Robicelli's

In the five years we’ve been in business, I’ve always juggled about 900 things at the same time. This week I’m finally getting close to heading down to Disney World and getting myself cloned (you KNOW Disney has that technology hidden away somewhere).  I’ve been terribly behind on updating this blog and keeping you all in the loop on various projects — here’s why:

#1: THE BOOK

It has a cover and a layout! It’s like so freaking close you can already buy a copy!!! However, it’s not really done yet — I’m currently in the stage where I get to read through the entire book with a fine toothed comb looking for spelling errors, typos, and making sure all the recipes are correct.  I’d always wonder how books ended up with mistakes with all those smart people involved in the publishing process.  Now that I’ve been through it myself, I am honestly surprised there are not more mistakes in all the books we read.  Matt and I are stressing out trying to make sure there are none in our book, so we’re putting in extra hours and snorting a lot of espresso grounds to keep us on point.

When I’m not twitching, vomiting and gouging at my own flesh with a red pen, I’ve been doing lots of advance press for the book, meeting magazine editors and giving them the two minute pitch about how I’m the greatest person ever and they should buy my book.  It’s like speed dating, which I’m awful at. I was awful at dating period.  Only reason I got Matt to marry me was I got him drunk (that story is in the book!).  Plus, as regular readers know by now, I’m Catholic, and being proud of yourself is a HUGE sin.  So I’ve been doing a lot of meeting important people saying things like “Eh- I’m alright I guess.  I mean, you should buy my book and all.  There’s a lot of other books though that are really good, too. I guess mine’s pretty ok — you can write about it if you want.  I don’t want to force you or anything.  I mean, not like I’m going to be totally devastated or anything if you hate it!  Because, you know, I’m totally a big girl and not freaking out even a little about the acceptance of my peers! That’s me — Mrs. Cool!”.  (please buy my book)

#2: Writing For CNN

That’s right, I wrote something for C-N-f***king-N! And I totally forgot to post it here because I’m an idiot. So here it is! Read it!  And if you like the piece, know that we’re still not done with our fundraiser to help Moore, Oklahoma.  We didn’t want people to forget us after Sandy, and we absolutely cannot forget either Oklahoma, or the men and women of Team Rubicon who are rebuilding their town like they did for us.  Make a donation — even $10 is spectacular — and help us inch towards our goal of $15,000 by the fourth of July.

#3: Writing for Medium

Medium is brought to you by the inventors of Twitter and Blogger, and is being heralded as “The Future of Online Journalism”,  And for some reason they offered me an actual honest to goodness biweekly column, where my stuff gets looked at my editors and goes through multiple drafts and I get paid and everything.  So my A-game is going to be over there, and the poor syntax, grammar, and punctuation you’ve grown to know and love will be staying right here on our Tumblr.  

Thusfar I’ve written four articles for them, including a thorough takedown of the Googa Mooga debacle (is it just me or does that already feel like it happened forever ago? Though I still have all this bottled water in my apartment…..).  If you haven’t had the chance to read them, here they are!

Cupcake Wars 4.23.13

Letter to a First Time Father 5.6.13

What Tourists Need To Know About NYC 5.17.13

The “Great” Googa Mooga 5.24.13

#4: More Writing

I’m working on three other writing projects right now.  There’s so much writing going on that I finally bought a new laptop last week to replace the one that has been dying a slow painful death for months, and still haven’t had the time to switch all my crap over.  I don’t want to forget to do it and lose all the MS Paint classics I’ve got stored on this thing.

I don’t even remember why I drew this, but it gives me unending joy when I accidentally stumble across it.

#5: Sesame Place

You know you’re stressed when you think picking up and hightailing it to Sesame Place with two young sons will be relaxing. Within 6 hours of our “vacation” we had an emergency room visit. Oddly, still more soothing than being home.

#6: Stuff I Can’t Tell You Yet

Don’t you just HATE it when I pull this crap? You should! But part of my job is working really hard on projects that I have to sign non-disclosure agreements and various other legal forms, and when those things become the center of my universe, I end up having nothing to talk about when I sit down to write the Tumblr.  Long term gain, short term loss.  Sorry.

#7: Baking Stuff

Like whoopie pies that are showing up from here to Montauk! Brownies! Loaf cakes! And of course, the cupcakes!

Bailey’s Cheesecake: Bailey’s chocolate cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, chocolate cake crumbs

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

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

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

Yesterday I found out I’m going to be an auntie, the NHL is coming back, AND I got to go to the Big Apple Circus- it was the most AMAZING day of my year so far! Totally better than Saturday when I sat in my pajamas and worked on the book all day. Or Friday when I did pretty much the same damn thing, but with chips and dip.

You have absolutely NO IDEA how happy I was here, and not just because I had 2 bags of cotton candy. You also cannot possibly understand how amazing this circus was. Go. Go now. It closes on Saturday, and you don’t even need kids to have an excuse to go. Hell- I really think it’s far better as an adult. My kids are looking at these guys spinning through the air without a net and saying “That’s AWESOME! I could TOTALLY do that!”. Matt and I are looking at these guys and going “SWEET JESUS! THE HUMAN BODY SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT!”

Seriously- watch this video. Go to the 1:40 mark.

How do you even figure out your body can do that?!?!?!

We are extremely proud to be able to support the circus through our company- not just because it was one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life (there may have been a lot of crying), but also because the Big Apple Circus is a non-profit organization (who knew?). The circus itself supports all their other work, such as performing in pediatric hospitals and nursing homes, teaching performance skills to at-risk youth both in American inner cities as well as in third world countries, free specially-designed shows for children with vision and hearing impairments, free shows for disabled children, and more.

For all those worried about their animals- you should know the circus treats their animals extremely well, and all their dogs are rescues. This isn’t just from a press release- they took me back to stables to see for myself, and they were the cleanest, most odorless stables I’ve ever seen. And I got to pet and kiss all the horseys and tell them how much I loved them! And then I started hysterically crying in front of all the performers and I’m pretty sure they were laughing at me. They’re just jaded because they get to pet horseys all the time and don’t realize how magical they are.

And they freaking curtsy!!!

If you decide to give a charitable donation to the Big Apple Circus this year to help support all their incredible work, you will get some amazing perks like interactions with the other non-horsey performers, gala receptions, invitations to rehearsals, AND it’s tax deductible. It’s like getting one of the most incredible moments of your entire life for almost-free. 

Now go make yourself super giddy and eat some cupcakes! They always make you happy, don’t they? And really- try to get to the circus this week. They’re also coming back around to NJ in a couple of months, so you’ll get a second chance if you’re just too dang popular this week.

Liddabit: Chocolate cake, salted caramel nougat buttercream, roasted peanuts, ganache and caramel drizzles

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

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

Bailey’s Cheesecake: Chocolate Bailey’s cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, cake crumbs

I got hit by a car last night as I was crossing the street at the light, and while I’m not dead (yay!), I’m pretty banged up and on some serious painkillers, making it hard to type. Thank you to everyone on Facebook who kept me company while I was losing my mind in the trauma unit, the amazing EMTs who responded to the scene of the accident, and the doctors and nurses at Lutheran Medical Center who took such good care of me and gave me a fancy mahogany cane and all these delicious, delicious Percocets.

Another HUGE thanks to the Robicelli’s team who still made tons of brownies, whoopie pies, loaf cakes and these cupcakes for stores tomorrow while Matt rushed out to take care of me at the hospital. You’re our backbone and we’d be lost without you.

I’ll be all over social media the next few days because I’m going to lose my mind being trapped in bed for a good long while, so keep me company on Facebook or Twitter! Ask me baking questions, quiz me on Full House trivia, mine me for info on marketing for small business- anything you want! I’m not going anywhere!

Clockwise from front: Bourbon Caramel Apple, Bailey’s Cheesecake, Chai Latter, Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Chai Latte: Chai spice cake, vanilla buttercream, toasted spices

Bailey’s Cheesecake: Chocolate Bailey’s cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, cake crumbs

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake: Pumpkin cake, cheesecake buttercream, chocolate fudge

Bourbon Caramel Apple: Apple cake, bourbon salted caramel buttercream, roasted apple, bourbon caramel drizzle

Image courtesy of Alison Grasso

Our Urban Daddy Super Bowl offer was a HUGE success- thank you to everyone who helped us sell out!  I got a few emails late today asking if it was possible to get any last minute orders in, but unfortunately we are completely booked for this weekend.  

-BUT-

You’ll be able to pick up both the Chicken ‘n’ Waffles AND the Buffalo Chicken cupcakes a la carte at Queen City Cupcakes in Long Island starting today, and at Crespella & Blue Apron Foods in Park Slope on Saturday! As for the rest of our special Super Bowl cupcakes, if you didn’t get in with Urban Daddy, you’re out of luck.  Just be forewarned all those spots are getting limited amounts of each, so as always, early bird gets the worm, or fortune favors the prepared, or something like that.

Mentioning selling out on Urban Daddy gives me the perfect segway into Valentine’s Day ordering.  I opened up the ordering waaaaay early this year knowing full well no one starts planning for Valentine’s til about five days before, and already we’re one third full.  

We’re doing one dozen cupcakes hand delivered with a personalized card for $50, which is a lot more delicious than flowers.  Plus, flowers die, and then they become a fire hazard. You know what’s really romantic? SAFETY.

Don’t disappoint your Valentine with impending doom.  Order cupcakes before it’s too late.

Now to today’s flavors. We’ve got a new location in there you may have heard of.  

Head up to the 5th floor- you can find our cupcakes at Bar 5F!

Clockwise from front: Pecan French Toast, Caramel Macchiato, Banana Cashew, Bailey’s Cheesecake

Bailey’s Cheesecake: Chocolate Bailey’s cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, cake crumbs

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

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

Banana Cashew: Banana cake, cashew buttercream, cashew brittle

___________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau Street off Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

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

Queen City Cupcakes: Patchogue, Long Island

________________________________

Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

_________________________________

Brownies Available At:

Queen City Cupcakes: 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

Fall needs to come, like, YESTERDAY.  Stupid sun trying to kill us all!

Not only is it gross outside, but you have no idea how hard my job gets once the humidity rises.  You know how they say baking is an exact science, where you need to follow recipes to a T and they come out the same every single time? That rule DOES NOT apply during the summer.

Why am I telling you this? Well, for one thing, now that I’m at DeKalb I get to talk shop and take baking questions from customers, which I’m always happy to answer (you can also shoot me baking questions on Twitter or Facebook).  Recently, I’ve been hearing nothing but disaster stories of marshmallows that melted, cakes that cooked up like bricks, candy that never set, recipes people have made a thousand times that suddenly do not work anymore.  And I am pleased to inform all of you that the problem may have nothing to do with incompetence, but could very well be due to humidity.

Here’s where the nerd in me wants to write a five page paper on why this happens, bring in drawings of what’s going on at the molecular level, etc, but I’ll do you all a favor since it’s Monday morning and you’re probably half asleep and/or hungover/still drunk, so we’ll just go straight to bullet points:

-Sugar loves water. It’s kinda like a sponge for water- meaning if it’s in the air, it’ll just suck it up and turn into a brick. This is why you get clumps in your sugar bowl, or hard brown sugar.

-Flour: also sucking up the water.  Because it wants to be a jerk like that.  And because it’s a starch, but mostly the jerk thing.

-Depending on how the flour was stored at the supermarket, warehouse, or in transit, where it came from or was milled, or about a thousand other variables you can’t control, your cake can end up a bit gummy due to moisture in the flour.  Don’t believe me? Go out right now and buy some bread or a bagel. Notice it’s a little different than the rest of the year? I mean, it’s still delicious, but it’s different. This is why I get angry seeing people write nasty Yelp reviews about my bagel joints in the summer- they’re not “going downhill”, they’re just working with a handicap.

Practice responsible Yelp-ing, America. There’s plenty of ways to learn more about behind the scenes of the food biz, so you can write well informed and respectful reviews. I haven’t had cable in a long while, but I seem to remember Food Network as being a good source of brilliant, interesting, informative programming.  Don’t think they’d do anything stupid with such a valuable platform.

Now us professionals- we’ve been doing this long enough that we know how to evaluate our batters by taste and sight, make adjustments and alter recipes to make stuff delicious and stable during the summer.  Here’s some advice for what you can do at home:

-DON’T BAKE.  IT’S FRICKIN’ HOT OUTSIDE. You’re going to put the oven on in this heat?!?!?!  What are you, nuts?!?!?!

-DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT MAKING CANDY. Just, don’t. It’s not going to work til the humidity breaks, and you’re only going to disappoint yourself.  Pros have air conditioned rooms and equipment to combat the elements, and even they’re cursing up a storm right now.  Do yourself a favor and wait til September, or even better, October.

It might be a fun experiment for you baking nuts to eat some of our cupcakes every week to see how they change during the year, and notice the slight adjustments we make to keep them stable 52 weeks a year.  And what do you know, we just made some!  And despite the humidity, they’re still incredibly delicious! We’re like sorcerers or something!

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

Bailey’s Cheesecake: Chocolate Bailey’s cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, cake crumbs

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, hand candied orange peel

Chocolate Butterscotch: Chocolate cake, cocoa butterscotch buttercream, crushed butterscotch candy

Available at:

ROBICELLI’S AT DEKALB MARKET: Flatbush Ave Extension & Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn

CAFE AT SAM’S BAKERY: 94th Street off 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge

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

CRESPELLA: Seventh Avenue & 9th Street, Park Slope

TAZZA CAFES: Henry Street off Atlantic Ave AND Clark Street off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

RADISH: Bedford Ave & N8th, Williamsburg

CAKE SHOP: Ludlow Street btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

JOE: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: West 120th btwn Broadway & Amsterdam, Morningside Heights

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

Available Exclusively at DeKalb Market- 332 Flatbush Ave Extension:

Cupcakes: Margarita, Caramel Macchiato, PB&J, Dom DeLuise, Horchata, Chocolate Cashew, Malibu Sands, Southern Belle, Toasted Almond, Chocolate Chip Waffle (secret flavor!), Chicken n’Waffles

Brownies: Classic Sea Salt, The Maltz (bourbon bacon), The Moverley (Scotch, espresso & walnut), L’Orange Noir (Dark & White Chocolate w/Grand Mariner)

Whoopie Pies: Classic, Rocky Road, Bailey’s Cheesecake

This weekend, someone told me that they love reading this site because my posts are apparently “hysterically funny”.  Now I’m collapsing under the pressure to amuse you people.  So to that guy who’s such a fan, thanks a lot, jerk.  Let’s just go straight to flavors.

I forgot to take pictures of the cupcakes tonight, so instead I’m posting a picture of Urkel eating an ice cream cone.  I really don’t think that needs any further explanation.

Bailey’s Cheesecake:  Chocolate Irish cream cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, cake crumbs

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

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

The Aris:  Honey walnut cake, orange scented Greek yogurt buttercream, honey glazed walnuts

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

Flying Saucer Cafe:  Atlantic Ave btwn 3rd Ave & Nevins St, Boerum Hill

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

The Brooklyneer-  220 West Houston btwn 6th & 7th Avenues, West Village

We’re starting to book Thanksgiving preorders, so if you need cupcakes for your gathering, contact us sooner rather than later!  (Email us at info@robicellis.com)  You can also place an order at one of our retail outlets for pick-up on Wednesday, November 24th.

In the meantime, lets get to flavors! 

Bailey’s Cheesecake: Bailey’s Irish Cream chocolate cake, Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream, cake crumbs

Pumpkin Caramel:  Pumpkin cake, salted caramel buttercream, spiced pumpkin seeds, salted caramel drizzle

Dark Chocolate Dulce:    Dark chocolate cake, dulce de leche buttercream, dark chocolate drizzle, Maldon flake sea salt

The Julia:  Pear brandy cake, brandy buttercream, brandy snap cookie

Available at:

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

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

Market:  Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, 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 Chocoalte Cafe at Bryant Park:  40th St btwn 5th & 6th Avenues, Midtown

Happy Columbus day everyone!  I hope you all enjoy spending a day celebrating my culture, and what better way to do that then to eat a cupcake?  We’re getting into the full swing of our fall rotation now, so enjoy some of these flavors before they dissapear for an entire year!

Sweet Potato Pie:  sweet potato cake with vanilla buttercream and maple-bourbon pecans

Caramel Apple:  apple spice cake with salted caramel buttercream, roasted apple and caramel drizzle

Bailey’s Cheesecake:  chocolate Bailey’s Irish Cream cake with Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream

Butterbeer:  butterscotch soaked cake with butterscotch buttercream and edible gold dust

AVAILABLE AT:

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

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

Market:  1211 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park

Radish:  Bedford Ave off N 8th, Williamsburg

Cakeshop:  Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

Lily’ O’Briens at Bryant Park:  E40th btwn 5th and 6th, Midtown

A VERY Happy New Year to all our Jewish friends and customers!  We wish that this year brings you all nothing but the absolute best things in life!  Now onto flavors!

The L’Shanah Tovah:  apple cake with honey-vanilla buttercream & roasted apple

Chocolate Caramel Pretzel:  chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream, rolled in crushed pretzels with salted caramel and ganache drizzles

Bailey’s Cheesecake:  Bailey’s chocolate cake with Bailey’s cheesecake buttercream and cake crumbs

Pecan French Toast:  Maple custard soaked cinnamon cake with maple-vanilla buttercream and candied pecans

Available Thursday at:

Blue Apron Foods (Union st off 7th ave, Park Slope)

Cafe 474 (4th ave and 11th, Park Slope)

Sam’s Cafe (94th off 3rd, Bay Ridge)

Hom (88th and 3rd, Bay Ridge)

Farmacy (Henry & Sackett, Carroll Gardens)

Tazza Cafes (Henry & Atlantic and Clark & Henry, Brooklyn Heights)

Market (1211 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park)

Available Friday at:

Radish (N8th and Bedford Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn)

Cakeshop (152 Ludlow, Lower East Side)

Lily O’Briens Chocolate Cafe (E 40th across from Bryant Park)