Robicelli's

Help Oklahoma: Support Team Rubicon

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:49:00 -0400

During our Sandy relief, we had the honor of feeding Team Rubicon many times. They are US military veterans who return from war zones overseas, and use their emergency response and rebuilding skills in disaster situations. We as New Yorkers are indebted to them and their bravery.

We now get word that Team Rubicon is assembling in Oklahoma to assist in tornado relief. We urge you to donate to them rather than the Red Cross, who was MIA in the days after Sandy, took weeks to appear in certain neighborhoods, closed food and heating stations during holidays and other times, and are not transparent with where your donations are going. Team Rubicon not only give an emergency situation the blood sweat and tears it warrants, but they also keep an open financial policy that leaves them accountable to donors, and is dedicated to making sure your dollars go to helping people rather than paying for fancy offices, executive salaries, or television ads.

Team Rubicon- thank you for all that you do for the poor and suffering around the world. We salute you.

Here’s our dish for Googa Mooga! CAR BOMB PARFAIT:...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:02:30 -0400

Here’s our dish for Googa Mooga! CAR BOMB PARFAIT: Guinness brownie, Bailey’s cannoli cream, Jameson ganache, beer nut praline. Find us behind the main stage in “The Woods”, right next to the beer tent with the shortest lines at all of @googamooga (shhhhhh…..don’t tell too many people that….)

Flavors: Friday, May 17th

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:15:55 -0400

IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!! GOOGA MOOGA HAS ARRIVED!!!

For the next three days, if you were keen enough to get tickets, you’ll be able to get your hands on our Car Bomb Parfait: a Guinness stout fudge brownie topped with a Bailey’s ricotta creme, Irish Whiskey ganache, and beer nut praline. This is a Googa-only special which you’ll never be able to find anywhere else outside of this weekend, SO YOU BETTER COME AND VISIT US.

We’re located in “The Woods” portion, directly next to the beer tent and across from the ATMs. Best way to find us- look for the main stage, walk towards it, turn left slightly and head in the direction of all the trees. We’re in a nice shady nook with lots of picnic tables, next to Northern Spy Food Co., Rippers, Caracas Rockaway, Kasadela, and my favorite-named food business of all time, The Big Banana.

You know you’re a parent when you hear the term “Big Banana” and this is the first thing you think of. And because you can recite the entire episode verbatim.

Instead of posting the event map, which you’ll look at once and forget, I suggest you download the official Googa Mooga App, which will not only tell you where everything is, but also let you check out everyone’s menus in advance. Then you can make your own personal shopping list of everything you need to eat and check it off as you go. My list currently includes grilled maple bacon skewers from Landhaus, a Fois Gras doughnut from Do or Dine, and Tacos al Pastor from Salvation Taco. And speaking of tacos, another big event has just been announced for us…….

Tickets just went on sale for this years NYC Wine & Food festival, and Robicelli’s will be providing the desserts for Tacos & Tequila hosted by Bobby Flay on October 19th. We’ll be everywhere that weekend as our book comes out two days before — and if you happen to be at Googa Mooga, you’ll be one of the first to see the cover! (don’t despair if you’re not making it - I promise to post a pic on Instagram at some point this weekend).

If Googaing about is not your thing, you can certainly just pick up one of these cupcakes that are going around to various shops, or a whoopie pie at any Red Hook Lobster Pound or Jordan Lobster Farms location, then follow along on Twitter where I’m sure I’ll be posting lots of nonsense all weekend long. And speaking of Twitter- congratulations Mark Turetsky! You won two tickets in our Googa Mooga giveaway by naming your pick for most underappreciated sitcom episode of the last 30 years:

‏@mturetsky15 May

@robicellis Do the Urkel, where Steve repaired a divided America through the power of dance.

Excellent call, Mark. Excellent call. In this crazy world we live in, we can’t forget the power of Urkel to unite and heal us all.

Root Beer Float: Root beer cake, root beer custard, vanilla buttercream, maraschino cherry

Butterbeer: Butterscotch soaked cake, butterscotch buttercream, edible gold dust

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel: Chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream, crushed peanuts and pretzels

The Aris: Orange scented walnut cake, Greek yogurt buttercream, spiced honey walnuts

It’s getting real, bitches! TWO MORE DAYS!! @googamooga

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:01:43 -0400

It’s getting real, bitches! TWO MORE DAYS!! @googamooga

Flavors: Monday, May 13th

Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:07 -0400

We’re 6 days away from Googa Mooga, which will be all sorts of amazing and will change your life and whatnot. I, of course, will not be posting about that today, because I have an incredibly messed up sense of priorities.

What will we be talking about today?

The Simpsons Tapped Out, a game for iPhone/Android that advertises itself as “Life Ruiningly Fun!”. And you know what? It IS life ruiningly fun. It’s been ruining my life since last October and I can’t stop it.

I’m not really sure how to describe the point of this game as, well, there is no point. You’re building and designing your own Springfield, so it’s sort of like owning a dollhouse. Except less expensive, you can keep it in your pocket, and you never need to dust it. Also unlike a dollhouse, this one has a 24 hour animation of Hans Moleman getting hit by a football in the groin.

Ahhhh! My groin!

This has been the #1 game on iTunes for a while now, so I don’t doubt that many of our readers are also addicted. And that means that you’re all in the same boat as I am- desperately collecting as many eggs as you can before “Whacking Day” ends at some point this Thursday.

Me, I’m desperate. I had to take a few day off the game to “do my job”, then the developers server problems locked me out for a bit, and there was lots of bad luck with the snake/egg ratio. Point is, now I’m far behind the pace I need to get the Sleep Eazy Motel and Miss Springfield. So what can I do about this?

I can ~~intimidate~~ entice you all to give me your snake eggs.

In the event you’re actually still reading what can only be described as the most shameless blog post in the history of this company- remember that bit about Googa Mooga in the beginning? The giant music/food festival which sold out in like 20 seconds? Well guess who has a bunch of free freaking tickets to hold over your head to make you dance like cheese eating surrender monkeys?

My user name is AllisonF718. You give me your eggs, you let me know who you are and how many you have me over on Twitter or Facebook, and whoever gives me the most gets 2 general admission tickets to Saturday’s Googa, featuring Sharon Van Etten, Matt & Kim and more.

“But that’s not fair!” you say! “I was smart enough not to get sucked into that massive timewasting orgy of pointless phone tapping! Where are MY free tickets!” you say! Well don’t worry- I’ve set aside a few for bribes, but I still have more to give away to our devoted fans. You NEED to pay attention to our Twitter over the next few days, because that’s where I’m going to be doing it. What’s it going to entail? No freaking idea. I’m doing this the same way I make all my important decisions- I’m downing a few bourbons and then making some crap up. I’ve got a .631 average in good decision making that way, which is WAY better than most!

Now as I didn’t get sent a picture of today’s cupcakes from the kitchen last night, here’s random picture of Phyllis Diller.

Cupcakes would have looked better.

McFadden: Victorian lemonade cake made with Pimm’s, lemon ginger buttercream, candied lemon zest

German Chocolate: Chocolate cake, salted caramel buttercream, roasted coconut

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp: Brown sugar oat cake, vanilla buttercream, strawberry rhubarb compote, oat crisp

Hazelnut Kiss: Chocolate hazelnut cake, Nutella buttercream, roasted hazelnuts

Flavors: Friday, May 10th

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:30:30 -0400

We occasionally bake things for celebrities. I never take pictures or tweet about it or things like that because the way we see it, when you’re enjoying something sweet, it’s a little indulgent moment just for you. I don’t need to be sticking my face up in that, blowing you up to the world, ruining your little pocket of “me time” just because you’re famous! Enjoy whatever it is you’re eating! Cupcakes and such don’t care about what tv show you’re on or how many albums you’ve sold- they just want to make you smile in your tummy.

However, today I’m going to have to blow up someone’s spot and do a bit of bragging, because this is just too. Freaking. Cool.

Ladies and gentlemen - today we have made cupcakes for….

WINNER OF THE 2013 KENTUCKY DERBY ORB!!!

Mind you, this is the first time we’ve ever made anything for a horse, so I don’t know if he gets to eat any cupcakes, or if his handlers get to slowly eat it in front of him, inciting him into a jealous rage and making him want to win more. That could very well be the case. However what I DO know with absolute certainty is that horseys are the super-duper best, and Orb is apparently King of the Horses! SUCK IT, EVERY HORSE I’VE EVER ACTUALLY PUT MONEY ON! I’M A WINNER NOW!

Know who else is a winner? Your moms. And this weekend is Mother’s Day, meaning you should pick her up some special cupcakes, like our only-four-times-a-year Strawberry Champagne, or two of our Golden Girls cupcakes, or Banana Nutella (what mother doesn’t like Nutella? Aside from the ones with life threatening nut allergies?). You should buy your mom a few of these, load some Dirty Dancing up on Netflix, then slowly back out of the room and keep your freaking mouth shut all day. That’s the gift I’m hoping for.

Strawberry Champagne: Champagne cake, strawberry champagne buttercream and compote, edible gold dust

Bea Arthur: Black coffee chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

Estelle Getty: Amaretto cake, cheesecake buttercream, amaretti cookies

Banana Nutella: Banana cake, Nutella buttercream, banana hazelnut praline

A Letter to a First Time Father — Having it Some

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:59:41 -0400

A Letter to a First Time Father — Having it Some:

As I write this, one of my best friends is waiting for his first child to make her entrance into the world. I’m following along at home like…

I’m now officially a member of the writing staff of Medium with a bi-weekly column: “Having it Some”. This week I give some advice to one of my best friends on earth, who just welcomed his first daughter into the world. I’ve managed to keep my kids alive for six years now without serious injury or flat out losing them, so I’m now an authority who can dispense advice over the internet!

Flavors: Monday, May 6th

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:15:17 -0400

Building on Friday’s post- Rachel isn’t the only one with a new book out. Our good friend (and former employee) Siobhan Wallace of Blondie and Brownie fame has just released the authoritative guide to the NYC street food scene: New York a la Cart.

Siobhan is the one who looks like she’s about to stab someone even though she’s eating chocolate dipped soft serve ice cream. It’s reasons like that one that cause me to fall deeper and deeper in love with her every single day.

I know lots of our readers are living outside of NYC, and you need to get a copy of this just as much as us natives do. Aside from covering some of the better known, “new wave” or fancy well funded food trucks, Siobhan and Alex sought out vendors from all five boroughs — ones that represent the immigrant experience, scrappy entrepreneurs trucks that have been in families for generations. And they don’t just get their stores — they get their recipes, too! There is no food that is more New York that “street meat”, and yes, there’s recipes for that in here. There’s recipes for real NY hot dogs, tacos, dumplings, dosas, shaved ice, ceviche, and tons more.

Our Ultimate Nacho giveaway is still going on this week- remember to tweet us with why you want a free book and tag it #UltimateNachos. Both books can be found on Amazon, though I like doing my cookbook shopping from a small independent retailer when possible.

Now go eat cupcakes while I get back to copyedits on our upcoming book. I swear, this book is going to get finished……….eventually.

Bea Arthur: Black coffee chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

PB&J: Vanilla cake, peanut butter buttercream, grape jelly, roasted peanuts

S’Mores: Chocolate cake, speculoos pudding, toasted marshmallow buttercream, ganache, graham cracker crumbs

Blueberry Cobbler: Vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream, blueberry compote, brown sugar streusel

Flavors: Friday, May 3rd

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:00:15 -0400

It’s a DOUBLE holiday weekend! We have Derby day tomorrow, which I really know nothing about as I’m not from Kentucky or do I understand horseracing. I DO understand drinking though, so that’s what we’re going on!

It’s time for our once-a-year super-limited-edition-so-make-sure-you-snag-one Mint Julep cupcake. Each cake is made with muddled mint, real Kentucky bourbon, and garnished with a hand candied fresh mint leaf. I personally first developed this recipe many years ago when we were a young company and we’d only make a few dozen cupcakes a week. Now, many years and much success later, we have to candy many many more mint leafs, which is precisely why Matt spent last night cursing me out.

Whatever — it’s pretty!

Then Sunday we have Cinco de Mayo, aka “Day We Get Drunk for Something Something Mexico…..Who the F*** Knows”. and what goes better with daydrinking than cupcakes? I’ll tell you what- cupcakes AND nachos!

This, my friends, is the brand spanking new book Ultimate Nachos written by Nachos NY co-founder (and Robicelli’s Chef de Cuisine) Rachel Anderson. Have you ever been at a restaurant and thought “I really want nachos, but there are so many other awesome things on this menu that I also love and want to eat til I’m sick!”. Well Rachel has TOTALLY changed the entire game and made all your filthy eating dreams come true. Alongside recipes for healthy salsas and guacs (boo healthy!), there’s recipes for:

-Philly Cheesesteak Nachos

-Buffalo Chicken Nachos

-Fried Calamari Nachos

-Black and Blue Burger Nachos

-Nacho Dumplings

Know what this is called, kids? MULTITASKING. You buy this book, you feel more productive. You make 10 different types of nachos, your friends come over and drop dead from being shocked with awesome, and you get to drink all their Coronas. You are now the emperor of Cinco de Mayo.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, this professional website/blog is hosting it’s first ever (possibly only) GIVEAWAY! And since Rachel works for us, we were able to secure two books by simply threatening to withhold her paycheck. Here’s how to win a copy:

Option 1: Hit us up on Twitter and tell us why I should give you a book, followed by the tag #UltimateNachos. Make me laugh, Send pics. Whomever amuses me the most gets a copy.

Option 2: Send me a photo of you with some nachos over on Instagram, again with the hashtag #UltimateNachos. Please no porn. I hate that I have to say that, but it’s happened before, and it’s pretty weird for us. I really wish I was joking about this part.

We’ll pick a winner sometime next week, so if you can’t wait to expand your nacho horizons you probably should just head on over to Amazon and buy it. You can preorder another book while you’re over there, if you’re in a book buying mood.

Now it’s time for you to go out and grab our Derby cupcake, Mint Julep, or our Cinco de Mayo cupcakes, Tres Leches and Abuelita, or Banana Cashew, which isn’t affiliated with any holiday but I didn’t want it feeling left out so I still included it in this sentence! Enjoy the weekend, everybody!

Mint Julep: Mint bourbon cake, vanilla buttercream, hand candied mint leaf

Abuelita: Mexican chocolate cake, cajeta buttercream, ground Abuelita chocolate

Tres Leches: Three milk soaked brown butter cake, dulce de leche buttercream, caramel shards

Banana Cashew: Banana cake, cashew buttercream, homemade cashew butter

Nacho images courtesy of Karen Wise.

Flavors: Monday, April 29th

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:20:30 -0400

BIG DAY THIS WEDNESDAY!

We’re going to be at The World’s Largest Bakesale at Grand Central Station with Sandra Lee! And YES I had to use the picture where she’s dressed up like Cher!

This event benefits Share Our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” campaign, and all money made that day will go directly to helping eradicating childhood hunger in America. Not just profits — every single cent we make. And we’re bringing well over 1,000 pieces, so we’re hoping you’ll come down for the day and help us do some serious damage.

And it’s not just us! You’ll be able to buy stuff from over thirty awesome bakeries and restaurants, including places like Del Posto, Jean Georges, Gramercy Tavern and more. You are going to eat better than you ever have in your entire freaking life, you’ll be helping feed needy kids, AND if we all sell out, we’ll have officially set a world record for the largest bakesale in history. Don’t you want to be a part of that?

If all that do-gooding and dessert eating wasn’t enough for you, there’s some awesome people co-chairing this event: aside from Ms. Lee, there’s Martha Stewart, Mario Batali, Emerill Lagasse, and WENDY FREAKING WILLIAMS.

She doesn’t need to be dressing up like Cher - Wendy Freaking Williams really is just that damn faboosh. That wasn’t even a real word, but that’s the type of woman she is. You need to make up a whole separate book of brand spanking new adjectives for Wendy Freaking Williams. Things like “Batankah” and “Schmoovious”. Lowly, simple, common English words would never be able to do the enormity of this woman justice. I don’t know if she’ll personally be there, but if I encounter Wendy Freaking Williams, I may pass out because my body cannot handle the amount of awesome she radiates.

Now to the menu. We’ll be bringing:

-Limited Edition Mint Julep Pound cake (made with lots of real Kentucky bourbon — great to have on hand for some Derby watchin’ this weekend)

-Our Famous Carrot Cake

-Mini Brownies Sampler: featuring our Classic Sea Salt and Fany (cajeta cinnamon) varieties

-Ultimate Nutella Whoopie Pie: Valrhona chocolate shells filled with Nutella buttercream and crunchy hazelnut praline

You’ll have to head to Grand Central Station on Wednesday beginning at 10am to get your hands on that particular stuff, but you can head to some of our retail partners right now and pick up brownies, whoopie pies, cakes, and these cupcakes we made last night. They are also pretty damn faboosh if I do say so myself.

Ebinger: Chocolate cake, chocolate custard buttercream, chocolate fudge, chocolate cake crumbs

Dom DeLuise: Pistachio cake, cannoli cream buttercream, roasted pistachios, candied citron, chocolate chips

Liddabit: Chocolate cake, salted caramel nougat buttercream, roasted peanuts, ganache & caramel drizzle

Funky Monkey: Banana chocolate chip cake, peanut butter buttercream, banana chip, ganache

Flavors: Friday, April 26th

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:00:25 -0400

As I mentioned in my schpeil on Medium earlier this week, Robicelli’s is a lot more than just cupcakes. We’ve got whoopie pies (which you may know from places Red Hook Lobster Pound), brownies (which you may have had at places like Madison Square Garden), hot cocoa (blah blah blah Bergdorf Goodman) and more.

One item that doesn’t make a lot of noise are our loaf cakes, because it’s really hard to get super excited about those. It’s not that they’re not amazing- they’re pretty much our cupcakes, but with the flavor turned up to 11 and baked in loaves instead of cups, and without buttercream. See what I was talking about in that Medium article? It’s all marketing. It’s like cupcakes are Mila Kunis, and loaf cakes are Joan Cusack. I’d like to have lunch with both of them, but no one is asking Joan to be on the cover of Maxim.

But now, loaf cakes will have their moment in the sun!

See this sexy- ass restaurant right here? This is Little Prince in SoHo, the amazing new restaurant from La Rivage’s Paul Denamiel. They make something called a “French Onion Soup Burger”, so that’s really enough to inspire you to trample all the tourists ambling down Prince street looking for $2,000 sunglasses to eat there right this very second. If you’re reading this in the middle of the night I’d suggest you just go and sleep on their steps, because once this burger is in your head it’s not going to leave until it’s also in your stomach.

But let’s talk what happens AFTER the burger.

Desserts at Little Prince are being baked by yours truly. This spring, our Grapefruit Bitters pound cake is on the menu, lightly toasted with some French butter, then topped with gin-macerated berries and unsweetened whipped cream. Also on the menu is our classic sea salt brownie, topped with mascarpone gelato and brandied cherries.

But saw you are still not impressed with loaf cakes and want cupcakes for dessert. That’s still doable. You can walk a few more blocks to —

Slide on Bleeker Street, which features a flight of our cupcakes on their menu. Or you can walk a bit north to:

Oaxaca Taqueria, who offers our Fany brownie for dessert.

In the event you don’t like going out to eat, or even live in NYC, then you should check out our webstore, where you can buy loaf cakes and brownies and have them shipped to your house. You can have all that deliciousness brought to you without even having to put on pants! Well, you’ll have to wait a few days for us to bake it, ship it, and then for the delivery guy to find your house, so you may actually want to put on some pants so you can go out and grab some sunshine (Vitamin D deficiency is no laughing matter, and Matt and I can’t in good conscience support it).

And if you if you live in NYC and like going outside with regularity, you can hit all these restaurants, or you can visit us at next weeks Great American Bake Sale in Grand Central Terminal, or you can visit our retail partners who are getting these cupcakes today:

The JoJo: Salty chocolate cake, dark chocolate buttercream, sea salt, cookie crumbs

Duckwalk: Vanilla cake, blueberry port syrup, blueberry port mascarpone buttercream, port simmered blueberries

Banoffee: Banana cake, toffee pudding, mascarpone buttercream, homemade toffee candy

The Aris: Walnut orange cake, Greek yogurt buttercream, honey spice walnuts

PS: If you own a restaurant, want good quality desserts tailored to your restaurant, but don’t have the room/budget for an in house pastry chef, you should give us a call! We will design and produce unique dessert items just for your concept- pastry chefs who are neither seen nor heard. Like ghosts! Ooooh, you should put that on the menu- “Pastry Chef: SPOOKY GHOSTS”. Everyone will order dessert because no one wants to piss off the undead, and you increase your check totals. I am so full of good ideas tonight!

Cupcake Wars — Food for Thought

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:51:46 -0400

Cupcake Wars — Food for Thought:

Cupcakes are officially over everybody! The internet says so. Let’s all celebrate the destruction of millions of American jobs by going on …

I am thrilled that the incredible people over at Medium asked me to use their platform to finally come out and defend the humble cupcakes against all this “Cupcakes are Dead” nonsense. Mostly because I try my best to keep this blog PG (ok, maybe PG-13), and there is a CRAPTON of foul language in this thing. I’m a 4th generation Italian girl from Brooklyn- I get “colorful” when I get angry. I also do a lot of crazy stuff with my hands, but you guys can’t see that over the internet.

Hope you enjoy the article, and that it helps people stop raining on the cupcake parade so much. Seriously — we should be able to eat our damn cake in peace without people judging us for it.

Fun fact: I didn’t go to culinary school. In fact, my first major was something altogether far...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:00:11 -0400

Fun fact: I didn’t go to culinary school. In fact, my first major was something altogether far more practical- the theatre. And I didn’t just go to any rinky dink crapshow of a theatre school either! No, I attended the prestigious Conservatory of the Arts at Boston University. And after giving them tens of thousands of dollars to further my abilities as a storyteller, I decided that I needed a more stable career and eventually ended up in the food business. Because if there’s one thing money can’t buy you, it’s a degree in solid decision making.

After spending years living on it, I haven’t been on the stage in over 12 years. But tonight at 8pm I make my triumphant return! And only one project could be important enough to coax me out of self-imposed retirement…….

A live reading of the original Michael Bay script for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie!

I know almost nothing about the script, because even though it was sent to me last week to begin preparing my role, I totally spazzed on reading it and figured I’d just wing it (just like the actors in real Michael Bay movies do! BOOM! THAT JUST HAPPENED!). What makes this script notable is not only does it involve turtles who happen to be ninjas, but the original draft was so bad that it was scrapped and the movie had to be pushed back.

Read that again: this script was actually too bad to be made into a Michael Bay movie.

Tidbits I’ve gathered from the internet:

“The film’s villain is named Colonel Schrader, and he’s the head of a secret military operation backed by an army nicknamed “the Foot.” Casey Jones is apparently the main protagonist. He and and April O’Neil are 18-year-olds, dating and in high school. Casey spends his time as a security guard at a furniture factory (he’s also an amateur hockey player). April is getting ready to move to New York for an internship at CBS, where she will meet the turtles who are indeed from outer space. Specifically, Dimension X. The Turtles make Kung Fu Panda jokes and wear color coded masks because, as the script states, it was cool in Reservoir Dogs.”

I can only gather that last bit was written to ensure some sort of Buscemi /ConAir/Armageddon crossover situation.

What separates the great actors from ones who didn’t spend a small fortune on acting classes is research, research, research. Now I will pull back the proverbial curtain and bring you all face to face with the very soul of an actor!

I will be playing Shredder…..ahem, Colonel Schrader. And I would be remiss to be playing a Colonel without taking the chance to hat tip to the greatest Colonel of all time. Which is why, much like Captain Jack Sparrow was a spiritual cousin to Keith Richards, my Colonel Schrader will be a spiritual cousin of:

In the three paragraphs I read, I learned that the center of Colonel Schrader’s evil activities is an area that’s dark and industrial, so inconspicuous, and so just goshdarn evil that no one notices thousands of masked foot shoulders trafficking in giant containers of contraband weapons and convention produce in the middle of the night: The Brooklyn Navy Yard. Twenty five seconds of Googling taught me that the Navy Yard is filled with such ruffians as scenery designers, a “knitting mill” (sounds dubious), a bunch of hippie artists working out their feelings, more than several “construction companies” (we all know what “construction company” is code for), an artisinal spirits company, and a company specializing in “leather goods and accessories”. Meaning my colonel will be a dandy of a man with powerful ties across the velvet mafia, fabulous accessories, and a thirst for cocktails infused with locally-sourced wood smoke.

THAT is what a professional looks like. And you can come experience the magic too at 8pm tonight at Union Hall in Brooklyn. Check out the Facebook listing for more information. I have no idea who the hell else is in this, but they were also probably randomly asked by my friend who recently quit his job to pursue his dreams of becoming a sideshow freak, so I’m sure they’re cool.

Now, this week’s cupcakes! We’ve got to Spring/Summer flavors that came back- the McFadden, and Horchata! YAY!h

McFadden: Victorian lemonade cake made with Pimm’s, lemon ginger buttercream, candied lemon zest

The Siobhan: Chocolate cake, bourbon butterscotch buttercream, chocolate chips

Horchata: Horchata cake, pudding and buttercream, cinnamon sugar rice crisp

Kahlua Banana: Chocolate banana cake, kahlua coffee buttercream, kahlua chocolate sauce

Flavors: April 19th, and 4/20 Weekend

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:00:11 -0400

Dude, are you, like, SEEING this right now bro! Like, REALLY seeing it! It’s like the entire universe is in there, which is like, you know, I can eat one and it’s like I’m not even here sometimes, just like feeling the cupcake you know bro? Like, totally being in it, and then, like, it’s like I’m not even there anymore. So like, where am I? Is the cupcake inside of me, or like, am I the cupcake? Bro- seriously. Seriously bro. I f***ing love you guys.

And because I love you so much, we’ve brought back our annual 4/20 menu, filled with lots of snacky munchie awesomeness for you to nosh on, in the event you’d, like, need something like that for some totally legal reason. Like, maybe you’re having a tea party or something? That would be nice.

LIMITED EDITION! Mary Jane: Peanut molasses cake, peanut butter buttercream, Mary Jane caramel, roasted peanuts

S’Mores: Chocolate cake, speculoos pudding, toasted marshmallow buttercream, ganache, graham cracker crumbs

Pecan Potato Chip: Pecan potato chip cake, vanilla buttercream, salted butterscotch, roasted pecans, potato chips

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel: Chocolate cake, salted caramel buttercream, crushed pretzels, ganache

Flavors: Monday, April 15th

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:00:32 -0400

Remember a few months back when we planned a one day lecture/pop-up shop out east in Quogue, but then a few days before we were supposed to go out it seemed like it was going to snow, and the The Weather Channel started going “AAAAHHHHHHH IT’S A BLIZZARPOCOLYPSE AND WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”, we were were all “NOOOOOO!!!” and cancelled our pop-up, and then everyone went to Costco and bought all the potato chips and bottled water they could and we stayed home waiting for the end, and then it snowed like 4 inches?

And that’s the story of how Costco was out of Cool Ranch Doritos for four whole days and it totally ruined Crainium night at our house.

Point is we weren’t just going to up and cancel on the good people of Quogue, so we reschedueled for a date where we were (almost) certain there would be no snow - and that date is this coming Sunday!

If you’re interested in coming down, you’ll need to register first, as there’s limited space in our venue, the Quogue Library. If you’re from Long Island and have yet to visit the Quogue Library, this is a perfect excuse to go- it’s been rated one of the top 10 libraries in the entire country, it’s got a tiny one room schoolhouse from the 18th century on the grounds, and you’ll get to watch me running around the grounds for about three hours flipping my crap over all the historical architecture, because I am so, so lame.

Now for the baked goods that are going to stores in the right now in New York City. We forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes today, so instead enjoy this image of a young Scott Baio in teeny tiny white shorts. Happy Monday!

Turtle: Chocolate cake, salted caramel buttercream, roasted pecans, caramel and ganache drizzle

Cinnamon Bun: Cinnamon spotted cake, cream cheese buttercream, cinnamon butterscotch, streusel

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, vanilla custard buttercream roasted coconut

Banana Cream Pie: Banana cake, vanilla custard, custard buttercream, banana chip, graham cracker crumbs

Flavors: Friday, April 12th

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:00:29 -0400

I’ve been intending to write more blog posts about the behind-the-scenes goings on regarding our upcoming cookbook for a while, since I’m asked so many questions about how it all comes together (it’s actually incredibly interesting, which makes you wonder why I haven’t spoken about this earlier and rather have posted an ungodly amount of cute animal photos instead. Then again who needs to question baby animals on the internet- those are always appropriate!).

One thing I’ve been terrified about is making a mistake. I’ve got hundreds of cookbooks in my collection, and I’d say nearly all of them have a typo, or an accidental omission, or some other sort of error. I never understood how or why this would happen- you figure that the people at major publishing houses are some sort of insane type-A sorcerers who would make sure these things would never happen, right? And certainly many of you out there must feel the same way- go look up some cookbooks on Amazon and read the anonymous customer reviews. So many frowny face emoticons!

Well that sure as hell isn’t going to happen to OUR book! I went over our book with a fine toothed comb, as did the good people at Penguin/Viking Studio, and then finally our copyeditor. After all of that, it was sent back to me for a once over before we go to print. This is what I got in the mail:

Yep. A year of writing and editing, followed by months of more edits, re-reads, revisions, and there she is- our cookbook! To get a better scope of this:

Two hundred and seventy five pages. That’s what a lot of coffee and not sleeping for weeks on end will get you. And with all the work we all did, those pages came back flawless, right?

Blurred to keep you in suspense! And also to keep this blog PG- there’s some drawings of boobs in the margins.

Two hundred and seventy five pages of corrections, edits, and “other”. This leads me to understand one thing- copyeditors are superheroes. I must have been over this manuscript about 50 times, my agent has been over it, and many, many hands have touched it over at Penguin, namely my editor and her amazing assistant. And still, we find things to tweak here and there- ways to make instructions clearer, jokes funnier, stories tighter.

What’s even more amazing to me is that with all the hard work I put into this book, how hard I tried to make it perfect, it STILL ended up being 275 pages riddled with little mistakes. Invisible to Matt, myself- probably everyone except our superhuman copyeditor, and of course to the worlds absolutely highest authority- anyone who would have inevitably reviewed it on Amazon.

Lesson learned: cut all the cookbooks in my collection some slack, because this crap is HARD. I didn’t even take into account getting an agent, or writing a proposal, or shopping the book around, or writing the book, or rewriting it after I decided the first draft sucked, or developing the recipes, or photographing and styling the cupcakes, or any of the other stuff I know I’m forgetting. I’m basing this all on the past 8 hours sitting over a cup of coffee with this manuscript, pouring over small print, reading and rereading every single word, wondering why they don’t just go ahead and start serving bourbon at Starbucks already because people like me would gladly triple their stock value off that fact alone.

So I forgive you, all the cookbooks I’ve been mean to! I didn’t know how rough you had it! And all of you out there- go forgive some of your cookbooks, too. Tell them you know they’re doing their best. Then maybe go leave them a nice little something over on Amazon- that peanut gallery can be pretty brutal.

But before any of that, go grab cupcakes- it’s the first appearance of our seasonal spring cupcake Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp! And personal favorite Blueberry Blintz is back from the vault as well for the first time in what feels like ages - I should put that on the menu more often. Mental note made. If you have other suggestions what should go on our menu for the next few months, hit me up on Facebook and let me know!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp: Brown sugar oat cake, vanilla buttercream, strawberry rhubarb compote, oat crisp

Car Bomb: Chocolate Guinness stout cake, Jameson whiskey ganache, Bailey’s buttercream

Bananas Foster: Banana cake, salted caramel rum buttercream and drizzle

Blueberry Blintz: Brown sugar cake, sour cream bavarian filling and buttercream, blueberries, toasted almonds

Flavors: Monday, April 8th

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Googa Mooga is ALL SOLD OUT. Lobster Roll Rumble is ALL SOLD OUT. But there are still a few tickets available for next weeks Tasting Brooklyn, AND we’re going to have another big event announcement soon!

And it may involve this picture. 30% chance it’s Matt dressed as Cher.

In the meantime you can still only find us through the shops we wholesale to, private delivery in NYC (including event catering!), or via mailorder- Matt and I have decided not to do any weekly markets this year so we can actually see our kids on their days off. The entity and popular internet search result known as the DeKalb Market was demolished last year- and by demolished, I don’t mean “relocated” or “not open for the season just yet” or “on hiatus”. I mean big construction machines were brought onsite, everything was smashed to bits, the land was ripped up and a huge skyscraper with a Century 21 and perhaps a Jamba Juice is being put in it’s place. So PLEASE stop telling us “you haven’t been down there but have been meaning to go”, or worse yet calling us to tell us that you’re at the address but you can’t find anything but a giant hole in the ground. It’s impossible to delete DeKalb from the recesses of the internet, and Matt and I feel horrible with every single phone call we answer that involves a bunch of lost tourists or people who have traveled for over an hour on the subway just to find a big, dark hole in the ground. It’s gone forever. Don’t go there.

Will we ever have a storefront again? I can’t even think about that question right now because the only thing I can think of is blowing up buildings so they can be replaced by Jamba Juices. And what could possibly be better than blowing sh*t up? Why, blowing sh*t up to the strains of a smooth EZ listening instrumental featuring ample amount of pan flute solos, that’s what!

I’m not going to say that I’m SURE videos like this are the reason the internet was invented, but I will say that it’s highly probable. It’s still between that and this:

I really need a playlist of YouTube soundtracks. Someone get on that.

Now to today’s flavors!

Caramel Macchiato: Chocolate espresso cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, chocolate covered espresso beans, ganache & caramel drizzle

Tres Leches: Three milk soaked brown butter cake, dulce de leche buttercream, caramel shards

Lime in de Coconut: Coconut lime cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted coconut and lime zest

The Duckie: Peanut cake, peanut butter pudding, marshmallow buttercream, roasted peanuts

Flavors: Friday, April 5th

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:30:25 -0400

So on Monday, I got a few frantic emails and texts asking me if I had completely lost my mind. Apparently everyone I know - we’re talking my friends, my agent, my family- couldn’t figure out that Monday’s post was an April Fool’s Day joke until they got all the way down to the disclaimer waaaaaaay at the bottom.

Let’s look at that fact a little closer. Halfway through the post, I featured this picture:

And yet everyone I know STILL thought this was a serious post for several more paragraphs. I don’t think this speaks as poorly for them and their gullibility as it does for me, and the fact that the people who know me best would honestly think that a picture of Grover Cleveland as a chicken could be a legitimate part of my logic process.

I won’t let peoples doubts about my competency as a human being kill my buzz over the fact that with our April Fools post, my writers block seems to be officially over!!! Let’s not pretend that this blog hasn’t been sucking something awful for a few weeks and I’ve totally been phoning it in, because I have, and I completely apologize for that.

I went through a massive depression after completing the book, which I wasn’t really expecting. I spent the better part of 18 months with my entire life revolving around planning, proposing, selling, writing, rewriting, RErewriting, photographing, and editing this thing, and then suddenly a few weeks ago my part was done, and the center of my universe was suddenly in someone elses hands. Now all I can really do is wait until October when I’ll be able to hold the finished book for the first time, pray people buy it, and that’s really about it.

Apparently this is a very common thing amongst authors - someone in the industry compared it to having a baby, then immediately having the baby whisked away from you and returned when they’re 22 and “finished”. Considering I’ve suffered from post partum depression before (which I chronicled here), I suppose I should have expected this (and of course I didn’t, because I am DUMB).

Point is, being depressed and sitting down late at night, staring a blank computer screen, telling yourself “BE FUNNY NOW DAMNIT!!!”- that doesn’t work out as easily as you would hope. Also learned that eating a pint of ice cream will not somehow miraculously make the magic happen.

But Grover Cleveland has seemingly changed all of that! I’m back on the horse and ready to post things that make us all slightly dumber two times a week!

PS- Watch Happy Endings on ABC tonight because if this show gets cancelled there will be no ending my depression and I will hold you all responsible AND YOU WILL ALL FEEL MY WRATH.

I will also be making you hungry two times a week, regardless if my writing is any good or not! Like right now!

Toasted Almond: Almond cake, vanilla buttercream, toasted almonds

Chocolate Graham: Chocolate cake, graham cracker buttercream, ganache, graham crumbs

Pecan French Toast: Maple custard soaked cinnamon cake, maple cinnamon buttercream, maple glazed pecans

Hot Sundae: Chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream, chocolate fudge, marachino cherry

Flavors: April 1st

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0400

Big news today, guys!

First off, we hope you all had a terrific Easter, and that got to enjoy the arrival (finally!) of the gorgeous blue skies and fluffy cotton clouds and all the other things we’ve been been so terribly deprived of over the past few months. We took the opportunity to make our first voyage out of town with the boys for 2013, to a very elegant Crowne Plaza off exit 8 on the NJ Turnpike.

Very nice hotel, btw!

Now, if you’ve been reading this blog for a long time, you know when we go out of town, “big news” almost always follows. Matt and I spend a few days out of the city, cell phones off, and enjoying time with our children who are (as expected) growing up too fast, and we come home with a renewed energy about our lives, a lot of clarity about our future, and usually some throw pillows and underwear because there’s a Target out here.

For a few months now, we’ve felt a little like hamsters on a wheel. We’re almost at the 5th anniversary of being in business, and we just passed the 4th anniversary of the first time we made cupcakes. We’ve made over 300 flavors of the damn things, and have a book coming out about them in October. Thing is, making them is somewhat emotionally unfulfilling, sort of like what Drew Barrymore must feel every time she makes a movie.

We make lots more than just cupcakes- like brownies and other stuff- but all anyone cares about is the freaking cupcakes. It doesn’t matter how much pastry science we know, how many things we make- the cupcakes are our wheel, we’re the hamsters, and we’ll forever and ever be taking care of business and getting to the “Working Overtime” part. (props to the six people who got that reference)

As of late, with planning for Googa Mooga and other projects and just doing our jobs as usual, it’s been sort of hard. We’re stuck in a rut and are missing that passion, that creative spark that we had years ago when we set out to save cupcakes and make ones that didn’t taste like a mixture of shortening, sugar, and ass. We needed something to revive us, to inspire us. And the only way we know how to do that is to get in the car and drive to someplace with an indoor pool and an unlimited breakfast buffet.

I told you it was nice! And they have blintzes!

Funny thing is, this time, the moment of clarity came quickly. It came before the rest and relaxation- before we even got to the hotel. We barely got off the Goethals Bridge when we encountered this, which can only be seen as destiny:

Now to most of you, this would appear as simply a sign advertising a run-of-the-mill rest stop, albeit one with a Roy Rogers so maybe y’all should be rethinking that “run-of-the-mill” comment. But to Matt and I, we could only see what it is now obvious God wanted us to see- the name “Grover Cleveland”. When anyone thinks of Grover Cleveland, they think of three things:

1. Only president to serve two non-consecutive terms

2. Granted a Federal injunction in the Pullman strike

3. Looks like a giant chicken.

Don’t believe me? Here’s HARD EVIDENCE:

Long story short, after a solid 10 minutes of singing whatever was playing on the radio in the style of dueting chickens, we started talking about how much we loved them. I mean, they’re so compact! We try to buy things locally, but truth is there’s no was we could ever achieve “Brooklyn” levels of sustainability when we don’t have the room to be milling our own flour and churning our own butter in our teeny tiny apartment. But chickens? You could probably stack those babies ten high and five across in your basic freestanding wardrobe from Ikea. We could put them on leashes and take them on walks, we could read them stories and play them pan flute music. It’s this sort of logic that explains why there are 65 chickens from a small farm in New Jersey currently crammed into the trunk of my Honda Civic.

It’s funny how life works. One second you’re on the road, wondering who you are and what it’s all about, and POOF!, the answers appear. The initial passion we had as young chefs and entrepreneurs came flooding back to us, like in that Celine Dion song. It was like we both had a flashforward, saw our future as vividly as day, and knew what we were supposed to be doing.

Ladies and gentlemen- today will be the final day to get Robicelli’s baked goods. We loved it, it’s been fun, but let’s be honest- cupcakes stopped being interesting 14 years ago, pie never took off, and nobody wants to write about brownies or any of the other stuff we make. People in Brooklyn want NEW and EXCITING and MEANINGFUL FOODS THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT GIMMICKY AT ALL AND REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SERIOUS.

Beginning this Saturday, Robicelli’s will now be your one-stop-shop for…….

ARTISAN DEVILLED EGGS!

Matt and I spent a good 15 to 20 minutes while driving between exit 9 and exit 8A sketching this whole thing out, pulled over at a WaWa and scribbled a business plan out on a napkin, and now we’ve got a book deal, commitments at at least 3 artisan markets, with a retail storefront planned for the Lower East Side at some point in late summer. This is a big deal guys, and you are going to have your socks knocked COMPLETELY off. Even if you wear flip flops.

Prepare ye for such bold flavors as:

the lorimer: whipped goat cheese, crispy beet, microgreens we stole from from Jonathan Safran Foer’s Chia Herb Garden

the nostrand: charred shishito pepper aioli, Sheepshead bluefish crudo, crushed Taki dust

the 26th & 3rd under the gowanus: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMPPPS

the bay ridge parkway: badger milk buratta, Jersey tomato confit, Ed Hardy scented frizzled artichokes

I can’t even bring myself to type anymore because I’m getting so hungry and I’ve already eaten all 18 hard boiled eggs my kids dyed for Easter and need to place myself til the morning. Just know that this is only the beginning, folks! This is still Robicelli’s, and just because we’ve moved from baked goods to devilled eggs doesn’t mean we’re radically altering our business. In fact, we currently have a menu that features over 460 varieties of devilled egg! About 230 of them are just with crumbled bacon, but each one is a bacon from a different farm so it counts.

So get excited folks! And go out and grab as many of these as you can for one final sweet moment where you can say goodbye. Maybe pick up an extra to sell on Craig’s List!

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel

Caramel Macchiato: Chocolate espresso cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, crushed chocolate espresso beans

The Siobhan: Chocolate cake, bourbon butterscotch buttercream, mini chocolate chips

Banana Cream Pie: Banana cake, vanilla custard, custard buttercream, banana chip, graham crumbs

*****NOTE: Before anyone emails me over this post, please go back and read the date. If you still don’t get it, please Google the date. Thank you for your Googling in advance****

Easter Flavors: Friday, March 29th

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:00:14 -0400

How are all the other parents out there holding up with Spring Break? Good? Ours were home all of last week with the flu, then this week with the vacation, so, um- yeah, Matt and I are holding up just great right now. Greeeeeaaaaaat.

With what few brain cells I still have that are functioning, we’ll get to some big news:

We’re going to be at this years Great Googa Mooga in Prospect Park! And this year will be bigger and better than ever, with plans for more food, shorter lines, faster service, and ten times the GoogaDeliciousness (obvious since we’re invited). You can check out the entire food lineup here, and click our name to add us to your GoogaLine-up.

There’s music too, but I’m ignoring all that out of outrage that the GoogaOrganizers did not take my suggestions of getting Billy Ocean to headline. And he’s NOT busy……I checked.

I bet after watching that, you’re pretty pissed Billy Ocean isn’t playing either. I’m going to promise that if you swing by our booth and request it, Matt and I will gladly serenade you with some Carribean Queen, or maybe some Get Out of My Dreams (Get Into My Car). Robicelli’s: proprietors or delicious desserts and smooth adult contemporary hits.

Now for this years Easter cupcakes! Direct ordering for the holiday is already full, but you can certainly check our retail partners for these- and the Pizza Grana is a once a year creation, so if you don’t get to try it this weekend, you’ll have to wait for next year.

Carrot Cake: Carrot cake, cream cheese buttercream, roasted walnuts

Pizza Grana: Italian citrus cake, ricotta wheatberry buttercream, pie crust shards, candied citrus

Banana Nutella: Banana cake, Nutella buttercream, banana hazelnut praline

Dom DeLuise: Pistachio cake, cannoli buttercream, pistachios, candied citron, mini chocolate chips