sugar Sweet sunshine

sugar Sweet sunshine, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, has been around for four years and is turning out some great baked goods, especially cupcakes. On a recent visit, we picked up a variety of cupcakes, including a chocolate with chocolate almond frosting, spicy pumpkin with cream cheese frosting and walnuts, pistachio, and a Sunshine cupcake (yellow cake with pink frosting). We also tried a small banana pudding and some cookies (chocolate chip, sugar and peanut butter). The cupcakes are very moist and serve as a great vehicle for the rich frosting. Most of their frostings are almond flavored, which I’m not a huge fan of, but they do offer items with cream cheese frosting and buttercream. Their banana pudding is creamy and rich with homemade nilla wafers and lots of banana slices. It comes served in a cardboard coffee cup for easy travel and noshing on the go. The cookies are soft and chewy with a nice homemade flavor.

There is a real neighborhood feel to sugar Sweet sunshine and they have many regulars who show up for a snack and to hang out with friends. One of the walls is decorated with Polaroids of locals and their dogs at the bakery. The Lower East Side has been experiencing a culinary revival in the past few years and I’m glad that sugar Sweet sunshine is a part of it.