Robicelli's

You may have noticed that for the second week in a row, I didn’t do a Wednesday post. Or maybe just my mom notices these things and points them out. Moms are always good for that.

Anyway, til the end of the year I’m taking Wednesday off from writing the blog and will just be posting videos, links or silly non-original content on that day instead. We’re crazy busy with Sandy relief, our Fab sale, filling tons of private orders for corporate gifts, shipping Christmas gifts all over from our online store, and last but not least, I’m finishing up the first draft of the book (coming out in less then 12 months!). If I think of any good jokes this month I’m throwing them into that. You guys are going to be getting a lot of the B-list material for a few weeks, like how I’m feeling about holiday movies on ABC Family, or things I’ve seen on infomercials that I really want. Remember how a while ago we were like “we’re going to try to take it easy this holiday to spend more time with the kids”?  Well in the 6 minutes of free time I have each week, I’m spending it nearly comatose in front of the tv watching crap like this:

Not only am I wondering why I watched this the other night, I’m still trying to figure out how it was made in the first place.  Also, if the Brady Bunch could get back together for this thing 14 years after they went off the air, how the hell is no one getting the cast of Full House back together for a Christmas special?!?!? They never had a proper series finale, they’re all still good friends, Stephanie is off the meth, and John Stamos is actually getting hotter as he ages. If I wasn’t so busy, I’d totally start a petition, or make a video where I dress my cats up like Bob Saget & Dave Coulier and sing Christmas songs with them.

As amazing as my ideas are, I’m pretty sure that no matter how many signatures we’d get, the Olsen twins would screw everything up. Though let’s be honest- would anyone have a big problem if Michelle was killed off? Because I wouldn’t- that show really jumped the shark once they started focusing on her. Get the whole cast back together for one last Christmas in San Francisco, then just slip in that she was eaten by wild pumas on a Honeybee camping trip. Honestly, I think most fans will actually prefer this.

(It’s times like this I’m really glad I don’t know how to use Photoshop, because I’d then I’d stay up all night fabricating a picture of pumas eating one of the Olsen twins instead of sleeping. Though if one of you would like to make this picture happen, please send it to me and I’ll totally post it and link back to your site.)  

Moving on to actual business:

Our sale on Fab.com is still on til Sunday! We’re sold out of a few items, but there’s still plenty more deliciousness on sale to be had.  

If you for some reason forget to order from Fab this weekend, you can still send our brownies and other stuff to your friends and family across the US through our online store, or can send someone (or yourself) cupcakes for Christmas Eve provided you’re in Brooklyn or Manhattan. And as I mentioned before, we are doing corporate gifting, though you need to email me directly at allison@robicellis.com for that as we do this on a custom basis.

Now let’s close with talking about this weekend, namely….. HANUKKAH!!! Our once a year Hanukkah cupcake, “The Blatt”, is making it’s triumphant return- it’s as if a cupcake had a baby with a jelly doughnut, then THAT baby grew up and when it reached the proper age of consent made sweet love to a cheesecake, and the result of that sweet love was the Blatt. It’s so good, and you have 8 crazy nights to put it in your tummy. We’re also full on into holiday mode now, so start enjoying all these flavors for the brief window they’re available!

Clockwise from front: Eggnog, The Blatt, Cranberry Gingerbread, Chocolate Candy Cane

The Blatt (limited editon for Hanukkah!): Vanilla cake, raspberry jam, cheesecake buttercream, fried cookie dough

Eggnog: Eggnog cake & buttercream, freshly grated nutmeg

Cranberry Gingerbread: Gingerbread cake, vanilla buttercream, homemade cranberry compote

Chocolate Candy Cane: Mint chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

Dear Santa:

How have you been? Did you have a nice summer? How is your wife? I have been extra good this year, so here is the long list of presents I want this year. Please note the size and color of each item, and send as many as possible. If it seems too complicated, make it easy on yourself: just send money.  How about tens and twenties?

1. Tickets to “Sleep No More”.  I’ve been asking all year, Santa, and I’ve been extra EXTRA good just for this, so please make it happen. My kids get everything, and that’s fine- I love them to death and would give them the whole world if I could.  And I have forfeited Christmas and birthday gifts for the past few years so we could save money and throw everything we had back into the business.  And I would have no problem skipping another year, except I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT TO SEE THIS SHOW. 

And please promise me that it’s even more awesome than I think it is, because I hate it when I get so utterly hopelessly stoked for something and it doesn’t live up to expectation.  Maybe I have high standards, maybe I expect too much. I’m a woman, gaddamn it! I will never be happy with anything!!  ANYTHING!!!  

2. LASIK Surgery.  Actually, I hate surgery, so if I can just wake up with 20/20 vision, that would be sweet.  I’m sick of walking into doors in the middle of the night on account of my blindness.

3.  A Really Big Steak.  Just keep this on every list I ever send you.  There will never, ever be a day this doesn’t make me deliriously happy.  I prefer a bone-in ribeye, with a perfectly charred outside and a juicy medium rare center.  I also request that I be able to eat this steak with my bare hands and making whatever primal grunts or coos that I deem necessary without judgement.

4. Center Ice Rangers Seats.  I don’t get to follow hockey anymore because of that whole “raising young kids while running a small business” thing, but I miss it a lot.  If you can just talk Atticus & Toby to sitting down and watching one full game with me instead of forcing me to change the channel to “Yo Gabba Gabba”, that really would be just as good. And if we could all be eating steaks- WIN!

5. Jem Dolls.  Yes, I had ALL of them when I was six, and yes, we gave ALL of them away.  And yes, I now understand in adulthood that the show was actually created by Hasbro, and the entire Jem series was nothing but a really long commercial.  I should be too smart for this.  Yet I started Tivoing the old cartoon (it’s on the HUB network!), and within the first five minutes, I was on Ebay trying to track down all the dolls again.  Their hair was sooooo pretty.  

And if we can’t make the dolls happen, can we at least guarantee that Matt won’t laugh at me when I sing and dance during all the musical numbers? I still do a mean “Glitter and Gold”.

6. Another Steak.

7. The Ability to Understand Why Chicks Like Shoes So Much.  I have been trying, Santa.  I’ve been trying for 31 years- I just don’t freaking get it.  Who’s looking at your feet! Seriously! I wear the same pair of chef shoes every day, and have been wearing chef shoes for almost 10 years. I feel like maybe I’m missing out on something, but I really, really just don’t get shoes at all, and all I want is to fit in one girl’s night.

8. Big Apple Circus Tickets. Here’s a true story: when I was 8, my parents took my sister and I to the Big Apple Circus and we loved it. Wouldn’t stop talking about it.  The next year they took us again, and it wasn’t as great.  They tried this whole “wild west” theme that we didn’t like, the jokes weren’t as funny…..it’s just like I was saying in the “Sleep No More” part: sometimes when you look forward to something so much, it just can’t possibly live up.

We left the big top and my parents asked us how we liked the circus, and we told them it was horrible. And that’s when they FLIPPED THE F*** OUT ON US. My father started screaming at us at the top of his lungs as we got into the car, how we were spoiled and ungrateful, and how dare we not like the circus!  If they were buying us tickets to something, we sure as hell better like it!

Now, I was grounded a lot as a kid- like just about every weekend.  Sometimes I deserved it. And sometimes I couldn’t go out to play for two weeks because I didn’t like the circus enough.  That’s one of those things I have never let my dad forget about.

This year is the last one for Grandma the Clown, who I fell in love with at that first circus as a girl, and have had a soft spot for my entire life.  Matt and I decided that the boys were old enough to go to the circus for the first time and planned on buying them tickets for Christmas.  And then once we picked our seats in the last row, added on all the tax, “convenience” charges etc, we were looking at a bill close to $300 for the four of us.

So dad, um…..yeah, I’m really sorry for not liking the circus.  And if you know of any coupon codes, Santa, that would be pretty nice.

9. A Robot Army To Do My Bidding. There are really too many areas of my life where there’s some sort of problem that could EASILY be solved by a robot. Like the other night at Union Square and I couldn’t leave my booth but really wanted a burrito from Dos Toros? 

How smart is this.  Really, Santa.

10. A Week With My Husband and Kids. We don’t have to be in Hawaii or on a cruise or even out of the house.  I’ll take one full week where we do nothing but hang out in our pajamas and play Duplo blocks and Super Mario World, eat take-out and have cuddling parties.  Truth is, Santa, I already have everything I have ever wanted in the world with these three guys.  I just want more of it.

Though you know what would make my family even better? A robot butler.

Clockwise from front: Milk & Cookies, Chocolate Orange, Cranberry Gingerbread, Chocolate Pomegranate Cheesecake

Milk & Cookies: Brown sugar chocolate chip cake, mascarpone buttercream, crushed chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate Orange: Chocolate orange cake & buttercream, candied orange zest

Cranberry Gingerbread: Gingerbread cake, vanilla buttercream, cranberry compote

Chocolate Pomegranate Cheesecake: Chocolate cake, pomegranate cheesecake buttercream, ganache, pomegranate seeds

Available at:

AVAILABLE AT:

Robicelli’s at the Union Square Holiday Market: Booth C34

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: Corner of Flatbush Ave Ext & Willoughby, Downtown Brooklyn

Cafe at Sam’s Bakery: 94th off 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

Aloha Grinds: 77th & 3rd, Bay Ridge

Bagel Schmagel: 76th & 3rd, Bay Ridge

Crespella: 7th Ave & 9th Street, Park Slope

Tazza: Clark Street off Henry AND Henry off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

Joe at Columbia University: W 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam, Morningside Heights

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

Queen City Cupcakes: West Main Street, Patchogue, Long Island

Red Hook Lobster Pound (Whoopie Pies Only)

Today is the LAST DAY you will see these flavors til next year!  *sniff**sniff*……it’s been memorable guys……….

We are doing a very limited number of deliveries today, as most of our shops will be closed for the weekend (this is why we always emphasize pre-ordering, since as former shopkeepers ourselves we did the same thing, and all the last minute types were always poop out of luck).  If however you did not have the foresight to pre-order cupcakes and were hoping just to swing by someplace and pick up a few cupcakes, here’s where to go!

Lily O’Brien’s Chocolate Cafe at Bryant Park- E40th btwn 5th & 6th

Cake Shop- 152 Ludlow St, L.E.S.

Tazza Cafes- Clark off Henry AND Henry off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights

Hom- 88th & 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

All above will be getting: Chocolate Candy Cane, Hot Buttered Rum, Eggnog & Cranberry Gingerbread

Crespella- 7th Ave & 9th Street, Park Slope

This place is your best bet if you want to get cupcakes for a party.  They have the above mentioned flavors, plus Chocolate Chestnut, Tiramisu & Hazelnut Kiss

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Woooo!  I really don’t think there are words for how tired I am right now.  I have been in the kitchen either alone or with our incredible intern Alexandra for 5 straight 9+ hour days, in a 19th century warehouse that has no heat on the weekends (thank you union guys!).  Tonight I’m having dinner at 2 am, consisting of some leftover Italian bread the kids had with the babysitter and a cup of tea I got from a gas station.  This is the glamorous life of us Brooklyn indie food scenesters!!!

Speaking of exhaustion, totally forgot to take pictures of the cupcakes before I left tonight.  My bad.

The Big Social at 201 Mulberry is running through this Thursday every day from 12-8, and you MUST come down and check us out (and maybe grab some Luke’s Lobster or Pies n’Thighs for lunch?).  Our brownies are getting scooped up almost faster than we can make them- we’re thrilled you guys like them so much!  And our brownie gift boxes are flying off the shelves- they start at $10, so they’re the perfect little gift for a co-worker or that person you want to get just a little something for.  Remember- food gifts never need to be dusted and don’t take up space, so they’re perfect for the person or family who has everything (plus the brownies can be frozen for months, so no worries about them going bad!).

Also, if you want our cupcakes for Christmas, email us NOW or preorder through your nearest store.  Christmas flavors are:

-Hot Buttered Rum

-Cranberry Gingerbread

-Eggnog

-Chocolate Candy Cane

We’ll also have special Christmas flavors on Thursday at Big Social that aren’t in stores.  Remember, ALL of these are going in the vault after this weekend and you won’t see them until next year, so stock up!

Ok, enough of me blathering- onto flavors!!!

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

Chocolate Candy Cane:  Mint chocolate-chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

Sticky Toffee:  Sticky toffee date cake, hard sauce, vanilla buttercream, brown sugar sandies

Eggnog:  Eggnog cake & buttecream, fresh nutmeg

Available at:

Cafe at Sam’s Bakery:  94th St off 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

Crespella:  7th Ave off 9th St, Park Slope

Market:  1211 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park

Tazza Cafes:  Henry St off Atlantic and Clark St off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

Radish:  Bedford Ave off N8th St, Williamsburg

Cakeshop:  Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

Lily O’Brien’s Chocolate Cafe at Bryant Park:  40th St btwn 5th & 6th Avenues, Midtown

AT THE BIG SOCIAL (201 Mulberry St btwn Kenmare and Spring)

CUPCAKES

Eggnog

Kumquat:  Winter citrus cake, vanilla buttercream, candied kumquats

Sticky Toffee

Chocolate Chestnut

Cranberry Gingerbread:  Gingerbread cake, vanilla buttecream, fresh cranberry compote

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

BROWNIES

Classic Sea Salt

“The Maltz”:  Bourbon & Bacon

Chocolate Almond

“The Aztec”:  Ancho Chili & Pumpkin Seed

Chocolate Peppermint

Clockwise from bottom: The Car Bomb, Tiramisu, Rum Raisin, Cranberry Gingerbread

Hello everyone!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  We’re going nuts over here prepping for The Hester Street Big Social- designing limted edition flavors, stocking shelves, doing checklists, getting our gift boxes ready (yup, you’ll be able to buy brownie assortments there!  But more later on that….).  We really hope you’ll all make the trip down there at least once to see us. :)

On that topic, brownies are a hit!  We’re selling out at the holiday markets we’ve done, and you’ll be able to get them really soon in stores (though if you can’t wait that long, you can get our Classic Sea Salt Brownie right now at The Bedford in Williamsburg, but again, more later on that……)

In the meantime, here’s our Monday flavors!  I’m stoked to say The Car Bomb is back- it’s one of our most popular and “infamous” flavors, so if you haven’t tried it before make sure you do!

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

Rum Raisin:  Rum-raisin cake, vanilla buttercream, spiced rum soaked raisins

Tiramisu:  Espresso-soaked cake, espresso ganache, mascarpone buttercream, cocoa powder

Cranberry Gingerbread:  Cranberry gingerbread cake, vanilla buttercream, spiced cranberry compote

Available at:

Cafe at Sam’s Bakery:  94th St off 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

Crespella:  7th Ave off 9th St, Park Slope

Tazza Cafes:  Henry St off Atlantic and Clark St off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

Radish:  Bedford Ave off N8th St, Williamsburg

Cakeshop:  Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

Lily O’Brien’s Chocolate Cafe at Bryant Park:  40th St btwn 5th & 6th Avenues, Midtown

Happy Hanukkah everyone!  We’re debuting TWO NEW CUPCAKES this week, one especially for those of you celebrating the holiday.  It’s inspired by sufganiyot, the traditional fried jelly donuts served during Hanukkah, and the other classic dessert of the holiday- cheesecake.  This is only going to be available these next few days before it goes back in the vault til Hanukkah 2011, so make sure you grab one!  The other is one of my favorite old Christmas recipes- my family’s cranberry gingerbread.

We’re going to be posting a whole bunch of information in the next few days regarding 3rd Ward, gift certificates, and a whole bunch more, so keep your eyes peeled!

NEW!!!  THE BLATT:  Vanilla cake filled with raspberry jam, cheesecake buttercream, raspberry jam, crumbled fried cookies

NEW!!!  CRANBERRY GINGERBREAD:  Cranberry gingerbread cake with vanilla buttercream and cranberry compote

HAZELNUT KISS:  Chocolate hazelnut cake and buttercream with crushed hazelnuts

EGGNOG:  Eggnog cake and buttercream with freshly grated nutmeg

Available Thursday at:

HOM- 88th St and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

CAFE AT SAM’S BAKERY-  94th Street off 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

BLUE APRON FOODS- Union St. off 7th Ave, Park Slope

CAFE 474- 4th Ave off 11th St, Park Slope

CRESPELLA CREPE & ESPRESSO BAR- 321  7th Avenue at 9th Street, Park Slope

MARKET- Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, Ditmas Park

FLYING SAUCER CAFE- Atlantic Ave. btwn 3rd Ave & Nevins Street, Boerum Hill

FARMACY- Corner of Henry and Sackett, Carroll Gardens

TAZZA CAFES- Henry off Atlantic and Clark off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

Available Friday at:

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

LILY O’BRIEN’S AT BRYANT PARK-  E40th btwn 5th and 6th, Midtown