Name: Allison Robicelli
Job: Wife/Chef/Mother/Blogger/Tweeter/PR Director/Professional Neurotic
Previous Experience: Pastry chef, Executive Chef-consultant, caterer of fancy dinners for people who make more money in a single day than I will ever make in my entire life.
Strengths: Boundless creativity; R&D queen; seeing endless possibility in everything; horrific ADD
Weaknesses: ADD; legally forbidden to come within 50 feet of any member of Menudo, thus hindering our efforts to dominate the Menudo-cupcake demographic
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Name: Matt Robicelli
Job: Husband/Father/Chef/Receptionist/Client Liason/Quickbooks Ninja
Previous Experience: Graduated with honors from FCI, Lutece, City Bakery, Water Club, Balducci’s
Strengths: Mastery of French techniques; getting things off high shelves; knowing that when his wife disappears from the kitchen for too long, she probably went into the walk-in and forgot why she was there, so she’s just standing there because she doesn’t want to come back empty handed, and he should go in and remind her what she went in for so she doesn’t freeze to death
Weaknesses: None, because his wife is the one writing this, and she thinks he’s perfect. Except for leaving his dirty clothes all over the floor. Hamper is five feet from the bed, Matt.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Where is your store located?
As a specialty food brand, we do not have a dedicated storefront (we bake in a 19th century factory in industrial Brooklyn). We are primarily a wholesale operation- click on our “locations” tab to find the store carrying Robicelli’s closest to you!
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What is “the rotation”?
Since we have over 250 flavors and counting, it would be completely impossible for us to offer all of them every day. Also, we work with a lot of seasonal ingredients that are only at their peak a few weeks a year, and want to make sure we get a shot to showcase the best stuff on Earth when it rolls around. That’s why we’ve put our cupcakes into a “rotation”: each delivery day, we pick four different cupcake flavors, so you’re never seeing the same thing day in and day out. This way something new and exciting is always on it’s way to your local store, you only get to eat stuff that’s made with the best ingredients that are available that week, and we keep getting to introduce new flavors! See, everybody wins!
Take a look up towards the top of the page. You’ll see a tab with this month’s schedule on it- click on it to find out what’s coming up!
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Can I order cupcakes that are outside of that week’s rotation?
Yes. There is a 4 dozen minimum per flavor, and note that based on seasonal availability all flavors may not be available when you’d like them to be. If we cannot accommodate your flavor choice, we’ll be happy to work with you to figure out something appropriate.
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What about the other stuff you make- the brownies, whoopie pies, etc. Can I order those?
Absolutely! Contact us for pricing and other info!
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Where can I buy the Chicken n’Waffles cupcake?
The C&W cupcake, like most of our “very special cupcakes”, is only released a few times every year for special events- you need to pounce when it happens or you’re out of luck. You’ll know when it’s being released as we’ll post about it a few days ahead of time on Facebook and Twitter, and this here Tumblog the day before. In fact, this is how we post the menus for many of the special events we do, almost all with unique limited edition flavors. These flavors will also occasionally be released to Queen City Cupcakes in Patchogue, since we know it’s a far drive for our Long Island fans and it’s really not fair to let NYC have all the fun.
If you can’t wait for one of the time we’re releasing it, you can place a private order, but note there’s a 4 dozen minimum to order. Our “very special cupcakes” are labeled that for a reason- they’re very labor intensive to make, which is why we need to stick to that minimum and unfortunately cannot make exceptions. Note that we drop the minimum in January for Football Playoff Weekends- then after the Super Bowl it goes back up. Plan accordingly.
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What about the “Salty Pimp” cupcake? Can I get that for my store?
The Salty Pimp is an exclusive item for the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop- meaning you can ONLY find it there (and that will not change). However, if you do own a shop, we can do a custom flavor of cupcake/brownie/whoopie pie/etc for you if you’re ordering in volume.
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Do you do weddings/bar mitzvahs/baby showers/etc?
As a matter of fact we do, and we’re already booking up quickly for 2013! Click here for more info, and and we’ll be happy to work with you on planning your special day.
Note: as we are a wholesale company whose wares are readily available in stores, we DO NOT provide tastings for planning weddings and events.
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What is your pricing?
Our cupcakes range from $3.25 to $5 a piece, with the majority costing $3.25. We are unable to list exact prices on our site due to price fluctuations of seasonal items and certain inventory. For questions regarding specific flavors, please email us at info@robicellis.com
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Do you do mini cupcakes?
No. We occasionally provide them for a charity event or for a close friend, but as a rule we do not sell minis for three reasons:
1- Minis for the most part are used by people who are attempting to provide desserts on a budget, thinking that one to two minis per person will do. At every event we’ve done, people eat at least between 3 and 5 minis a piece, meaning that you’ve actually spent more than if you just bought standard sized cupcakes (people usually only eat one).
2- Our cupcakes are made up of several steps and components besides just cake and frosting (soaks, fillings, brittles, compotes etc), and most are impossible to translate into a miniature size.
3- We have gigantic hands which makes minis difficult for us. Seriously- take a look at these paws next time you see us- they’re HUGE.
If you are adamant about having minis, we can refer you to some great companies that do them. We, unfortunately, are not one.
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Can you dye my cupcakes _______ color?
As a rule, we do not use any artificial dyes, colorings or chemicals in any of our baked goods. We would never dye a piece of chicken green to match a dress, or serve hot pink cheese because it’s someones favorite color. In fact, even those examples are kinda gross. So we don’t see how dying a cake an unnatural color makes any sense. Maybe it’s food snobbishness, but we just see it as silly.
We CAN, however, work with you on cupcake toppers, towers, and other cake decorating accessories. Just not colors.
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Do you make red velvet cupcakes?
No. And it’s not going to happen.
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Will you donate cupcakes to my charity event/fundraiser/etc?
Due to the overwhelming number of requests we get every year seeking donations, we have set a strict budget for charity donations each year (in 2011, we donated over $12k in free cupcakes, brownies, and time to various charities). We wish we could say yes to everything- but we receive well over 100 donation requests ever year, and cannot possibly afford to fulfill them all.
Our donation budget for 2012 has been 100% claimed as of March, 2012. We can accommodate any further donation requests only by offering a discount, or by bartering for good/services equal to the cost of goods (“exposure at the event” does not qualify for bartering material).
We utilize our donation budget only to accommodate worthy charities. We cannot offer complimentary goods for press events, private parties, for-profit events or any other event in exchange for “exposure”. We will, however, consider bartering baked goods for services when applicable.
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What is the optimal temperature for serving your cupcakes?
Though we suggest storing them in the refrigerator prior to service to protect the delicate buttercream, our cupcakes should be eaten at room temperature for maximum enjoyment. Allow them to sit until the buttercream just gets slightly soft, about 5 minutes.
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How long does your stuff last for?
Our cupcakes and whoopie pies last for four days refrigerated, provided they are stored properly in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Optimally, if you’re going to eat/serve them more than two days after we bake them, we suggest storing them in the freezer. They hold perfectly in the freezer for 4-6 weeks (in that airtight container, of course).
Brownies last a tad longer as they’re nearly flourless. Room temp, give them 2-3 days (depending on the temp of your room), refrigerated a week, frozen 6 months (and tip- when you eat a frozen brownie, it actually feels like you’re eating MORE brownie than you actually are. This has never stopped me from eating extra brownies though as I have limited self control).
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I went to one of your locations and they were serving cupcakes that weren’t in the current rotation. Were they trying to sell me old cupcakes?
Yes and no. Many of our locations have professional grade sub-zero freezers, and if our cupcakes are frozen and stored properly, there’s almost no way to tell it apart from a cupcake that was baked yesterday. Some locations will stock up on particular flavors when they are released in order to offer them for longer stretches of time than the few days they are in rotation.
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I had a cupcake from one of your retail locations that seemed “less-than-perfect”. What do I do?
Unfortunately, this happens occasionally, and we hate it when it does. The downside to being a wholesaler is that once those cupcakes leave our kitchen, we have absolutely no control over them, how they’re stored, served, etc. We’ve chosen our retail partners very carefully based on their commitment to quality and have instructed them in the proper ways of cupcake storage, but remember we are all human and even the best of us sometimes make mistakes.
If you at any point receive a subpar cupcake from one of our retail partners, bring it up to the management of that location immediately. If the problem at that location persists, please email us at info@robicellis.com, and we will be happy to look into it further.
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My favorite flavor has been out of the rotation for a while. How do I make it come back?
Just email us! We can’t make any promises, but we can certainly see what we can do!
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When are you guys going to be on “Cupcake Wars”?
We’re not doing Cupcake Wars- they wouldn’t allow us to compete as a team, and we’re equal partners in marriage, parenting, AND business.
We’ve been on Cooking Channel’s UNIQUE SWEETS, The Gayle King Show, Good Afternoon America, Food Curated, The Today Show, and have more super-secret things we can’t talk about coming to the television, but Cupcake Wars absolutely will not be one of them.
And if you REALLY need a reality fix of us, you can always tune into our wildly popular “Let’s Bake The Whole Thing Off”, the Internet’s Number Six Food-Based MS Paint Illustrated New York Situated Comic Strip Reality Show!
