjoyed it more if in addition to the lemon curd, they put raspberry jam in as well to help cut through the heaviness of the frosting. My friends all enjoyed it very much though! Appearance wise, cake was beautiful, no complaints there. Overall a very solid option at a very reasonable price! read more

Empire Cake - Raspberry Lemon - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Fun treats, many of which would be recognized as American treats like a Twix, yodel, snowball, etc - except freshly made and way better than their namesake. I had a tricolor cake which was made with almond sponge cake with raspberry and apricot jams, topped with a layer of ganache. The flavors were really nice, but the sponge cake was slightly stodgy. The medium black and white cookie was also nice, with the cookie part more like a cake, which I like. I would go back and try more! read more

Stopped in serendipitously as I was walking by, and their cookie selection won my heart over their cupcake selection. 15 minutes before closing, I was lucky they still had a lot of options left. I decided on a cookies & cream, rainbow, & a classic chocolate chip. I asked the cashier if I was truly missing out on getting a cupcake, and she said if they still had red velvet she'd suggest that, but I was okay since they were out for the day. I love it when employees are honest like that, and don't just try to sell you something just for the sake of selling it. When I went to pay, I spotted a tiny black & white cookie, (which I'm on the hunt to find the best one in NYC) and It was the perfect mix of cookie & cake texture. A solid 5/5 stars just for the B&W. Of the traditional ones, the cookies & cream was my fave. Glad this spot was here to stumble upon right after a good dinner inside Chelsea Market. read more

Coworker ordered these for Administrative Assistant day, and man do these snack cakes hit the spot! The snackcakes are basically homemade Twinkies covered in a delicious coating of Belgian chocolate. Extra sweet, so it would be nice to have with coffee as well to balance out the flavors. In all I was able to try the Chocolate covered, Red Velvet, Brooklyn Blackout, and Lemon.Snack. Out of these 4, the Red Velvet was by far the clear front runner, followed by the Brooklyn Blackout (chocolate on chocolate), the Chocolate covered (chocolate on a regular twinkie, and lemon. Furthermore, I will say that the filling inside the cake is also very delicious, and the filling and chocolate to actual cake was just about close to perfect. Definitely will be visiting the store soon to snag some myself another velvet cake. read more

Empire Cake - Chocolate on chocolate - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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This review is strictly for their Lilakoi cake that was generously shared with me. That thing is magnificent! I can't explain the texture of the white cake coupled with the delicate passion fruit filling... or maybe it is the way the WHOLE piece is covered in what seems to be a white chocolate frosting?? It seems as they they put love in every single part of perfecting this masterpiece. There is not one bad thing about this cake except I have to eat a whole one and try not to eat another right after. My waist is really happy that I don't live in NYC. read more

Randomly walked by and couldn't stop myself from going in - and now I'll have to go back again! All kinds of cakes, cupcakes and cookies, including some fun/big versions of nostalgic grocery store classics like Swiss rolls. I got the "twix bar" which was a cakey shortbread with a layer of caramel and dripped in chocolate - so delicious I finished it before remembering to take a picture! read more

Empire Cake's cupcakes are so friggin good!! Not dry, like Magnolia's can sometimes be, and perfect amount of flavor in each kind of cake. Our favorites were the vanilla, cookies and creme, and the strawberry. However, not disappointed at all with anything else we got (salted caramel, Brooklyn black out cake, peanut butter, chocolate chocolate). Even though we had leftover cupcakes, they still stayed moist in the fridge for a week! (Even though not recommended to wait a week to eat..). read more

My work bestie introduced me to Empire Cakes and got me addicted to their lemon snack bar/cake! Then he got me addicted to their red velvet & black & white minis! Ugh... then the coward went on a diet... frack! We've been regulars for the last 3 years... it was only 1 train stop away from our old job... and I never wanted to share... EVER... now I'm too far away and whenever I crave the minis, I would make a special trip & willingly waste my lunch hour just to have that velvety sweetness melt in my mouth... glorious... LOL I will say this... I'm not a fan of their cupcakes... they use buttercream... that's not my thing... but their delicious variety of snack/mini cakes, epic! My darling sister just got me a box of minis for Lunar New Year! I'm addicted all over again! ;) -recommend the mini cakes, lemon bar, lemon snack cake... I wasn't too impressed by the cupcakes or their chocolate stuff... however if you're a chocolate fan, you should give it a go! read more

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Stopped by on a dreary, rainy day. Despite very annoying and rude customers ahead of me, Andréa still provided me with exceptional, endearing and genuine customer service. I've been here several times and somehow never tried the chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache until now. It's simply the best and my fave, along with the banana foster cupcake. read more

Tried one of their cupcakes and not a fan. The cupcake was moist and not too sweet, but the batter-cream on top of it was a little over. I ate only half of it even with tea as it tasted too oily in a way. The one I tried was raspberry lemon. Maybe I should try their other ones. read more

Empire Cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

I generally never go for cupcakes as my choice of dessert but decided to stop here as ai passed by the shop. They have seriously changed the game for cupcakes because these were the beat cupcakes I have everrrrr tasted. I tried the banana foster and carrot cake cupcakes and I could not stop until they were all done. It was so light and fluffy, and most importantly MOIST AND NOT DRY!! I also picked up a chocolate swiss roll and it was decadent, light, and addicting. I am sooo glad I stopped by on a whim!! read more

The Quick: Fabulous mini cakes and cookies. Wasn't crazy about the warm coffee, but everything else is always a treat! They have extremely creative cakes for all occasions. The Damage: It varies, the little cakes and cookies are ~ $5, while the more extravagant decorated cakes are made to order. read more

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I stopped by with a cupcake craving. I ordered the dulce de leche and it was DELICIOUS. I will be back!

Since I'm always looking to try new places for cupcakes, Empire Cake caught my eye when Yelp friends reviewed it. I was sure to bookmark it. We went on a Sunday. I was pleased to see that they keep long hours---on Sundays they close at 10 p.m. It's a small shop with a wide selection of cupcakes as well as other yummy looking baked goods. We both decided to try a pistachio cupcake. The flavoring was well done. The cake part was vanilla while the frosting was pistachio-flavored and garnished with chopped pistachios. We were both impressed as to how well flavored the frosting was---we could easily taste the pistachios. Plus the cake part was light and moist. We would definitely return next time we're in town and try some other flavors. Empire Cake is very well located. It's a very short walk from the 16th Street exit at the 14th Street subway station. The A, C, E and L trains stop there. read more

Empire Cake - Pistachio Cupcakes - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

The best little Chelsea Bakery...I am here at least once a week for....... Chocolate covered snack cakes- think yodels on steriods........ Cupcakes,,,,vanilla cake with chocolate frosting...simply high quality chocolate makes this lusciuos........ Mini chocolate chip cookie.........simply sweet one of the best around......... Can't beat the gravitational pull of "the Empire." read more

Empire Cake - Chocolate cake love! - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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While visiting Astoria for a family birthday, we were waiting for a Ghostbusters cake to be delivered. They gave a window of 8-11 this morning for delivery. 11:15 we called - they were going to call us back. One hour later we heard nothing from them. So much for an expensive cake and a $55 delivery fee. Seems like the customer is their very last consideration. Never again!! Oh and thanks for ruining a birthday party even though we stressed how important this was and you assured us you'd make a great cake that would be here. read more

After a show at the nearby Highline ballroom we were looking for a little dessert to cap off the evening. We walked back into the Chelsea market to find out they disappointingly close relatively early on a Friday night (We were there ~9:45pm and it was a ghost town). We stumbled across Empire Cakes, which is opened until MIDNIGHT on weekends in the city that never sleeps. I liked that they had elevated versions of classic treats, for example, the Twix bar being an item most reviewers mention positively - we tried this and give it a thumbs up as well! Other items include Snowballs, Twinkies, giant rainbow cookies, swiss rolls and various flavors of snack cakes. The other item we tired was a snack cake that was chocolate cake filled with peanut butter (like Funny Bones). It also was very good. Unlike their commercialized counterparts these cakes have real flavor and substance to them. The prices reflect that fact as well - reasonable for the quality. To be sure they sell traditional bakery items such as beautifully decorated cupcakes, whole cakes, cookies and various pastries. They have hot drinks available as well so it's a great place to pick up a little treat for yourself or get a bunch of different items to wow your friends. read more

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Their cupcakes are alright. It's probably somewhere in the middle of my list of favorite cupcakes, behind 2LRH, Georgetown, and Sugar Sweet Sunshine. But most notable are: - red velvet twinkies - red and white cookies - salted caramel cupcakes (caramel filled) - strawberry shortcake cupcakes (cream filled) I like the concept. I like the clean, minimalist feel. I like the server girl who thanked me for waiting (two rather plump women who didn't know what they wanted and ended up ordering more than they should've. And while waiting, I also decided to order more than I should've...) read more

Empire Cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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Ive gone to their store multiple times and have ordered cupcakes and cake. Their strawberry fields cake is sooo good. What i like about this bakery is that their items arent so sweet so they are still enjoyable even though you may eat a little more than you should I would also recommend their oreo cupcake and the banana one read more

Empire Cake - Strawberry Fields - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Amazing brooklyn blackout cakes Definitely worth the visit. Glad they survived Covid read more

So took a trip last night to Empire Cake based on a recommendation from a fellow yelper. It was nice to see they displayed an A- grade from the NYC department of health. The place was busy but not crowded, we got lucky and found parking right in front of the store. Upon walking in, we got on the line and we order several items: Pecan bar, lemon bar, chocolate covered cake with chocolate filling, the red velvet drizzled with a white chocolate, salty caramel cup cake and a chocolate on chocolate cupcake. We figure we will try some of the items tonight and the rest tomorrow. Last time we came in the store was extremely busy during the early afternoon so there was no place to seat. The first thing we tried was the chocolate covered cake with chocolate filling. It was not mind blowing in any way shape or form. The cake was fluffy, the chocolate filling was not overly sweet but the chocolate drizzle (looked like chocolate ganache but it was not shiny) on the outside of the cake did not play a pivotal role at all. IMO it undermines the actual chocolate cake and filling but it was good. Not sure that i would come back just to eat it again. The red velvet with the white white chocolate was okay. While the red velvet cake was fluffy and delicious, there was no need for the white chocolate drizzle on the outside of the cake. Both snacks are a throwback to what we used to eat as kids in terms of ding dongs and twinkies. With 100% the have nailed the cake part, filling are good but the chocolate dipped cake part, seems to tone down the entire cake. The pecan bar was surprisingly good and not very sweet although the crust was somewhat soft. My wife had the lemon square and she found it extremely sweet and tart which makes the whole thing out of balance. Believe me i loved twinkies up until a few years ago as they do not taste as i remembered them. I saw some of the cakes they had on display and they look good. Maybe i am too old school and i just cant get my taste buds to fine tune onto the next generation. Anyways, this place still a great place to eat chocolate cake and the kids can have fun. read more

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5 Stars hands down. I was first introduced to this place by a coworker when she made me try the empire version of a Twinkie (mini cake is what they call it). It's a chocolate cake with cream in the middle dipped in a chocolate coating. It was one of the most decadent chocolate cakes I've tasted in awhile. This small cake shop is located in Chelsea and remains packed. There are about 3 tables in the shop but they are usually taken. The staff here are delightful and helpful. If you ever need suggestions do not hesitate to ask. I've been here a number of times (different times of the day and the staff members were always polite). While I was picking up some cupcakes I overhead one of the staff members tell a customer they need about a week to basically make any kind of cake you could want. The types of cakes seen on display are insane. Here's what I recommend: (if you have allergies obviously don't take my suggestions to heart) - cupcake: pistachio praline Brooklyn Blackout - Swish rolls - chocolate covered snack cakes - red velvet snack cakes Top it off with an iced cappuccino and you are good to go! read more

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The snack cakes! My goodness...someone described them to me as a homemade Twinkie. Handsized cakes with creamy filling. My interest was piqued. Then they added, the snack cake is also dipped in chocolate. My eyes widened and I needed to know nothing else besides where the bakery was located. This happened about 3 years ago. Sadly, I had to move away from my hometown, but on every trip back I return to buy almost $30 worth of numerous cakes. Vanilla, chocolate, red velvet and lemon. I wish they had a buy X amount for X deal, like they do with the cupcakes, but they must know not to treat the stars of the store to any discount. I have never tried any cupcakes. The rainbow cookie is delicious and I haven't seen a bigger size sold in any of the bakeries I've been to yet. Usually other places make them about the size of Petit Fours. Empire's rainbow cookies are about 4 or 5 of those together. The cakes are never dry, and the balance of all three components- cake, filling and coating are heavenly. I saved my very last cake that I bought over a week ago, stashed away in the fridge until I couldn't take the temptation anymore. It was still delicious. The guy behind the counter was very friendly. We even had a chat about the differing NY/NC lifestyle. The only plus about me savoring My very last snack cake is that I will be back to buy some more in a matter of weeks. read more

Empire Cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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I was around the area and was looking to buy something sweet to bring to my friend's house. Empire cake appear on my google search so I decided to buy some cupcakes to share with my friends. Ordering half a dozen, I choose red velvet, Brooklyn blackout, raspberry lemon, carrot cake, banana foster, and dulce de leche. All of the cupcakes were moist with smooth buttercream. There was one - two that were a bit too sweet for our taste so I would avoid ordering those again. Overall, my friends and I enjoyed the cupcakes. read more

Contacted Empire to have a custom cake made with Will Smith's (circa the Fresh Prince) face on it for my friends birthday. Customer service via email was very easy and the associates I corresponded with were all very nice and helpful- sending me a preview of how the image I sent them would look on the cake. The cake order was completed within a day or so, and the cake itself was perfect and also so delicious (I got the chocolate/salted caramel with buttermilk cream frosting) It was kind of disturbing cutting into Will's face when we cut the cake but hey read more

Empire Cake - Fresh Prince cake! - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

I randomly stumbled upon this bakery and I was quite pleased. They had a lot of cupcakes, cookies, and other pastries. I was so happy that they had chocolate chip scones - it is SO difficult to find chocolate chip scones for some reason out in the Bay Area (as I bemoan) and here in NYC I seem to be finding a lot of these scones. But ironically I didn't get one this time but I got their mini cakes. Their mini cakes were $0.85 and they were really good. They were quite moist and were covered in this hardened icing of sorts. They make for yummy quite bites. We tried the red velvet and the black and white ones. They had other sizes of these cakes so I'd love to try the rest out sometime. And of course the scone. And the cupcakes. TOO MANY THINGS TO TRY read more

Empire Cake - My favorite type of scone - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Have to add that my boyfriend has bought two of my past birthday cakes here. The salted chocolate ganache cake is divine (see photo below). He designed them both and they are BEAUTIFUL. Unforgettable cakes. This place is a no-brainer for a very special occasion. read more

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We stumbled upon this hidden gem. LOVED the cupcakes. They are just perfect. Definitley recommend this place and would even consider purchasing a customized cake from this place. read more

Empire Cake - Not the best picture but delicious! - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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Walking into empire cake the smells from the desserts instantly make your stomach growl of hunger! There have so many yummy treats it was hard to pick something, I spent about a good 15 minutes trying to decide! Finally I got toffee butter cookies, omg they were amazing! The cookies are airy and just the right amount of toffee. Next time I go to NY I have to try a cupcake or one of th cookie sandwiches. They looked amazing!! I would of gotten stuff to go if I wasn't going back to Times Square to walk around all day. read more

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I really liked this place until today because their butter cream is super yummy and staff are so friendly and nice despite they don't have much variety. Today I stopped by around 8pm and only once staff at the store. He was literally too busy with his phone doesn't acknowledge my present. I never had such experience there and so disappointed. I hope the owner patisserie would have known her customer service went down to the . May be they are not getting paid well? read more

Just a quick visit for a couple cupcakes, the Brooklyn Blackout was rich and intensely chocolatey. Unfortunately, the cake itself was on the dry side. Nice staff though and worth a visit for anyone with a sweet tooth as there are so many more items to choose from. read more

We ordered 3 dozen (36) cupcakes for a party. The dozen lemon raspberry cupcakes were fantastic. The two dozen Brooklyn blackout cupcakes were a good chocolate cupcake with a lot of frosting on top but no pudding inside as the description states on the website. I have reached out to Empire three times and have waited over a week for a response before I posted a review. I have not heard from anyone. The blackout cake is the favorite cake of the person the party was in honor of. It's a shame they missed the mark. Would have been 5 stars because the cupcakes were good. But not filling the order correctly then ignoring a customer. 2 stars. read more

This my favorite cookie place in Chelsea. I love the flourless pignoli and almond macaroons half dipped in chocolate cookies. They have great cupcakes in all flavors too. The staff is always friendly, helpful and efficient. The featured cake always changes every season. Quite an impressive array of birthday knick-knacks, candles and birthday cards. read more

Empire Cake - Pignoli cookies - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Their snack cakes bring all the boys to the yard...damn right, it's better than yours. Let me tell you what, the snack cakes I had brought this boy to the yard...I had to buy some dessert for a get together and wanted a pie. Went to Empire Bakery and they didn't have any pies (unless I wanted to order one for three days hence). So I saw their nice variety of snack cakes and figured I'd give those a try. Wow, they were great. I can't decide which one I liked best, though the pumpkin was pretty delicious. They were well received by the people at the party so I felt like a champ. If you want to go from zero to hero, get yourself some snack cakes, stat. read more

Empire Cake - Snack cakes - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

I am obsessed with their black and white cookie! Most places have only one side that's either the white side that's hard iced or the chocolate that's hard shell but empire cakes has the whole thing encased in hard shell goodness. None of the soft fudge like icing that just melts all over your hands. It's the perfect crunch to the soft moist cake/cookie inside. They come in 3 different sizes (mini .85, medium $2 and large $3) and also have the minis in red velvet flavor. They also have seasonal flavors like the iced lemon cake around spring and summer time. I would skip the Twix bar, it's not the best. If you like brownies, definitely give the sea salt brownies a try. Oh and they also do custom cakes that almost looks too cute and pretty to eat...almost. read more

Empire Cake - Black and white cookies (taste more like cake!) - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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I was in the area looking for dessert one night and stumbled upon this spot. They have a good variety of desserts here to pick from so there is bound to be something you might like. They have cupcakes, cookies, snowballs, lemon bars, cake and various other items. I asked the girl what she recommended and she said she personally liked the black and white cookie and that the lemon bar and tricolor cake was really popular too. I wasn't feeling for the black and white cookie personally so I decided to get a lemon bar and the chocolate coated swiss roll. My friend got a raspberry cupcake along with a funfetti cookie sandwich. The lemon bar was good, quite tart, but refreshing if you want something tangy. I think the the crust could have been a little better because it tasted a tad flour-y. I would give the chocolate dipped swiss roll a 4 stars because that was my favorite item. It's dipped in dark chocolate so it's not too sweet and it adds a nice crunch to the cake. I love that it's not overly sweet even though its a chocolate cake with cream and more chocolate on top. The cake is also very moist. As for the cupcake, it was good. It was a vanilla base with raspberry frosting. The cake part was moist and the frosting wasn't too sweet. The funfetti cookie sandwich was good, but not as good as the other items. The filling tasted mostly like frosting, so I think with the cookie sandwiched, it can get a bit sweet. The cookie has a little chew to it so it holds up pretty well, but for me, it was a bit too sweet if I had to finish the whole one. If you are looking for dessert and want a good variety of options to try, I would say try this spot out. They also make really cute custom cakes. I would come back to try their cakes out since they seem to specialize in cakes. Another bonus is that they do open til pretty late so if you are looking for some late night sweets, this can be a spot to try. read more

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Such a beautiful cake!!! And it tasted delicious!! I ordered the cookies and cream flavor and the cake itself was not too moist or too dry, it was in the middle and perfect. I am so happy I found a bakery that not only makes beautiful cakes, but also tasty ones. I have gotten cakes from Magnolia Bakery, and even though they are pretty, they taste awful and dry and are crumbly--everything Empire Cakes are NOT!!!! Definitely recommend Empire Cake!! Beautiful and delicious. 6inch custom made cake was $100. Not cheap but worth it! read more

Empire Cake - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York