Empire Cake - Chelsea

When I went to pickup my cake a day before, I almost had a heart attack when I saw the handwriting and I’m glad I had decided to open the box at the store. When I brought it up, they immediately fixed it to cursive and more aesthetic inscription. We chose the lilikoi flavor (passion fruit) and it was very fresh and delicious. We had a few friends coming over later and they all enjoyed. I wish they had the option to add the inscription with the same frosting color, but white was good enough, and I appreciate that they followed this ask when adding the note online. I would order from here again.

Oh my gosh....my sister had a custom cake made for my birthday, and when I tell you I was shocked I was literally speechless from our server bringing the cake out till they finished singing happy birthday. For context, I make grommet headbands and so my sister showed Empire my headband instagram and they came up with this masterpiece. The black part looks exactly like the headbands I make, and the combination of my sister having this made plus the Empire staff bringing the vision to life (and perfection) made me feel so loved and happy. On top of that, my sister made sure it was carrot cake (my favorite) and it was one of the best carrot cakes I've ever had. I couldn't have had a better birthday and that's because of this cake<3 THANK YOU EMPIRE! If you want to check out my headbands lol my instagram is @gromaenyc !!!

This place is a fantastic dessert spot! 🍰 Empire Cake in Chelsea 🗽 serves and incredible selection of delicious 🤤 cupcakes 🧁 and cakes! 🎂 Definitely try the Vanilla Snowball ⚪ and get the Red 🔴 Velvet Cupcake or Cake - it's probably the best I ever had! 😍 Staff 👨‍🍳 is friendly and welcoming and service is quick! ⏲️ They have some indoor seating.🪑 I wish I knew about this earlier!

I’m extremely disappointed with the service I received from Empire. I placed an order for a special cake for my milestone birthday, but when I arrived to pick it up, the order was completely messed up with the incorrect design. I was told I had two options: wait for a new cake, but my birthday was less than an hour away, or take the incorrect cake and receive a full refund. Given the time constraint, I reluctantly accepted the second option, but was only partially refunded. The error was entirely on their part, and a $50 partial refund for a ruined cake, especially on such a special day, felt inadequate. I have reached out multiple times to resolve this, but have received no response. I am extremely disappointed as I had ordered my cake from them last year and have been a patron for years. If management is reading this post, I would appreciate a follow up to address.

I've tried red velvet and carrot cakes from as many bakeries as I can find across the globe. I ordered Empire's red velvet cupcake, carrot cupcake, chocolate chip cookie, and butter toffee cookie. The carrot cake has all the right spices and ingredients. It tastes delicious. The butter toffee cookie was good too. The red velvet and chocolate chip weren't to my liking. They sell snack cakes, and a bunch of other treats. The service was welcoming. The store is clean, cool, and comfortable with a couple of tables and high chairs.

Empire Cake has always been one of my absolute favorite dessert spots in all of NYC. I used to work nearby 4 years ago when my team ordered the red velvet snack cake and I was fell in love IMMEDIATELY! Coming back years later to find out they have still maintained their amazing quality was such a relief. They have so many amazing options to pick from, and a very knowledgeable staff that will help you navigate through your indecision (shoutout to Sydney for her patience and recommendations)!

Visited the location on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and it’s quite inviting and has a few details that are great conversation over cake and coffee concept…but let’s get into the details: I ordered a red velvet cake and coffee with cream and no sugar. The flavor of the cake was delicious (although they didn’t make it truly southern with the addition of walnuts) The cake appearance has a hard outer white chocolate coating (possibly to preserve the moisture of the cake longer in the fridge) and when cut appears to be an injection of frosting inside the cake. The flavor of the cake was delicious, maybe 4 out of 10 to compare with say, Sylvia’s, but the hard outer white chocolate disrespects the culture of the red velvet cake—cream cheese frosting is a must, it’s required, every pastry chef and baker knows it, it’s the law. Next is the presentation—absolutely horrible. The chocolate was unevenly distributed and in the thin spaces of chocolate there was dry cake, unpleasant to eat. Also there’s the weird injection of buttercream filling that when forked destroys the experience of eating red velvet cake. Picture it for a moment, hard chocolate icing, crumbling through semi tough cake and butter cream that when you eat it the chocolate is crunchy, the cake is chewy, and you have this buttercream when combined in the mouth leaves the customer thinking—what the heck is that? I would not recommend the red velvet cake until the recipe and presentation changes to something like a layered cake with a clean floating center (not injection) and an outer cream cheese frosting (and loose the cheap cake sprinkles and perhaps use edible leaf garnish. The coffee was nicely balanced when eaten to cleanse the cake taste from the your tongues however, on its own, the coffee is NOT purchasing at all. The experience was not up to my expectation Empire who has a reputation for making good cakes. With the price of your products you can’t afford to cut corners in production, presentation, or service.

My go to bakery in Chelsea. Fave item is probably the Pine Nut cookies which are gluten free. Would be perfect if they were less sweet. I appreciate that the icing on all of their cupcakes, including the gluten free, is not too sweet. I'm tired of scraping off insulin spiking, jitters making icing loaded on most cupcakes. The Empire icing is yummy but doesn't make me feel sick from sugar afterwards. Staff is super friendly and kind, and the pricing is not crazy.

Great communication, from point of choosing to delivery. It was a custom cake not offered on the menu yet. Extremely flavorful and moist , great decoration with the icing. I was not disappointed, but extremely pleased. I would definitely use them again and highly recommend. Try the funfettie

What a fantastic experience with Empire Cake! I ordered a Liliko'i cake from them and it was ready on-time, with no hassle. The service staff were AMAZING when I came to pick it up, and the cake itself was out of this world. The cake was, and I mean this sincerely, the best cake that I've ever eaten. The inscription was perfectly executed, the taste and texture were perfect, the frosting was just right. The filling was perfectly executed. It was packaged securely and came with clear instructions for preparation and serving. Even their cute little shop was well-appointed with accessories like cards, candles, and a seating area. Brightly lit, airy, and clean, it's perfect.

I'm extremely disappointed with the service I received from Empire. I placed an order for a special cake for my milestone birthday, but when I arrived to pick it up, the order was completely messed up with the incorrect design. I was told I had two options: wait for a new cake, but my birthday was less than an hour away, or take the incorrect cake and receive a full refund. Given the time constraint, I reluctantly accepted the second option, but was only partially refunded. The error was entirely on their part, and a $50 partial refund for a ruined cake, especially on such a special day, felt inadequate. I have reached out multiple times to resolve this, but have received no response. I am extremely disappointed as I had ordered my cake from them last year and have been a patron for years. If management is reading this post, I would appreciate a follow up to address.

amazing cookie sandwhiches - do not skip the snicker doodle cookie one (my absolute favorite!!) all their little treats are so good - I've literally never had a bad dessert at empire. I recently got the black currant and lemon curd cake for a party, and every guest loved it. empire becoming my go-to bakery!

Great cupcakes. Super moist and the frosting isn't too sweet. The mocha latte cupcake had a subtle coffee flavor, the chocolate cake was rich and delicious. I wish they had some more creative flavors. Employees are super nice and service was quick. Cute bar seating and decor with crazy intricate cakes.

Decent cupcakes with a lot of different selections. I liked the cupcakes and cake from Here. It's a decent bakery that will make for great gifts

Really cool children's cake designs. I tried the Swiss roll it was fine I liked the chocolate but the cake inside didn't wow me as I thought it would. Service was great. Ambiance was fine.

We couldn't come to New York City and not get a Black and White cookie. It just can't be done. We'd heard that Empire Cake had an especially good version, so we popped in during one of our travel days. They had Black and White cookies of varying sizes, so I went with the medium and dug in. It's really good. Like, shockingly good. I was surprised by the soft, cake-like texture (i.e. a traditional cookie this is not), but it's so tasty that you don't even think about that. It's certainly a very sweet concoction but not oppressively so. And yeah, Seinfeld was right, you do have to get a bit of the black and the white in each bite. I'm frankly a little stunned these things aren't available everywhere, they're just that good.

This Pistachio praline cake was the bomb! Melt in your mouth smooth and buttery pistachio crème. Whipped in between layers with bits and leaves of praline and pistachio. Just yumm. Happy I found this place. Service was great, careful and attentive in your need. Store from was clean and welcoming. Last minute cake toppers/ candles also available. Possible to order onshore or online. Would recommend.

Tried cupcakes from here and they were absolutely amazing. Beautifully decorated, not too sweet and they had some great flavors.

Great experience here and my second time ordering custom cakes. These were to celebrate my friend becoming a US citizen, so we ordered cupcakes with American flags. Easy ordering and pick up experience and the cakes turned out just as we hoped.

Delicious treats but pricey. Love that they have a variety of options and desserts to choose from.

What absolutely wonderful artistry. Cupcakes and cookies ! The window displays can't be beat ! I'm a big fan of your annual Oscar nominated cupcakes . ( and Oscar award cookies) Your black and white cookie was delicious today !

Average alert! The place looks the part but almost everything I had was average. The lemon bar wasnt a bar... it was mushy although it did have a lemony flavor. The "twix bar" was more of a mousse. The cookies were ok. The best thing I had was the chocolate covered cake bites. Wouldn't come back unless in a bind.

Empire Cake never disappoints! Super-clean space, stellar display case, and some of the best pastries in NYC. Also a big shoutout to Patrick for the hospitality, thanks EC, see y'all soon!

One of my favorite bakeries in NYC. I've never had a bad sweet treat from Empire. Highly recommend the Brooklyn blackout cupcake. Felt vindicated when I went to the new location on 6th Ave and saw that they finally took my several year old suggestion to stop calling the rainbow cookie a "tri-color" cookie which pissed me off every time I went in. Their rainbow cookies are delicious as well. Both locations are extremely clean and employees have always been pleasant.

A friend suggested this bakery for us to order birthday cakes for a gathering in the city. The cakes did not disappoint. Not overly sweet but full of flavor. Also packaged really well to transport to the hotel for the celebration! Also the wedding cake on display was stunning. A great option if you are looking for something special!

These cakes were incredibly delicious!! Not too sweet and very smooth. Some friends ordered a strawberry layered cake and a strawberry with lemon layer cake, both so so good. I would so come here again.

Stopped for some B&W cookies as they were on the list of top 10 cookies in NYC. They have ALOT of good stuff in here. Ordered to-go cookies for the boys and ordered a blackout snack cake for now. Was moist, fresh, and really rich. What makes this a 5 is the guy working custom made me a chocolate milk with the ganache chocolate and took the extra step to try for a customer. Other places wouldn't have tried. Cheers- the B&W was a different take on it - but damn, if that's not #1 on the list I can't wait to see why not. My favorite black and white cookie to date.

Cupcake base is good! Fluffy moist cake. The rating below is based on the frosting and it's compatibility with the rest of the cake Oreo - 3/5 Pistachio - 1/5 Red velvet - 5/5

I have a love/hate relationship with Empire Cake. It would be hard to miss this bakery as you walk along 8th avenue. In one window you can see inside to see beautiful cookies and cakes. In a different window you can see samples of their incredible cakes. They rotate the designs often, but they usually have at least one that is seasonal (think a cake with a cute turkey on it for Thanksgiving) while others are more kid oriented like a Minion or Pokemon cake. Everything they produce at this bakery is an absolute work of art and I am constantly amazed at their skill. I also give this bakery high marks for service. They are very good at answering questions about their baked goods and they are always super nice. So...if I'm talking this place up so much, why the "love/hate"? Simply because Empire Cakes once produced one of the most delicious baked goods I've ever had in my life on the regular, and then they stopped making it regularly. Specifically I'm talking about one of their incredible snack cakes. The snack cakes are their specialty (besides amazing multi-layer character cakes) resembling large Twinkies with amazing frosting on top. In my opinion, the BEST of these is their Chocolate Peanut Ganache snack cake. There was a time you could get this cake fairly regularly, but nowadays it is only seasonal (seemingly only for a few weeks starting in late March/early April). Unless you show up *just* at the right time, you miss this confection for a whole year. I've missed it two years in a row and then this year I was ecstatic to find them! I bought tons of them but before I knew it they were gone by mid-May. Oh well...hopefully I'll catch them again next year.

Beautiful and delicious cake! I ordered the party drip sprinkles cake for my bestie's birthday while we were visiting NY. I got the strawberry fields filling with vanilla cake. Everyone loved the flavors of the cake and the icing. And it was so cute! The cake is not too sweet, which I liked.

They have some appetizing items, but overall I was a bit disappointed. Maybe I just didn't get there more famous treat, which I would be open to trying. I would definitely give this place another try.

My friend got a passion fruit cake here for her birthday and it tasted delicious! It was a vanilla cream cake layered with passion fruit curd and had a light coconut frosting that was made with buttercream. It was a very unique taste that made the cake memorable. I would definitely recommend this cake to others.

I love it here!!! They make the best butter cream cakes and desserts I've ever tasted. I came for Halloween and picked up the cutest Jack Skellington mini box cake and it was out of this world delicious. Ig:soooomuchfun

Empire cake 100% makes my very favorite black and white cookie. The cookie is so soft and delicious and full of flavor and the icing is perfection! They have homemade treats like deviled dogs and Twinkies and things like that. I haven't tried everything but I have tried quite a few things And they're all delicious the girls inside that help you are very friendly and always available to give you advice on which things to give a try. It's not very big but they do have a cute little table inside but it's more of a grab and go sort of spot, I'm really glad I don't live too close by because it's definitely addicting

Obsessed with this spot. I order from them all the time. The Swiss Roll and the two snack cakes (chocolate and red velvet) are sooooo good. Elevated Hostess snack cakes. Will take you back to childhood!!

This establishment is right across the street fro Google!! I stopped by and visited Empire Cake and was greeted by friendly staff in a warmly lit setting. Their delightful selection includes cookies, cupcakes, cakes, and more. Each bite was heavenly; I couldn't resist!

Oh Empire Cake, How do I love thee?? I haven't been here in years, it was so nice to stop in last week and enjoy their amazing creations. My favorite Empire Cake item is their version of Swiss Rolls. Think of a Yodel or Ho-Hos, it's freshly baked chocolate cake rolled with vanilla creme filling and dipped in Belgian chocolate. This is the adult version of what you had in your childhood lunch box. While my wife was getting her haircut, it was a pleasure to sit and relax with a cuppa coffee and a sweet treat. One of the best bakeries in New York City!

Do yourself a favor and pop into Empire Cake for a treat. My personal favorite is the Swiss roll... thin, dense chocolate cake rolled with cream and then dipped in dark chocolate. But, I can guarantee that you'll be happy with whatever treat you choose. Plus, the staff is super friendly!

My colleagues and I were looking to get some dessert for one of our other colleagues who is expecting their first child. We had taken them out to lunch, but wanted to get something sweet to put an exclamation point on the occasion. One of us suggested we check out Empire Cake for some cupcakes, which sounded perfect so we placed the order and made plans to pick them up. I did a little research on Empire Cake beforehand and noticed they did a lot of specialty cakes and pastries, which is every on trend with all the over the top cakes seen on reality TV and such. We decided on cupcakes since it was the most practical dessert to share. We also thought it would be cute to personalize each cupcake; since my colleague loves dogs, we had a picture of a puppy paw and baby holding hands superimposed on fondant placed on each cupcake. We also decided to get a variety of cake and frosting combos to keep it spicy. So how were the cupcakes? They were fine - I'm not a big cupcake person but objectively speaking there was a good frosting to cake ratio and the fondant didn't overpower the whole thing. I had their carrot variety which didn't have big carrot flavor and was a smidge dry, but wasn't offensive. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with Empire Cake, but there are a lot of positive reviews here so I'm tempted to try them again and have more of their offerings. I loved baked goods, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince me ;-)

Empire Cake was incredibly easy to coordinate with and offered a wide selection of cakes with fast turnaround time. I ordered a birthday cake late Wednesday night for Saturday evening, and I needed to pick up the cake late, because the party was late. Luckily, Empire Cake is open until 9 pm. The 8 inch cake for $58 doesn't come with a complimentary disposable cake slicing knife or candles, but they do have small knives, and they sell a variety of candles. This is a price that's hard to beat in Manhattan! The Strawberry Fields cake (Vanilla crème fraîche cake filled and frosted with strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream) was delicious! I could taste the strawberry, and because the cake is creme fraiche, the cake wasn't overly sweet while staying moist.

The trusty Yelp app pointed me to Empire Cake after I ate dinner in the vicinity and needed some dessert. Unfortunately I was here later in the day so some selections had dwindled, but there were still plenty of options that intrigued me. The Twix for grown-ups ended up the winner. It was $3.95 and just what I needed, though not exactly like a Twix (shortbread isn't as crunchy for example). Here's how it's described on the Empire Cake website: "our homemade shortbread topped with caramel and bittersweet chocolate ganache, dipped in Belgian chocolate." Very quality. I'd definitely swing by again for dessert purposes when in the neighborhood. Like I did, you should visit their website and view all their impressive cake creations. FYI: No extra charge for using credit cards.

They are excellent with concepts, ideas and execution. I would've preferred to speak w someone on the phone but we were able to work through everything fairly efficiently on email. I ordered two cakes for my son's first birthday party...a smash cake and a larger fondant cake. Both cakes were a beautiful execution of the concepts and tasted great. We had a near hiccup with the delivery but to their credit they quickly resolved the issue and ensured the cakes were delivered on time.

Empire Cake should be on any regular New Yorker's list of great bakeries... from cookies, specialty cakes and pies... they have something for everyone!!! If you have a themed birthday and need a cake to match-THIS is YOUR place for sure!!! With traditional cake, cupcakes their lemon and pecan bars will lead you to a TWIX and all of the Hostess remakes with natural ingredients!!! Also, options for GF, etc.

My friend an I have this tradition of trying out a museum and then having a sweet treat or slice of cake after. This last weekend after checking out the Rubin Museum we stopped into Empire Cake. The store is unassuming, simple, and clean. There isn't much seating room, but I like the way that they display all the food options in cases. I think it's really neat how they remake classic childhood pastries into more gourmet versions. We were immediately interested in the "Twix" bar and the Chocolate Snowball. We also decided to get one of the snacking cakes, we settled on red velvet. We also got one of their sandwich cookies, they were sold out of snickerdoodle so we ended up with the strawberry cheesecake flavor. The "twix" bar and strawberry cheesecake sandwich cookies, were the star of the show. The "twix" bar was very sweet, but had a fantastic salty and caramel flavor. I don't think I could finish it alone in one sitting. The strawberry cheesecake sandwich cookie, tasted exactly like it's namesake. The strawberry flavor was clear and fresh, the filling was a smooth and pillowy cream. It is the perfect well rounded bite. The red velvet snack cake was also pretty tasty. I enjoyed the crispy layer of icing/glaze on the cake, and it was a very traditional and familiar red velvet. I also thought the mini load cake was cute and much easier for sharing than a cupcake. What was really disappointing was the chocolate snowball. It was bland, and underwhelming. It hardly tasted like chocolate or coconut, it was definitely a let down. I wouldn't order this again. The service here is really friendly, and they also serve coffee and espresso which perfectly complements the sweet treats. I'd love to try some of their cakes for an event or a party in the future. Overall, I think you should stop in here and pick out an assortment of things to sample! There's something for everyone to love!

My family goes here everytime when there's a birthday to celebrate. We've tried their cakes and they are delicious!

After dinner, we wanted some cake, so we came here as it was so closeby. There was a great amount of variety from flourless cookies, to cookie sandwiches, cakes, and dipped cookies/cakes. I couldn't choose just one and went for a red velvet shortcake, the tri-colored cookie, the strawberry shortcake, strawberry cheesecake sandwich cookie, the dulce de leche cupcake and a small black and white cookie. I haven't had most of the items yet, but I ate the black and white cookie and part of the sandwich cookie. The cookie wasn't too sweet and it's a good size if you wanted something small. The sandwich cookie was slightly too sweet for me and something felt lacking. If you have a sweet tooth, this might be the place for you. Also, the price is pretty awesome, all my items came out to around $22.

Great selection of sweets! My favorite is their corn cookie, which I think may be seasonal, but have had their s'mores cookie and all their cookie sandwiches, which are tasty too. They have a few seats inside but mostly a grab and go spot. Definitely check it out if you're in the area!

Empire cakes delivered exactly what I wanted it was so easy to communicate Margot - I sent a photo of what I wanted she suggested a few options and the result was perfect ! It was also last minute which was quite difficult to find I definitely recommend them !! The guests loved the cake Thank you!

Delicious morsels. I love the black and white cookie. Counterperson was friendly. Great price honestly. Will be back!

Cake is decent, service is horrible and comes with an attitude. Not willing to go the extra mile to make anything special

Hard frosted black and white cookie was very delicious. Banana foster cupcake is great too. Definitely coming back for the cookie

I've been coming here since it opened so I've waited to post this. Five stars for the service. The staff is always pleasant and attentive. A sorely missed element in most location these days. Kudos to ownership for the people choices they have made. Understanding that palates are different, I used to like the desserts here and always admired the artistry of their cakes, etc. The first few years the goods were tasty and balanced. The visits post covid... less so. There's no real flavor. Like warm water. On a hot day. You consume it because it provides some relief but the act itself is completely dissatisfying. Not chocolatey, not vanilla, red velvet tastes like nothing at all, buttercream only tastes like butter (and it ain't grass fed buttery either). In essence, it tastes... boring. So if you like more distinctive flavors in your desserts, I would skip this place. 2-3 stars (depending on the dessert) for not being overly sweet - fairly benign diabetic danger zone. I appreciate that but, again, I'm not smacking my lips here with unbridled glee. I'm more mad I wasted the calories.

I have no idea how I am going to compete with the most recent review written about a month ago because he literally said everything I would have said, but much more articulately and artistically than I ever could! However, I will try my best as Empire Cake has absolutely won over my heart and my stomach from their impeccable service to their design and obviously some of the best tasting baked goods ever! We were first introduced at a friend's daughter's birthday party over a year ago, and the flavor of that cake has never left my palate. This year I decided to reach out to them for our own daughter's birthday cupcakes with a very specific design (and budget) and they delivered on both! Jason was a dream to work with, even though it was all via email, he knew exactly what i was looking for and made it happen. A couple of weeks later, I ordered cupcakes for our son's birthday and they were equally perfect. We went to the store as a family this past weekend and sampled more of their baked goods, and literally everything they make is perfection. I love the team that works their and their energy and am looking forward to getting something for my own birthday soon! Definitely stop in at their adorable shop for something sweet, or for a custom order - you will leave super happy!

I got a black and white cookie here and loved it! It was a nice treat to have. It's like a cake in the shape of a cookie which was great. I had to order more to take home!

Cookies and Cupcakes are 10/10. Great quality desserts! I had the chipwich sandwich and it was also great. Everything was fresh and delicious

COVID report: Empire has mostly returned to full production (cookies by the pound are back), though I do miss the blueberry muffins and other breakfast pastries. (Apologies if they're actually making those, I just haven't seen them recently!) I recently had a heart-shaped black and white cookie, which was excellent, and the snack cakes remain perfect.

i'm so glad i checked out this bakery! i got the black and white cookie and a cupcake. the cookie actually tasted much better than i expected. empire cake has a variety of pastries and cakes - i definitely should have tried their specialty items. service was excellent and fast. there was a line but it moved very quickly. there's no seating, but on the other hand, the bakery is very spacious. i highly recommend checking out empire cake! overall rating: 9/10