Robicelli's

Flavors: Friday, December 16th

There’s a lot of stuff to go over right now, so forgive me if I don’t get into the jokes or small talk or have any sort of command of the English language.  Thems got orders in the whonow to properfy!

Hannukah: We are not taking any sort of online orders for Hannukah, since we have never received a single request to make a Hannukah delivery, and thanks to my limited technological skills coupled with my stupendous procrastinating skills, it takes me 16 hours to put together each order form we do.

-HOWEVER-

We ARE, in fact, making special items for Hannukah that will be available at DeKalb, Union Square, AND at our retail partners!  We have our Blatt cupcake which is our homage to sufganiyot, and we’re introducing a blueberry cheesecake whoopie pie for the occasion!  We were working really hard trying to come up with a Hanukkah brownie and asked for suggestions on Facebook and Twitter, and everyone said “Make brownies and put latkes on top of them!”.  So…..erm….NO.

Christmas Ordering: We’re taking a limited number of Christmas orders for pickup/delivery Christmas Eve.  Click HERE to get your order in.  You can also order in advance from our participating retail partners, but as always, terms and conditions are solely at their discretion.  Cupcakes = PURE JOY. Remember that.

New Year’s Eve Ordering:  I want to say that’s going up soon, but I really say a lot of things and then they get shot to poop.  So how about I say I’m never doing a NYE ordering page and we see what happens! Or you can contact us and ask for an order.  This year’s flavors are Strawberry Champagne, Chocolate Merlot, Car Bomb & Creme Brulee- any of which would raise the classiness of your party to an 11.

Gift Boxes/Corporate Gifts: We are offering these for pick-up at Union Square, and have decided that we still want to be able to put these together on a custom basis.  Next year we may grow into a company that does everything by online form, where you’re nothing but an order number- but we don’t want to be that company just yet.  We’re still a mom and pop, and we’re going to talk to our customers as much as we can until we can’t anymore.  So you want a $10 box of whoopie pies for your cubicle mate? A $100 box of brownies for your aunt and her three teenage sons?  Or maybe a few dozen cupcakes hand delivered to the office of your best client to let them know you appreciate them? Email me at allison at robicellis.com.  I’ll do my best to design the perfect gift(s), and get them all freshly produced for you to pick-up any day between now and Christmas Eve.

Will you have extended hours the next week for last minute shopping? Yup! Union Square Holiday Market hours are:

Friday 12/16: 11-9pm

Saturday 12/17: 10am-9pm

Sunday 12/18: 10am-8pm

Monday-Friday: 10am-9pm

Christmas Eve: 10am-4:30pm

Our store at DeKalb Market will have it’s normal hours of 12-8 weekdays, 11-8 Saturday, 11-7 Sunday, and 11-4pm Christmas Eve.

Anything else?: But of COURSE.  SOMEHOW I have totally neglected that tonight and tomorrow you can find us at:

If the last Night Bazaar was any indication, this will be THE shopping/entertainment event of the 2011 Holiday Season.  Plus it’s the only appearance we’re making in Williamsburg this month since we’re no longer in Radish and have yet to hit the pavement and find a new outlet in those parts.  You can find us with cupcakes, hot cocoa and other stuff only steps away from the front door, so stop by for a glass of cocoa to keep you warm while you shop!

Anything Else? No, Allison. Just post the flavors and you can go to sleep now.

Thanks.

Clockwise from front: Eggnog, Chocolate Panforte, Creme Brulee, Riskrem

Eggnog: Eggnog cake, eggnog buttercream, nutmeg

Chocolate Panforte: Chocolate cake, mascarpone buttercream, homemade Italian panforte

Creme Brulee: Vanilla cake, vanilla custard buttercream, caramelized sugar

Riskrem: Vanilla cake, rice pudding buttercream, candied almonds

Available at:

Robicelli’s at Union Square Holiday Market: C34

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

Cafe at Sam’s Bakery: 94th Street off Third Avenue, Bay Ridge

Aloha Grinds: 76th and Third Ave, Bay Ridge

Bagel Schmagel: 76th and Third Ave, Bay Ridge

Crespella: Seventh Ave off 9th Street, Park Slope

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

Blue Apron Foods: Union Street off 7th Avenue, Park Slope

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle Street, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau & Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

Queen City Cupcakes: 62 West Main Street, Patchogue, Long Island 

Red Hook Lobster Pound: Van Brunt Street, Red Hook; Brooklyn Flea; Roving Food Truck (Whoopie Pies Only)

Flavors: Wednesday, December 14th

I know the Tumblr is crazy late today.  Last night I came home, collapsed into bed and just watched the lights on my Christmas tree.  Atticus was up, too.  He said he stayed up in his bed til I got home because he loves me and he misses me.  Of course, after he says this I start crying.  Then he starts petting my head and saying “It’s ok Mommy! Don’t cry- I’m right here! It’s ok!”.  

This, of course, makes me cry more.

With all the craziness of the holiday season- with the gift buying and running from market to market to dealing with extended family and making travel arrangements and whatever you start to think that the holidays are meant to kill you.  Then you have moments like that where you realize that the holidays are about nothing more than taking a little step back from the insanity of your life, looking around, and realizing not what you want, but what you already have.  And I am an incredibly lucky person.

Now to today’s flavors.  Today’s sort of special to me, because as we’ve made many cupcakes that touched on “traditional” Christmas flavors, most of those things were never found at my house growing up.  Now while those of us who were born and raised in Brooklyn know about American Christmas traditions from tv and pop culture, our neighborhoods were divided into ethnic enclaves where we held strong to the traditions of the old world, regardless of when our families arrived from there.

At my Sicilian grandmother’s house, I don’t think we ever had a turkey, or eggnog, or gingerbread.  But we DID have lasagna, red wine, orange flavored chocolates and panforte.  Panforte is a sort of chocolate fruitcake/candy hybrid that is not remotely like the fruitcakes we all joke about.  It’s so rich that only a small slice will do.  And it’s wonderful.

My mother’s parents came here to escape the Nazis in occupied Norway.  For Christmas, my bestemor made “Riskrem”- rice cream.  Now, the Persians and Mexicans and whomever else can talk about how great their rice pudding is, and yes, it’s delicious- but Norway OWNS rice pudding, and nobody realizes it.  The secret? Once they make the pudding, they fold in an equal amount of whipped cream.  And yes, it’s ever better than you’re thinking it is right now.

Riskrem is made in a giant pot, then one solitary almond is mixed in, and whomever gets it has good luck for an entire year, AND gets a marzipan pig! I got the pig when I was 8, and let me tell you, marizpan? Tastes like VICTORY.

Today we have a chocolate and mascarpone cake topped with a sliver of homemade panforte for you to try, and another topped with riskrem and some almonds so you’ll all have good luck in the New Year.  If you like them, maybe you can make them into traditions for your family in the years ahead.  

That was pretty much the best part of growing up in Brooklyn.  We had all our own cultures, but we got to have all our friends cultures, too.  And that was a lot more interesting than the tradition of holiday red velvet milk. (it’s red flavored!)

Clockwise from front: Chocolate Orange, Creme Brulee, Chocolate Panforte, Riskrem

NEW! Chocolate Panforte: Chocolate Cake, Mascarpone Buttercream, Homemade Italian Panforte

Riskrem: Vanilla cake, rice pudding buttercream, roasted almonds

Creme Brulee: Vanilla cake, vanilla custard buttercream, caramelized sugar

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

Available at:

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

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: 138 Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn

Hom: 88th & 3rd, Bay Ridge

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

Blue Apron Foods: Union Street off 7th Avenue, Park Slope

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

Jem: Broadway off Franklin, TriBeCa

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

Joe Columbia University: West 120th Street btwn Broadway & Amsterdam, Morningside Heights

Brooklyneer: 220 West Houston Street, West Village

Red Hook Lobster Pound (whoopie pies only)