Robicelli's

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.

Everyone have a nice weekend? Great. NOW PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR MINDS BLOWN!!!

Matt and I tried to have a very low-key weekend since Mercury is in retrograde and we’re trying to stay safe. Who knows how Mercury could be trying to kill us! Falling satellites? Marauding gangs of raccoons? Bears?

This lead to things like family visits and vacuuming- and most of all, working our way through our Netflix queue. I sat down to write today’s post with full intentions of actually writing about business stuff (seriously!), but then Matt threw this movie on, and it is too good for me NOT to share it with all of you so you can also experience it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Eric Roberts’ latest cinematic tour de force……A TALKING CAT.

Yes, this movie is horrible, in the low budget “ha-ha this is so bad” way. In the “every single choice that was made in the creation of this movie was wrong” way. In the “I’m pretty sure Eric Roberts was drunk and recorded his part over Skype” way.  In the “Why is the entire score comprised of sample songs that came on a Casio keyboard in 1986” way.  To make it all better, the cat in the starring role looks SO PISSED to be in this movie.

All of that, however, is not what makes it amazing.

What’s amazing is that for the past hour, our cat Sammy has been sitting in front of the television, COMPLETELY transfixed by this movie. He’s been standing on his hind legs paying at the television, jumping up and down, loudly meowing in response to the dialogue. Damn cat can’t get enough of this thing.

This sloppy attempt at family filmmaking may have inadvertently created the first ever feline blockbuster. Soon enough, cats are going to be scouring the internet looking for videos of us. 

There are not enough words for me to adequately tell you how utterly craptastic this film was, but if you have a cat of your own, I implore….nay, I DEMAND you watch this film, then hit me up on Twitter or Facebook and let me know your cat’s reaction. If you can get photo or video even better, because I know I sure as hell ain’t getting tired of watching videos of people’s cats doing stuff.

The 1:10 mark remains the greatest moment I have ever viewed on American television.

Now for quick business stuff- Chambord brownies are out in the online store, but our flour & leavening free Passover brownies are in! And on top of that, four of our all time favorite and bestselling cupcakes is back today, so head to our locations and pick them up before everyone else grabs them!

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

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

Abuelita: Chocolate cinnamon cake, cajeta buttercream, crushed Abuelita chocolate

Southern Belle: Banana bourbon cake, vanilla buttercream, brown butter bourbon pecans

On the heels of Monday’s “Let someone know you love them” challenge- I issue another.

I’ve been a bit of a mess for two days since Katie died. Not being able to fall asleep, having nightmares when I do, just going through the motions during the day. 

Then I get a phone call yesterday morning from my friend Peter, who’s like the big brother I always wanted but my parents never gave me because I was the firstborn child and we don’t own a time machine. I immediately think something’s wrong because we NEVER call each other- we’re texters. So this is how it goes:

Me: Are you ok?

Peter: Yeah, I’m fine. You’re not going to believe this, but that actress Reese whatsherface just got stabbed in front of my building!

Me: Oh my God- Reese Witherspoon?

Peter: No- WITH A KNIFE!

And then he giggled for about 3 minutes like a six year old girl. Mind you, he’s FORTY.

I hadn’t been pranked called in maybe 15 years - but it made me smile a mile wide, and made yesterday bearable. Why not steal that joke and call someone who needs to smile, or just needs to feel like a kid again? 

You could surprise someone with a cupcake, too, because I’ve been told that also makes people feel like a kid again. Unless that person’s childhood was filled with shredded wheat, raisins and cod liver oil. Then you should get that person two cupcakes to make it up to them.

Clockwise from front: Abuelita, Banana Nutella, Chocolate Caramel Pretzel, Bellini

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

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

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

Bellini: Champagne cake, peach buttercream, champagne simmered peaches

That awkward girl with the blue hair is me at 14 years old, sitting with my friends on the former “Grassy Knoll” outside of Stuyvesant High School (there’s luxury condos on top of it now).  Yes, there’s lots of Rollerblades. It was the 90s.

On the left is Katie McGloin. We were great friends back then, but then drifted apart after graduation, only seeing each other sporadically through my business or gushing about our kids over Facebook, joking about how they would NEVER find out about all the things we did when we were young.

Katie died from a brain tumor yesterday morning. She leaves behind a husband, two little boys ages 1 and 4, and many, many other heartbroken people. She was 33 years old.

Today’s blog isn’t for feeling sorry, because there’s going to be more than enough time for that. This is what it’s for:

I know that it’s Monday morning, and you’re grumpy, and you have a stack of papers or projects whatever else on your desk. I want every single of you to ignore it for five minutes.

Open your phone, find an old friend in your address book, and send them a text telling them how much they mean to you. Go into the hallway and call your mom. Send an email to your old group of friends that you never see because you’re all super busy and get really serious about getting that drink together. Or walk across the office and find a coworker who’s always helping you out or making you smile, and let them know how much you appreciate them.

It sometimes seems like we have all the time in the world. Then at times like this, no one is thinking they wish they’d spent more time day trading or watching tv or screwing around on the internet. Though you feel like you already know it, you realize that the best measure of a person isn’t what job they had or how much money they made- but by how much they were loved.

So go on. Remind someone that they’re loved. Your paperwork will still be there in five minutes. I promise.

Clockwise from front: Abuelita, Banana Nutella, Pecan Potato Chip, Butterbeer

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

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

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

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

Well, I’m back from vacation. I while I should by all means be moping around half-assing everything and dreaming about cuddling with my kids next to Big Bird’s Lazy River (and no, there’s not even a trace of irony in that statement), I’m not because I have something so totally super duper awesome to announce that I’m doing that thing where I bounce up and down and kick my legs and play the drum part from “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe on my knees!

And YES, there’s a Golden Girls GIF for it! How utterly apropos! 

This Sunday, we’re being filmed for Unique Sweets on Cooking Channel! SQUEEEEE!!!! Let’s see that Dorothy Zbornak gif ONE MORE TIME!

Now if that wasn’t cool enough- here’s where it’s getting SUPER cool:

You- yes YOU- could be on Cooking Channel with us! We’ll be leaving our kitchen with the Unique Sweets crew around 3pm and heading to our shop at DeKalb Market, where we’ll be filming customer interactions, people stuffing their face with sweet sweet baked goods, and taking interview shots til about 5ish. So come on down, eat some sweets, talk about how awesome we are and get yourself on the telly!  

And now since it’s been stuck in your head for the past two paragraphs or so, here’s the video for Poison:

You’re welcome.

Now here’s a picture of some of the cupcakes you’ll be able to find at our shop Sunday- and all over town today!

Clockwise from front: Butterbeer, Abuelita, Duckwalk, Chocolate Strawberry Mascarpone

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

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

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

Chocolate Strawberry Marscarpone: Chocolate cake, mascarpone buttercream, strawberry compote

Available at Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market and select retail partners. 

36 hours of vacation left. *sigh*

I love you guys, but this really isn’t enough. I’ve still been answering phone calls emails, taking PR requests, tweeting and more live from Sesame Place. I need to take my next vacation in a cave somewhere where my iPhone won’t work. (Or I could just switch my service to AT&T! Am I right?!?!! Am I right?!? Anyone? Please someone high five me….)

Anyway, this is possible because we have an awesome staff back in NYC who is baking, selling, packing and distributing all the baked goods for us- and tonight, they even pitched in to run the Tumblr too! How great are they! 

Courtesy of team Robicelli’s…….

TOP TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WORKING FOR A SMALL BUSINESS

1.            You will start to think of your bosses and coworkers as your family. Because they are. Matt and Allison’s kids’ school photos are hung on our fridges, you go to birthday parties and care about Kindergarden placements.

2.            You will learn more about your boss/coworker’s gastrointestinal tract than you ever thought you would. Rachel has an abnormally large colon and Monique will never bring chick pea salad back into the kitchen. We know this and don’t ask how we found it out about each other.

3.            You will also learn your coworkers deepest darkest secrets and fears. If you try to exploit those fears for any reason, you will get a speed rack thrown at you. Case and point when Mo tried to tickle Rachel who is deathly afraid of tickle farts, she almost lost a limb.

4.            There is no HR department, just ask our kitchen mates, Brooklyn Cured. A lot has been made about kitchens not being conducive to women and maybe we are special people but if having a coworker eat pastrami out of your boobs is wrong we don’t want to be right.

5.            Your alcohol consumption will increase. And if you never used to drink, you will start. Just do not give Matt gin, Mo is allergic to tequila and Rachel will drink that box of white wine that’s been open for 6 months and sitting next to the oven.

6.            We spend hours long hours together in a warehouse. Sometimes we only see each other for long stretches at a time. The longest shift this year was pushing 15 hours. So when you and your coworker are hanging out with each other’s friends, you discuss work matters in your own language of inside jokes, cussing, and laughter. No one will understand you. And you won’t care.

7.            When ish gets real in the kitchen (things burn, there’s not enough, product, eminent disaster, etc) you stay longer at work (or come in early) to get the job done. Last week due to the brownout, we had to work the next morning to get cupcakes out to the world. It sucked and you’ll complain, of course, but you always take pride in the fact that you get the job done. Then you’ll go to the batting cages and get drunk and show up to do it all over again the next day.

8.            In a small business, you have to show up. There’s no middle men to hide behind, so you’ve got to pay attention and contribute your ideas and perspective. And if you call in sick you better be at the hospital. If you are not there others are working twice as hard to pick up your slack. We’ve all puked in the kitchen, so deal.

9.            You don’t do this for the money. True food service people know you don’t do this for the money but with a small business like Robicelli’s our schedule and work load depend on orders, the weather, special events, etc. A steady paycheck this ain’t and we both had 9-5 office jobs before our transition into the kitchen and haven’t looked back once. So while office drones are sitting in front of a computer on a Wednesday afternoon, we take comfort in the fact that we are laying out at the beach with a beer or having lunch at Meatball Shop with no wait.

10.            Finally, just laugh and be happy. If someone is having a crappy day you play “Kill, Marry, Bop” with McDonalds mascots. If you’re just showing up to collect some dollars and go home, you’re missing out on knowing awesome people and having a grand ol’ time while you get paid. So belt out “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls just do it while washing the dishes.

Allison’s answers: Kill the Hamburgler because he’s untrustworthy, marry Grimace because he’s cuddly, and bop the 6 piece Chicken McNuggets. That last part will be weird, but it’s the only decent choice I have since they killed off that sex panther Mayor McCheese.

Now- FLAVORS!

Clockwise from front: Bananas Foster, Abuelita, Duckwalk, Chocolate Caramel Pretzel

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

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

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

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

It’s a super exciting DOUBLE holiday weekend made up of third string holidays! It’s Kentucky Derby day AND Cinco de Mayo! WHO’S ALREADY DRUNK?

First let’s talk about the Derby. All I knows about the ponies is that I’m almost 32 years old and I still don’t have one. So there’s that. Also at the Derby….

Lots of stupid hats! I don’t have any of those either. This is not my day.

Fortunately, what I DO have is our super duper special one-time-a-year-so-get-it-now-because-you-won’t-see-it-again-until-next-year-no-matter-how-much-you-beg cupcake- THE MINT JULEP! It’s a bourbon-mint cake and buttercream with a hand candied mint leaf on top. We designed this one about two years ago when we only needed to make maybe 60 cupcakes a week, and 60 hand candied mint leaves didn’t seem like all that much.  Fast forward to last night where Matt needed to make several hundred hand candied mint leaves, and you can understand not only why this will remain a once a year treat, but also why Matt isn’t speaking to me today.

Also this weekend is the 5th most important holiday of the year (after Christmas, New Years Eve, St. Patty’s Day and the night before Thanksgiving when all the college kids come home and get loaded)..

CINCO DE MAYO!!! Cinco de Mayo is the day where Americans from all over come together to remember en masse the marketing campaign Corona ran in the mid-nineties to get people to drink more Mexican beer. And boy did that one ever work!

MEXXXXIIICCCOOOOO!!!!!

Every year, I ask my friends who are going out what exactly they’re celebrating on Cinco de Mayo. And every year, I need to broadcast the single greatest response that I have ever heard in my life: “Cinco de Mayo is the day that New Mexico got it’s freedom from Regular Mexico”.

We’re celebrating the, ahem, independence and tremendous bravery of the people of New Mexico, by making- ok, you know what, I need to stop. I can’t even get through that in a joking manner. Everyone, sit your children down tonight and properly educate them about Cinco de Mayo, before it’s too late.  If our kids are one day going to be dancing on a bar somewhere doing tequila shooters, at least we can be at home with the peace of mind of knowing they are at least informed about history and not embarrassing themselves.

Back to cupcakes.

We’ve got three special Mexican inspired flavors today! Returning is the incredible Abuelita, a sexy little number made with chocolate, cinnamon and cajeta. We’ve got the Tres Leches, which is a contender for being our most popular cupcake ever (and also one of our oldest- the 3rd cupcake we ever made). And finally, The Bluth, which commemorates one of Mexico’s greatest culinary traditions- the Cornballer. Ok, maybe I’m stretching it on that last one, but it sure is tasty.

We’ll have lots of other flavors of cupcakes, whoopie pies, and ice cream sandwiches headed to DeKalb Market on Saturday, but these particular flavors are heading out RIGHT NOW. Go get them before they’re all gone!

Clockwise from front: Abuelita, Tres Leches, Bluth, Mint Julep

LIMITED EDITION! Mint Julep: Mint-bourbon cake and 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

Bluth: Chocolate banana cake, chocolate buttercream, roasted walnuts, ganache

___________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

Aloha Grinds: 77th & 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

Bagel Schmagel: 76th & 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

Crespella: 7th Avenue off 9th Street, Park Slope

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau Street off Jewel, Greenpoint

Battery Place Market: 240 Murray Street, Financial District

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

Bar 5F at Bergdorf Goodman: 5th Avenue & 58th Street, 5th Floor, Manhattan

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

________________________________

Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

Red Hook Lobster Pound: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook

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

_________________________________

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Oaxaca Tacos: 250 4th Avenue- Park Slope Brooklyn; 251 Smith Street Cobble Hill Brooklyn; 16 Extra Place, LES Manhattan; 48 Greenwich Avenue, West Village, Manhattan

Today I’m not going to hound you to preorder Thanksgiving cupcakes.  No, today I’m going to hound you about why you should sign up for Samplrs!

What is this “Samplrs”, you ask?  It’s actually an idea so smart, I’m really shocked that no one has thought of it before.  Like how when I saw the Snuggie I was all like “I have been complaining about the lack of armholes on my blanket for YEARS!”, or when I saw the Big Top Cupcake and I was like “DAMNIT! I just thought that big cupcakes were called ‘Cakes’, and I was apparently so wrong! We could be making a freaking FORTUNE! I AM SO STUPID!”.  It’s exactly like that.

You know all these great little food companies that keep popping up on the blogs or in the papers? All the small businesses starting out that don’t have the money or capital for mass distribution? It would be great if you could try them all, but with them all being in select stores, it’s nearly impossible to track them all down.

This is where Samplrs comes in.  Once a month for $30, they’ll bring a beautiful reusable tote bag full of assorted goodies TO YOUR HOUSE. Meaning not only do you not have to drag your ass all over town to try this stuff- now you don’t even have to wear pants!

You know those brownies we make that keep selling out faster than we can make them? Well those are going into this months tote bags. And because I asked nicely, they are extending this month’s sign-up deadline through the weekend just for you guys.  How sweet is that?

I don’t know what other surprises you’ll be finding in this month’s bag, but based on some of the people their owner told me he was speaking to, I’m almost positive it’ll be insanely delicious.  And let’s not forget the whole “not having to wear pants” thing. That really sort of sells me on just about anything.

Today, however, I think you should put on pants, and go out to try these yummy cupcakes, especially this insanely delicious new flavor that won’t make it back until January.  It’s also the last appearance of the Brown Sugar Pumpkin this year, so go git!

Clockwise from front: Brown Sugar Pumpkin, Chocolate Graham, Pecan French Toast, Abuelita

NEW! Chocolate Graham: Chocolate cake, graham cracker buttercream, chocolate fudge, graham cracker crumbs

Brown Sugar Pumpkin: Brown sugar cake, pumpkin chocolate buttercream, ganache

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

Abuelita: Chocolate cinnamon cake, cajeta buttercream, ground Abuelita chocolate

Available at:

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

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

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

Court Street Grocers: Court Street off Luquer, Carroll Gardens

NEW LOCATION! The West: 379 Union Avenue, Williamsburg

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle Street, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau & Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Standon & Rivington, LES

Sons of Essex: Essex St btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

Brooklyneer: 220 West Houston, West Village

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

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

I hope you all had a spectacular 4th- over here at the Robicelli’s camp, we went down to Princeton NJ for a few final days before DeKalb opens and we don’t have another full day off until after Christmas.  Monday, I had my Blackberry off ALL DAY, and actually got to enjoy the company of my husband and kids.  It was as incredible as it sounds (aside from the fact that it was 1000 degrees and everyone was really cranky and whining a lot.  So take away that and the rock that was lodged in my shoe, and it was a pretty perfect day).

Of course, as business owners time away isn’t all fun and games.  On Saturday as Matt took the kids to the pool, I sequestered myself in our hotel room and began work on the text portions of our eventual cookbook (coming in 2036).  After writing one page, I felt a little stuck, so I picked up my good friend Fany Gerson’s book My Sweet Mexico for inspiration.  It is really as perfect as cookbooks come- filled with heart and love for her country, outstanding photographs, incredible recipes, and a well deserved James Beard nomination to go with it all.  Seriously- completely flawless.

Then I looked at the one solitary page of our cookbook. In five short paragraphs, I managed to reference both my fear of pooping in the woods AND this one time Matt got hit in the nuts so hard that he threw up.  

Maybe I should have said 2046 instead.

While we’re all waiting- maybe you should eat some cupcakes.  There’s a new one today that was one of the first 10 cupcakes we ever designed, yet somehow managed to sit on the bucket list for over two years.  Odessa, your time has come!

Clockwise from front: Odessa, Abuelita, Peach Cobbler, Turtle

Odessa: Vanilla cake, sour cream buttercream, sour cherries

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

Peach Cobbler: Vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream, New Jersey peach compote, streusel crumbs

Turtle: Chocolate cake, salted caramel buttercream, candied pecans, ganache & salted caramel drizzles

AVAILABLE AT:

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

HOM- Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

BAGEL SCHMAGEL:  Third Avenue btwn Bay Ridge Pkway & 76th Street, Bay Ridge

 COURT STREET GROCERS: 485 Court Street, Carroll Gardens

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

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

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook and Roving Food Truck *Whoopie Pies only*

I fall behind on website maintenance a lot because I consistently overschedule myself, and when I do have the time to do it I end up spending hours playing Oregon Trail on my Blackberry (still the greatest game ever).  THIS week, however, I finally managed to make it all the way to Oregon with only two of my children dead from random bear attacks, so I quit while I was ahead and got some actual work done!

First I added a few things to our press section.  Even though I signed up for Google Alerts, I completely suck at keeping on top of this, so if you’re a blogger who happens to write about us and would like some linkage, feel free to let us know.  We’d love to link to you as well, thus completing the circle of life and appeasing the Interwebs. Sorry it sort of looks messy- the window to edit Tumblr pages is really really small, and very hard to work with.  I’m doing the best I can, Goddamnit!!!!!  Stop judging me!!!!

Also, I finally added an About Us tab, since lots of people have been hounding us for bios. This is a project I’ve put off for ages since it feels so wrong to talk about all your accomplishments, like you’re some big fancy pants show off that’s better than everyone.  I may be many things, but I am NOT a namby pamby fancy pants show off boogerhead. (maybe that should be my bio)

Then it occurred to me……since YOU are the ones who would be looking at it, what do you guys want to know?  Seriously, ask us anything and we’ll do our best to put your question up there with a semi-serious answer. We care and your input matters- this is TOTALLY NOT because we’re wussing out and trying to get you to get to do some of our work for us.  So ask away and enjoy the silliness now, before we inevitably sell out and have a PR consultant tell us how we’ve been doing everything all wrong, and have all of our social media taken over by a 23 year old named Kaylie (with a heart over the “I”).

And on a closing note- Happy 4th of July!  We hope you all have a great long weekend- we’re closing ourselves for the holiday, so we’ll see you again next Wednesday.  Now, in honor of our country’s birth- our NSFW National Anthem! 

And cupcakes!

Clockwise from front: Abuelita, Coconut Mango, Horchata, Bellini

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

Mango Coconut: Coconut cake, caramelized mango buttercream, roasted coconut

Horchata: Horchata cake, pudding and buttercream, cinnamon rice crispies

Bellini: Peach champagne cake, peach buttercream, champagne simmered NJ peaches

Available at:

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

BAGEL SCHMAGEL:  Third Avenue btwn Bay Ridge Pkway & 76th Street, Bay Ridge

THE CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

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

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

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

EASTERN DISTRICT- Manhattan Ave off Eagle St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN STANDARD:  Nassau Ave & Jewel St, Greenpoint

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook and Roving Food Truck *Whoopie Pies only*

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side 

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY-  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue

I’m halfway tempted to just blow right through this blog post because as of now, Matt and I are OFFICIALLY ON VACATION!!!!  That’s right folks- there will be no deliveries this Wednesday because our family will be living the good live at Sesame Place in Pennsylvania!  WOOHOO!!!!

We’re going to look just like this, but way, way sweatier and tired looking.

Aside from the obvious lure of hanging out with Super Grover for three days, and being able to take a vacation so close to home since you can’t really travel with a small business and have to keep it brief, there’s a third and very important reason we picked this for our first vacation in two years.  Sesame Place is a very short drive to where we’re staying- in Princeton, NJ.  And Princeton is home to one of the greatest culinary experiences in the entire United States:

The Bent Spoon- creators of the greatest ice cream IN HUMAN HISTORY.  Ice cream that we will be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner for our entire vacation.

We met the owner, Gabby, extremely briefly last summer at Meatopia and didn’t get a chance to try her ice cream because of the ridiculous line (about the length of Colonel’s Row on Governor’s Island).  HUGE disappointment, since I had just read in Dessert Professional about how they are one of the ten best ice cream makers in America, and were at the top of my “must try” list for the day.  

A few weeks later, we went to the shop in Princeton and asked if she happened to be there.  She came out from the back, and immediately recognized us from our 25 second meeting.  As we ate our ice cream (sweet corn ice cream at that-one of my top 5 food experiences of all time), we explained that the next day was Toby’s second birthday, and the day after was my 30th.  She gave us a bag to open in our hotel room: inside were cupcakes with birthday candles, party hats, t-shirts for us and the kids, and all the money we had spent at the store tucked inside an envelope.

The next day we returned for “breakfast ice cream” (it is that addictive) and to return the money.  She absolutely refused, saying that us people in the business needed to stick together.  We came back several times that day as my in-laws and Matt’s brother came to see us, and every time, no charge.  And no, we didn’t keep going back because she was comping us.  Bent Spoon is so good, it’s like when you see the most unbelievably awesome thing you have ever witnessed in your life, and you immediately have to call everyone you know to say “You NEED to see this dude! Seriously, RIGHT NOW!”.  You eat it and it stops time.  Its supernatural ice cream.

I think Gabby thought the reason we had come down to Princeton for the weekend was for me and Toby’s birthdays, or maybe just to de-stress and finally check out her shop in the process.  What she didn’t know was that 24 hours before I walked through her doors, my grandmother had passed away.  Even though she was 89 and had been in declining heath for weeks, when she died it was more than I could take emotionally- how do you let go of a woman who practically raised you?  Who is a huge part of the reason you fell in love with food and shaped it’s meaning for you?  To let go of the last surviving member of that generation, of the old Italian guard that is slowly disappearing from Brooklyn?  It seemed everything reminded me of her- every street, every shop, every corner.  I felt that I couldn’t survive the grieving process staying surrounded by family and my memories, so Matt, the kids and I got into the car, and we ran away from home.  Running away brought us to Princeton, and to Gabby.

Those two days are where I realized the incredible power of what food, and hopefully, the power our stuff has.  By all logic I should have holed up in that hotel room and cried into a bottle of bourbon, because being drunk to the point you’re sick would have felt better than I did in the hours after my grandmother died.  And yet there I was in Princeton, smiling.  We might not be saving refugees or curing cancer, but really wonderful food can change everything in your life, even if it’s just for a minute or two.  

Every day when I wake up and I just don’t want to do it all, where I feel useless and unappreciated and think I should just crawl back in bed and watch movies under the covers, I think of how I felt that day in The Bent Spoon.  I get up, go to work, and do my best to make each thing I bake as close to perfect as I possibly can.  And I pray that they’ll reach someone who is sad or hurting or frustrated, and it will make them smile.  We may just be the little things in life, but sometimes, those little things are the most important ones of all.

And now here’s your picture and flavors- we’re on vacation!

Clockwise from front: Coconut Custard, Cherries Jubilee, Abuelita, Banana Nutella

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, pastry cream buttercream, roasted coconut

Cherries Jubillee:  Vanilla cake, brandy-cherry syrup, vanilla buttercream, brandied cherries & cherry reduction

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

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

AVAILABLE AT:

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

THE CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

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

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

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook and Roving Food Truck *Whoopie Pies and Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler cupcakes only*

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side 

LINK CAFE @ THE SHERATON TRIBECA: 307 Canal Street, Tribeca

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY-  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue

*Note: Not all locations receive all flavors.  The flavors recieved are determined by each store’s management, not by us.  If there’s something in the upcoming rotation you want to see, let them know directly

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! We’re a day early, but we don’t deliver on Thursdays, so we give you full permission to go out and start celebrating RIGHT NOW.  Who feels like having a margarita and getting topless during their lunch hour?  Show of hands! 

Better yet- can any person who is planning to go out drinking for Cinco de Mayo actually tell me what the holiday is about? I ask this question to all my hard partying friends every year, and no one gets it right.  Much to their chagrin, it doesn’t count if you just say “Mexico”.  Other wrong answers: “The Alamo”, “When the Mexicans defeated the British and became a country”, “The day the Mayans disappeared”, or my favorite: “the day that New Mexico got it’s independence from regular Mexico”.

Y ahora it’ ¡tiempo de s para los sabores!

Clockwise from front: The Aztec, Tres Leches, Abuelita, Romeo y Juliette

NEW!!! THE AZTEC: Chocolate chili cake and buttercream, candied pepitas

TRES LECHES:  Three milk soaked brown butter cake, dulce de leche buttercream, caramel shards

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

ROMEO Y JULIETTE:  Guava cake, cream cheese buttercream, guava puree

Available at:

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

HOM:  88th and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

THE CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

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

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

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

COURT STREET GROCERS: 485 Court Street, Carroll Gardens

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY-  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue

SCHNITZEL AND THINGS:  Third Avenue btwn 45th & 46th Streets, Midtown

*Note: Not all locations receive all flavors.  The flavors recieved are determined by each store’s management, not by us.  If there’s something in the upcoming rotation you want to see, let them know directly

I’ve got pretty much nothing great planned for this post (in contrast to the usual GOLD you folks expect from me three times a week), because we got out of the kitchen ridiculously late.  The reason is that tonight we had to deal with my greatest nemesis ever: Mini Cupcakes.

Actually, tonight kicks off a whole two weeks of minis.  Today’s are meant for The Bell House, where they will be sold at The Skint’s End of Hibernation party.  We’re also preparing them for next week’s Choice Eats, and the following week’s Tasting Brooklyn event.  For the next 14 days, if you’re in Sunset Park and you can faintly hear curses being carried on the wind through the night, that will be me screaming at the top of my lungs over at our kitchen in the Bush Terminals. 

My problem with minis is very simple- the holes to put the batter in are very very small, and I have huge-ass hands. Sure, they’re useful for getting honey out of trees and paddling small watercraft, but big hands don’t exactly make you feel ladylike.  And if there’s one thing I like to think of myself as, it’s a motherf**king lady.  So it’s not that I have an issue with ACTUAL mini-cupcakes-I will gladly eat a truckload of them.  I just can’t make them without ripping my self esteem to shreds and crying myself to sleep after work.  You know, normal occupational hazard of the cupcake biz.

As much as I complain, tonight wasn’t as bad as most, as I noticed that our intern Rachel has dainty girlish hands, so she handled the bulk of the portioning. From this point forward, all intern applications must include a tracing of your hands.  Extra points if you color it in so it looks like a turkey.

Now for the flavors that you can purchase either in mini form tonight, or beautiful, sexy and non-judgmental standard size from our retail partners.

Clockwise from front: The Duckwalk, Abuelita, Banana Cashew, The Hinsch

NEW!!!!  THE HINSCH:  Chocolate malted cake, vanilla buttercream, malted chocolate sauce, homemade chocolate malted milk balls

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

BANANA CASHEW:  Banana cake, cashew buttercream, cashew brittle

DUCKWALK:  Vanilla cake, blueberry port syrup, blueberry port & mascarpone buttercream, port simmered wild Maine blueberries

_____________________________

Available at:

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

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

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

BEDFORD HILL:  Corner of Franklin & Greene, Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook AND The Brooklyn Flea at One Hanson Place *Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler cupcakes only*

EASTERN DISTRICT- Manhattan Ave off N8th Eagle St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN STANDARD:  Nassau Ave & Jewel St, Greenpoint

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

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

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY-  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue

*Note: Not all locations receive all flavors.  The flavors recieved are determined by each store’s management, not by us.  If there’s something in the upcoming rotation you want to see, let them know directly.

We have the best fans in the world, you know that?

Since we launched the IndieGoGo campaign about 10 days ago, we’ve been overcome with emotion every time someone donates, and get all misty eyed reading some of your comments.  Even more amazing to me us is that people actually read this blog or our Twitter and pay attention to all the crap that’s coming out of my mouth.  After only a few days of our campaign, I get an email from another girl named Alison who says she’s a big fan and knows how hopeless I am with technology (it’s true! I so crazy!).  Anyhow, said Ms. Alison is a professional film editing and post-production type person, and offers out of the goodness of her heart to come to our kitchen to shoot a video for our IndieGoGo! SERIOUSLY!!

Ms. Alison Grasso has totally blown a hole in my whole “Alisons who spell their name with only ONE ‘L’ are inherently evil-that’s how you tell them apart from us normal, two “L” Allisons. Like how if you’re talkng to twins and you’re trying to figure out which one is evil, you go with the one that has a goatee” theory.

That random act of kindness alone would normally be enough to make my heart swell up with so much joy that I feel it could burst, but yet there’s more!!!  Let me introduce you to Mr. Steven Cobb.  Steve is one of our fans who reached out to us over Twitter last year, and since then we’ve become friends in the “Tweeting back and forth and seeing each other at events” sort of way (which, sadly, constitutes 90% of all of my adult relationships).  He’s also one of the most altruistic and generous people I’ve ever met.  So of course, when we announced that we’re donating 25% of all private deliveries this week to help Japan, I wasn’t surprised at all to hear that he wanted to order cupcakes. 

However, what DID surprise me was that he wanted to buy two dozen, but DIDN’T personally want the cupcakes.  In fact, he doesn’t even have anyone in particular he wants to send them to.  He just wants to be able to contribute to the cause in some way, and be able to send cupcakes to whomever wants them to brighten up their day.  Now how amazing is that?!!?!?! (And YES ladies, he’s single!)

Now the inevitable question: who should these two dozen cupcakes go to?  Join the discussion on Facebook- make the case for yourself or nominate someone you think who deserves it.  We’ll pick two lucky people by the end of the week to receive a little ray of sunshine from our good friend Steve.

Best fans ever. For real.

Now…….flavors!!!

Clockwise from front: The Hinsch, Abuelita, Banana Cashew, PB & Grape J

NEW!!!!  THE HINSCH:  Chocolate malted cake, vanilla buttercream, malted chocolate sauce, homemade chocolate malted milk balls

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

BANANA CASHEW:  Banana cake, cashew buttercream, cashew brittle

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

____________________________________

Available at:

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

HOM- Third Avenue & 88th Street, Bay Ridge

TAZZA CAFES- Clark St off Henry AND Henry St off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights

CRESPELLA-7th Ave off 9th St, Park Slope

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

JOE: GRAND CENTRAL STATION-  44 Grand Central Terminal

        *Note: Not all locations receive all flavors.  The flavors recieved are determined by each store’s management, not by us.  If there’s something in the upcoming rotation you want to see, let them know directly.

Tequila and I have had a contentious relationship for many, many years.  Introduced to me during Spring Break ‘98 (WOOOOO SENOR FROGS!!!! WOOOO!!!!), we had a lascivious affair during my late teens & early twenties until she ultimately turned on me.  When Matt and I design cupcakes with alcohol, we try to embrace all the flavor elements of the spirit- “notes”, if you will.  For me, tequila has only two distinct notes: regret, and toplessness. Lots and lots of toplessness.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a company called Partida Tequila asking if we’d like to turn several of their cocktail recipes into cupcakes for National Margarita Day.  My first response was “Holy crap, there’s a National Margarita Day?!?!?!”.  And then my second thought was NOT A CHANCE.  Tequila, no matter how fancy the bottle, is the obvious work of the devil.

One of the most annoying parts about my brain is that once an idea weasels its way into it, it won’t let it go until I give it a proper audience.  And so it went with the tequila cupcakes.  Matt and I quit drinking alcohol ages ago, so one of the reasons we both enjoy making cocktail-inspired cupcakes is that it allows people like us to enjoy the same sorts of flavors as people who do drink.  Surely the sophisticated cocktail recipes that Partida sent me would translate well?  “Dab dumbfungled malarkey!” exclaimed the conscious part of my brain who fancies itself to be a grizzled 1890’s prospector. We’ve danced with tequila before (WOOO SENOR FROGS!!!), & could not remember a single appealing thing about it from the culinary angle. Argument over.  Then I realized I was still thinking about it, and this idea was not letting go. Taking an ingredient that I hated and turning it into something delicious- well, that’s a challenge!  It’s as if the people from Partida came to my front door and glove-slapped me smack across the face.  So we told them to send us a sample bottle and we’d see just what this was all about.

While we waited for our bottles to arrive, we started doing a little research on these Partida folks.  Theirs is actually quite a beautiful story, more of family, tradition & national pride than the less-than-honorable stories we associate with tequila consumption (woo senor froooooooh my god you know what i totally need right now? cheese fries! WOOO!!!). In fact, I think they too may have heard these stories, or also went to Spring Break ‘98, because they have a “Re-Eduction Program” on their website that dispelled a lot of the misconceptions I had about tequila.  Finally, the bottles arrived, and Jesus Mary & Joseph they were gorgeous.  I mean, just LOOK at it!  How freaking sexy is that damn thing!  AND it’s wearing a necklace, because this is one classy as all hell bottle.  But fact is that anything can dress up pretty- how did it taste?

The first thing we did was smell the tequila.  Remember what I was talking about before with the notes?  Well for the first time, there were notes in tequila. Beautiful notes that for a moment or two took me far away from my stark industrial kitchen to a place where there are no cell phones, no email, and my kids aren’t asking me for something every 30 seconds.  Unfortunately, notes are sort of a really abstract that’s hard for me to describe, but I will say the ones I experienced were gorgeous and complex.  Then the taste- remarkable.  No harsh alcohol flavors or burning in the throat.  I can’t say that I have had an aversion to tequila in the past, because it is obvious to me now that I have never truly drank tequila.  This stuff was in a whole different league.  And we could totally work with it.

Partida sent me two cocktail recipes, which we have translated into cupcakes.  “The Partida Margarita” is a representation of the classic cocktail: a cake and buttercream made with tequila and limes, a little tequila simple syrup, and then topped with a slice of lime that has been slow-simmered in agave from Partida’s own fields, then sprinkled with a little Maldon sea salt to finish.  “The Angry Mango” is cake & buttercream made with tequila and mangos, with a very subtle hint of ancho chili in the background.  We’ve topped it with a slice of jalepeno tossed in agave & salt, which you can remove if you don’t like it hot.  Both of these cupcakes are LIMITED EDITION, meaning that they are only available for National Margarita Day and will not be going into rotation. So git while the gittins good, dagnabbit!

And if you’re sitting there wondering “Wow, they sure have a lot of nice things to say about Partida- I wonder how much they got paid in promotional fees”, well I’ll tell you.

Not a single cent.

We wouldn’t be using this if it wasn’t a quality product, and having the opportunity to share a very premium bottle of tequila with the masses at an affordable price was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.  We were given two bottles of tequila and one of agave, 100% of which was used in the cupcakes going to stores today.  This stuff is insanely good folks. Go enjoy it before it’s all gone.

___________________________________________

Flavors:

NEW LIMITED EDITION!!!!

“PARTIDA MARGARITA”:  Partida tequila-lime cake & buttercream, Partida agave-candied lime slice, sea salt garnish

NEW LIMITED EDITION!!!

“THE ANGRY MANGO”:  Mildly spicy Partida tequila-mango cake & buttercream, Partida agave dipped fresh jalepeno slice, sea salt

NOT NEW, REGULAR EDITION, BUT STILL DELICIOUS!!!

“ABUELITA”:  Mexican chocolate cake, cajeta buttercream, ground Abuelita chocolate

“THE TINA”:  Chocolate almond cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted almonds, chocolate ganache

___________________________________________

Available at:

AVAILABLE MONDAY AT:

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

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

Market:  Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Arglye, Ditmas Park

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

Radish:  N8th & Bedford Ave, Williamsburg

Cake Shop:  152 Ludlow St, Lower East Side

Lily O’Brien’s at Bryant Park:  E. 40th St btwn 5th & 6th Ave, Midtown Manhattan

Joe Union Square:  E. 13th Street btwn 5th Avenue & University Place

Joe Chelsea:  W. 23rd Street btwn 9th & 10th Avenues

Joe Columbia Univeristy:  W. 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue