cupcakes

Luxist Readers cast their votes for the best chocolates, truffles, cakes, cookies and cupcakes. The winners for each of these categories are:

Best Cake
Crumbs Bake Shop is the winner of the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Cake. The bakery is also famous for its cupcakes (it was nominated for a Readers' Choice Award in the cupcake category, accordingly).

Crumbs offers an irresistible blend of comfort-oriented classics and elegant baked goods. Crumbs homemade cakes come in a variety of delicious flavors, from Red Velvet to Vanilla Cake and Chocolate. Crumbs cupcakes come in three different sizes. At each of its bake shops, it offers more than 50 varieties baked fresh daily and a new cupcake of the week every Monday. Crumbs also offers a variety of delicious cakes, from Red Velvet to Vanilla Cake and Chocolate. Accordingly, Crumbs Bake Shop is also a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cake.

Currently, Crumbs has locations in California, Connecticut and New Jersey. Its baked goods can also available by placing an order online.

Gallery: Best in Sweets

SusieCakes is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cupcake.

The Los Angeles, Ca.-based company was launched in 2006 by Susan Sarich. The inspiration behind the company's founding was Sarich's childhood in Chicago. Each day, she used to arrive home from school to a warm kitchen filled with the smell of baking and treats fresh from the oven. Her two grandmothers, who were also neighbors, loved to bake, from frosted sugar cookies to Whoopie pies and chocolate layer cakes.

To this day, Sarich is captivated by what those desserts symbolized. "Baked goods are hallmarks of happiness," says Sarich. "Whether we're celebrating a holiday or a specific event, we want them to be as unique as the day." It was a combination of Sarich's sweet tooth and nostalgia for the homemade desserts of her childhood that led her to open SusieCakes.

SusieCakes' cupcakes are known for their "frosting filling". Flavors include chocolate chocolate, luscious lemon, strawberry, peanut butter, fluffy coconut, and vanilla with pastel-blue vanilla frosting. The most popular cupcake is SusieCake's Southern Red Velvet, an award-winning dessert, including the "Best Traditional" category of the 2009 Nesquick Cupcake Challenge in Los Angeles. Cupcakes cost $3 each.

Gallery: More from SusieCakes

Magnolia Bakery, located in the West Village of Manhattan, is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cake.

Open since 1996, the family-owned bakery is a throw-back to another era. It is famous for its old-fashion desserts, especially its cupcakes and home-style multi-layered cakes. There's a reason why has had staying power. Its baked goods are made fresh from scratch on premises, all day, every day, using the finest ingredients. Magnolia Bakery is also a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cupcake.

Magnolia Bakery specializes in such classic cakes as red velvet, ice box, German chocolate, devil's food, coconut and banana pudding. In addition to cakes and cupcakes, other dessert specialties include brownies, magic cookies, peanut butter toffee bar, lemon squares, pies and cheesecakes. Magnolia prides itself on tradition and quality and strives to satisfy loyal patrons while maintaining the integrity of the brand. All Magnolia Bakery locations are certified as Kosher by the United Kosher Supervision.

Gallery: More from Magnolia Bakery

The bakery's founders, Allysa Torey and Jennifer Appel, are the authors of a cookbook entitled "The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes from New York's Sweetest Bakery."

Vote for the company you believe makes the best cakes. Readers' Choice Winners will be announced on March 1st.

1. Use your favorite cake recipe A standard 2-layer cake recipe should make 24 average-sized cupcakes
2. Use the highest quality ingredients, including fresh eggs and butter instead of margarine
3. Allow all ingredients to come to room temperature before mixing
4. Mix thoroughly but don't overmix Over-mixing can cause your cupcakes to taste chewy and flat
5. Fill the cups 2/3 of the way -- less and they can burn or dry out, more and they might spill, drip, or not cook thoroughly
6. After filling the cups let them rest for 2-5 minutes to let the batter settle evenly
7. Know your oven If your oven cooks hotter at the back be sure to rotate the cupcake pan halfway through cooking
8. Test for doneness after the minimum cooking time to prevent overcooking. A toothpick should come out clean when stuck in the middle.
9. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting or the frosting will melt and look sloppy (and the decorations might even slide off)
10. Serve and enjoy cupcakes the same day they are made for optimum richness, moistness, and flavor.

Is there a maker of fine chocolate candy that makes your mouth water just thinking about it? Who makes the most sumptuous chocolate truffle you've ever had? Which bakery makes the most magnificent cupcakes in the world? Can you recommend a bakery that makes cakes that are worth telling the world about? Which bakery makes the best cookies? If you know where to find the best chocolate, truffles, cupcakes, cakes and cookies, we want to hear from you!

The Luxist Readers' Choice Awards for Best in Sweets will be awarded based on your nominations and voting. We're currently seeking nominations for the best-of-breed in the following categories:

Best Chocolate Bar
Best Chocolate Candy
Best Cupcake
Best Cake
Best Cookie

One nomination per category, please. Submissions can be filed until February 15, 2010.