Robicelli's

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, vanilla custard buttercream roasted coconut

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

Big news today, guys!

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

Very nice hotel, btw! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Only president to serve two non-consecutive terms

2. Granted a Federal injunction in the Pullman strike

3. Looks like a giant chicken. 

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

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

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

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

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

ARTISAN DEVILLED EGGS!

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

Prepare ye for such bold flavors as:

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

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

the 26th & 3rd under the gowanus: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMPPPS

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

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

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

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel

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

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

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

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

Super Bowl’s over. Now to get talkin’ bout sweet, sweet love.

AWWWWW!!!! Yes, that IS two red pandas kissing. I went to the Prospect Park Zoo with the kids yesterday, and though normally when I get to the zoo these guys are always passed out in a tree somewhere, the cold weather totally brings the cuteness! These are the animals that have finally gotten me through my heartbreaking conundrum of “Oh God I want a koala so bad it hurts”/”Oh God why do koalas have to be rife with chlamydia”/”Will my husband be cool with me getting chlamydia? I mean, you just need to take antibiotics or something for a few weeks, right?”/”Will Matt believe I got the chlamydia from a koala?”.  I’m on the red panda train now, baby. You koalas can take your STDs elsewhere.

Anyway, on a side note you should go to the Prospect Park Zoo and get your heart melted by the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen, and that INCLUDES crap on the internet. Now we’ll get back to talking about sweet love and our business.

Ok, just one more.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

NOW to sweet love- namely, Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day ordering is officially open! As we did last year, we’re offering 12 cupcakes wrapped in a sexy bow with a handwritten card and delivered to your loved one’s doorstep for only FIFTY DOLLARS. You find me a dozen flowers for that price- and not only that, you can’t even eat flowers! (trust me) The only one eating flowers is the cat, and then they throw them up all over the apartment! Valentine’s Day= RUINED. Cupcakes, however, can be savored together while snuggling on the couch and listening to Miles Davis, or used in something Cosmo suggests that sounds fun but is likely awkward in real life (and I beg of you- if you try it, please don’t send us pictures. Again. That part isn’t a joke)

If you don’t live in NYC, you can still get a special Valentine’s gift for the person in your life- we’re offering our limited edition Chambord Brownies in our online store! Velvety melted bittersweet chocolate and creamery butter mixed with Chambord liqueur, swirled with raspberry jam. I’ve yet to see someone try our brownies and not declare that they were the best ones they’ve ever tried- and I’ll guarantee whomever you buy them for will be all over you once they try them. Unless it’s your grandma or something, because that’s just gross.

Note that mail orders need to be placed no later than Saturday, February 9th. All packages are going out 2-day shipping on Monday morning. Cupcake delivery orders can get placed til Monday the 11th, or until we end up completely booked as we unfortunately can’t make personalized deliveries to every person in NYC (we did book up last year, so get in early!).

And lest we forget, we are doing a one night only Valentine’s Day pop-up dessert bar at The Owl’s Head in Bay Ridge, and it’s already almost 100% booked. Don’t want to be pushy, but it’s a small place and I don’t want anyone who really wanted to go to be disappointed that they couldn’t get a table. Valentine’s Day is about love and eating fatty food and getting hammered, and no one is going to do that better than us this year. NO ONE.

Now here’s today’s flavors! No picture today, so enjoy another one of these:

AWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

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

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

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

It’s a brand new month, which means…….IT’S FANY FEBRUARY!

Maybe you don’t know what Fany February is- particularly since I made it up. But it’s super awesome! Promise!

Many of you here in NYC know Fany Gerson as the owner of La Newyorkina, maker of the best paletas (aka Mexican ice pops) on earth. Some of you around the country as the author of My Sweet Mexico, one of the greatest cookbooks ever written. Matt and I know her as a good friend, and one of the most wonderful, generous people we have ever known.

We used to share a kitchen with Fany, but last year she moved to Red Hook. And when Sandy came, it destroyed everything in her kitchen. She has two of these gigantic machines that allow her to make and freeze the paletas- without them, she’s only be able to prepare a small amount of product every day (that is, if Sandy hadn’t also destroyed her freezers). Each of those machines cost over $20,000. They also come from Argentina, so the freight costs are significant. Both machines were completely submerged by saltwater and were irreparably destroyed.

Fany ran a successful Kickstarter and has been working her ass off to get her company back to where it was, but to be honest, she’s just trying to get back up and running. As someone who’s been her friend for years, this girl has put EVERYTHING into La Newyorkina- blood, sweat, tears, lost sleep (LOTS of lost sleep)- and there is no reason she needs to be finding ways to just squeak by by the skin of her teeth because the insurers are finding creative ways to deny her claims, no reason why she should be sitting home with her fingers crossed that her FEMA loans will be approved and she’ll be able to get back to business as usual.

And hopefully, she won’t have a reason. Because Fany has a lot of friends who love her very, very much. 

Starting today and continuing til the end of the month, we are donating a chunk of the profits of our Fany brownie directly to the lovely Ms. Gerson (and yes, this brownie was named after her). It’s our dark chocolate brownie base spiked with Mexican cinnamon, swirled with sweet sexy cajeta. You can order them online in both 4 and 12 packs- get some for yourself to store in the freezer for any time you need a quick hit of chocolate, or send some to someone you love for Valentine’s Day or Lincoln’s Birthday.

And that’s not all! It wouldn’t be warranted for us to declare this Fany February if it was just little old us- LOTS of her friends are pitching in to help our girl out! Here’s who’s signed on so far:

Whimsy & Spice: Portion of the profits from their whisky cookie (Fany’s favorite)

Danny Macaroons: Special dulce de leche macaroon available at select locations

Liddabit Sweets: Portion of all profits from items sold at the Brooklyn Flea

Butter & Scotch: Portion of profits from Mexican Chocolate at Brooklyn Flea

Roni Sue’s Chocolates: 50% of the Chili Lover’s Collection

Brooklyn Cured: Portion of profits from the Park Slope Farmer’s Market

We’ll be adding more friends as people return my emails- if you’d also like to be a part of Fany February, shoot me an email at allison at robicellis.com and I’ll add you to the master list up top! And I’ll make sure everyone on Twitter knows about it!

And now off brownies, and onto the cupcakes that are in today’s rotation. They’re plenty delicious, too. You should eat them AND order brownies, because why the hell not? It’s Friday, right?

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

Chai Latte: Chai spiced cake, mascarpone buttercream, toasted chai spices

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

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

Well, the holidays are over, we are back in “ordinary time”, and our cookbook is due into Penguin/Viking Studio in 11 days! NOT STRESSED OUT! EVERYTHING’S FINE!

I have never been this crazy in January in my life. This is supposed to be the “holiday season for the service industry”, the four weeks where business is glacially slow, where we get to see friends, take day trips, and calm our asses down just a tad. And we are scaling it back in the kitchen a bit- until Valentine’s Day, we’re cancelling Wednesday cupcake deliveries, and will only be sending them to stores Monday and Fridays (this doesn’t apply to Queen City Cupcakes out in Patchogue, who gets their own schedule because they’re special).  This is also because we’ve gotten so busy with brownies, whoopie pies, loaf cakes and hot cocoa we need a lot more time to produce them, so our online store remains completely and totally open. 

Also because I’m pretty sure the book is trying to kill me. Seriously. My vision is blurry from doing so many fractions and I got a really nasty papercut today. If anything happens to me, the book did it. It’s also being released on October 17th, so mark your calendars!

To get yourself excited for it, go have some of these cupcakes today- they’re all in the book!

Clockwise from front: Carrot, Tres Leches, Banana Cream Pie, Turtle

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

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

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

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

Hate to break it to some of you guys, but fall is right around the corner. And I, for one CANNOT FREAKING WAIT, because the lines on adorable jackets and cardigans distract from the fact that my head is the size of a bowling ball. 

Fall also means we start getting back into doing special events and bringing out our craziest, super limited edition flavors for them. Matt and I had a marathon brainstorming session today that included figs, dates, sherry, multiple European cheeses, pork products, three different types of chile peppers, local honey, herbs, apples, pears, pumpkins and more- and we’re STILL not done coming up with new ideas. I wish we had a bigger kitchen and a fleet of robots to do our bidding so we could release them all at once, but alas, we’re only human.

That being said, I’ve posted Septembers schedule, and we’re bringing back the fall flavors a few weeks earlier than normal. I wait all year for these flavors to come back, so I want to give us all as much time with them as possible before they disappear after Thanksgiving. If you’re planning a party, corporate delivery, or need our special once-a-year L’Shanah Tovah cupcakes for Passover, drop us a line! We’d love to be a part of any and all shindings, hoe-downs and hootenannies.

Speaking of hootenannies, check out the updated list of some of the many events we’re doing- like the Brooklyn Local or the NY Food & Wine Festival. Many are ticketed, all are on sale now, and you should get your tickets before they all sell out. All those special new flavors I told you we’re experimenting with? Those will be at events exclusively, so plan accordingly.

As excited as I am for fall, that means that our summer flavors are starting to take their final bows for 2012. Go out and have a Root Beer Float before they disappear til next year. It’s going to miss you too- I promise.

Clockwise from front: Root Beer Float, Banana Cream Pie, Coconut Custard, The Ebinger

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

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

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, vanilla custard buttercream, roasted coconut

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

Had a wonderful night out with Liddabit Sweets, Good Batch, Granola Lab, and Sweet Loren’s.  Now to totally bypass the Tumblr (though we came up with no shortage of topics tonight) and leave you with one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands ever. And next time they come to town, someone hit me up. I followed these guys around the northeast for most of the early 2000s, and sort of miss the carefree recklessness that goes with being twenty-something and following Clutch cross-country in a beat-up Honda Civic.

And Clutch- in the unlikely event you ever read this, I make an EXCELLENT back-up dancer. And I bring cupcakes like this you see here:

Clockwise from front: Creamsicle, Coconut Custard, Ebinger, Banana Cream Pie

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

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, vanilla bean custard buttercream, roasted coconut

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

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

Big week over here! Tuesday is Toby’s fourth birthday!

*sniff*

And as if it wasn’t hard enough reflecting on the the fact that I’ve gone from watching my baby grow from a tiny little McNugget shaped thing inside my belly to an adorable little boy with boundless creativity, an endless imagination and a mouth that never ever stops (just like his mommy), Wednesday I turn 32.

Thirty-two. My twenties ended two years ago, and now I am fully, totally, completely ensconced “In my thirties”.

*sniff sniff”

There’s a billion and a half reasons WHY I love being in my 30s (many of which I’m going to post about on Wednesday), but I’m not going to lie and say the magic combination of my baby growing up, my birthday, and finding a few more grey hairs on Matt’s head making me ever more aware that one day I will wake up and be married to Santa Claus is an altogether pleasant one.

Fortunately, after a string of horrible birthdays, 32 is going to be the best birthday ever. I know that’s a huge sweeping statement to make that would normally fall short, but considering that my 31st was spent with Matt in the hospital, and my 30th was spent at my grandmother’s wake, it honestly wouldn’t take much. But lest we forget, I am married to the absolute greatest man in the entire freaking world, because…….

After almost ten years of menu ogling, internet stalking, and doodling “Mrs. Allison Dufrense”, Matt is taking me out for a child-free night and I am finally going to eat at my #1 restaurant crush WD-50! No more “saving it for a special occasion” or making excuses- Wylie Dufrense is my hero, and Wednesday at 7pm, I am finally going to be eating his food- like THIS:

photo courtesy of Serious Eats NY

Know what that is? NEITHER DO I! But I know for a fact that it’s probably so delicious that there will be no Tumblr post on Friday, for I will have spontaneously combusted with joy. 

And as a coincidence- we’ve got a brand spanking new cupcake flavor today that could make YOU spontaneously combust with joy! Who feels like potentially exploding today?

Clockwise from front: Key Lime Cheesecake, Mudslide, Banana Cream Pie, Cookies & Cream

NEW! Mudslide: Bailey’s-Kahlua chocolate cake, mascarpone buttercream, Mudslide ganache, cookie crumbs

Key Lime Cheesecake: Graham cake, key lime curd, key lime cheesecake buttercream, graham crumbs, lime zest

Cookies & Cream: Vanilla & chocolate cookie cake, mascarpone buttercream, chocolate cookie crumbs

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

Click here for a list of Robicelli’s retail locations

Short post today, because I have to be at a conference at 8:30am tomorrow. I seriously don’t know how your morning people do it. I also don’t know what good can come of me talking business to anyone at 8:30am. I don’t speak in anything but low growls til at least 10am, and there’s always a chance of me biting someone before noon. Why can’t more people want to meet up at 3am when I’m doing my best work? 

Wanted to quickly share something with all of you though, because it’s a new discovery that I’m super stoked about. The first customer at DeKalb yesterday was a sitcom writer, who’s credits include such classics as Will and Grace and SAVED BY THE FREAKING BELL. We started talking about comedy, and both agreed that the funniest show on television right now by far is Phineas and Ferb (if you don’t know, now you know).  

She informed me the reason it’s so amazing is because Disney is intentionally giving comedy writers almost complete creative freedom to push boundaries and make really brilliant, quirky stuff, and is attracting the best writers in the business for their future programming (who knew?). Then she told me about this show debuting Friday called “Gravity Falls”, which she said is one of the funniest things she’s ever seen on tv, and described it as Twin Peaks meets Monty Python-esque absurdism in cartoon form.  

Obviously this sounds like the greatest thing I’ve ever heard of in my entire life and I needed all of you to know, because if this is even 5% as awesome as I’m expecting I’m going to be quoting it incessantly and want you all to be able to understand what I’m talking about.  I’ve been making obscure Simpsons references for ages now, and suddenly I’m encountering “adults” who don’t remember the golden age of that show BECAUSE THEY WERE THREE WHEN IT HAPPENED. Perhaps by hitching my wagon to this Gravity Falls number I’ll seem a bit more “hip” and “with it”.

So let’s all get excited together- maybe we can live-tweet it this Friday? I mean, you guys sit home on Friday nights to watch cartoons too, right? 

Clockwise from front: Banana Cream Pie, Butterbeer, Blueberry Blintz, Car Bomb

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

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

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

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

I wanted to write a really awesome post today (I actually had a real topic an everything!), but I am having a very bad Mommy day.

For those of you who don’t have kids, I’ll explain. I am not a monster. I love my kids more than just about any mother ever has. But there are some days where they will just not shut the f*** up and I want to sell them to the circus.

It started with them earlier this evening deciding that they were both Pokemon. As Pokemon are wont to do, they smacked the crap out of each other for an hour straight. In case you don’t know this fun fact: Pokemon can’t speak English- the only word they can only say their name. So this has been just about every conversation today:

Me: Kids, what do you want for dinner?

Atticus (age 5): Sandshrew! Sandshrew sandshrew sandshrew. Sandshrew sandshrew.

Toby (3 1/2): Pika pika! PikaCHUUUUUUU!!!!

Atticus: Sandshrew sandshrew sandshrew. Sandshrew sandshrew!

Me: Um, does that mean tacos?

Atticus: SANDSHREW!

Note that this is particularly adorable in the cartoons because this is what Sandshrew looks like. Atticus is pretty cute himself, but not cute enough to pull off saying the word “Sandshrew” about 2,500 times in an hour.

Then he passed out. Two glorious hours without that word! However, during that time Toby decided to talk pretty much nonstop about I don’t know what because after about 30 seconds everything he said sounded like the whirling of a drill bit boring itself straight into the center of my brain and I stopped listening.  

I don’t even get to count the silencing nap as a win, because it’s now 1am and Atticus is awake, asking when I’m getting off the computer so he can look up “Snuffle” on Bulbapedia, which is, you guessed it, the #1 source for Pokemon information on the internet. They are both in my bed, meaning that I will be spending  the night sleeping on the couch.

Why don’t I just move him out of my bed, you ask? Because my children know how to get up in the middle of the night, and in a deep sleep navigate flawlessly from their beds to mine. Mind you, they have set up a virtual minefield of Legos and assorted pointy plastic objects that Matt and I painfully step on every morning, which I swear is more effective in waking one up than coffee.  Back to the point, the children will step OVER the Legos, OVER the Angry Birds figures and plastic dinosaurs, find our bed in the dark, climb into it and sleep on top of me like a mattress.  Because that’s obviously in the job description: cook, maid, chauffeur, teacher, confidante, mattress.  

So no, childless people, just because I am hiding from my children does not make me a monster. Though I will more than likely look like one when I wake up tomorrow. 

Back on Wednesday with actual news about the business, baked goods, and whatever else you’d like me to talk about. You’re always welcome to friend us on Facebook and give me suggestions for blog posts. Because it’s hard summoning the magic when it’s 1am and you’re trying to make yourself virtually invisible with a Captain America blanket.

Clockwise from front: Turtle, Pecan French Toast, Butterbeer, Banana Cream Pie

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

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

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

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

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market is closed on Mondays, open Tuesday at noon. Find these flavors today at select Robicelli’s retail partners.

I’ve got no blogging juju today guys. Sorry. The weather’s just been so humid and gross that I can’t spare one precious brain cell for writing, because I need every single one focusing on keeping my hair from looking incredibly stupid. If I get distracted for even a second, I will go straight from sleek sophisticated woman-about-town directly to “homeless electrocuted poodle”. And no one wants to see that.

To make it up to you, here’s a video of Steve Martin playing the banjo on the Muppet Show. 

And in case that wasn’t enough to make it up to you, how about these cupcakes right here? Will they do?

Clockwise from front: Car Bomb, Creamsicle, Banana Cream Pie, Strawberry Shortcake

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

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

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

Strawberry Shortcake: Vanilla cake, strawberry syrup, mascarpone buttercream, strawberry compote, cake crumbs

Visit our store at DeKalb Market, or find a Robicelli’s Retail Partner nearest you.

You know happens after “Allison Gets No Sleep Week” comes to an end? Day one, you wake up and don’t leave the bed for two hours. Then you pull yourself out of bed and move six feet to the couch, where you proceed to spend the entire afternoon watching the Ranger game, eating a huuuuge bag of Doritos, and then fitting in a quick nap before heading to DeKalb Market (ok, I needed to get a little work in. I couldn’t help it). Then following another DeKalb dance party by sleeping til 1pm for the first time in, well, YEARS, followed by screwing around on my brand new iPhone, then another nap, then Chinese food while hanging out with the kids.

Usually I hate doing nothing, but Sweet Jesus that was freaking outstanding.

Speaking of new iPhones, now that I’m out of Blackberry hell I’m finally able to download aps that are actually functional, meaning that our Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram pages are going to get a lot more active. Which also means that much like our Twitter and Tumblr (already here) pages, it’s going to start off with food pics and well-intentioned attempts at professionalism, and then very quickly spiral into total nonsense (my signature!). Will the tangents I go off on be about small dogs in stupid outfits? My thoughts on the later seasons of Boy Meets World? Pictures of random portions of my apartment as I figure out how to work this stupid camera? Only time will tell!

In the meantime, go ahead and enjoy THIS picture of today’s cupcakes, which doesn’t include shots of my pillow or the side of my thumb.

Clockwise from front: Banana Cream Pie, The CPB, Boston Cream, Car Bomb

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

The CPB: Chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream, ganache, peanuts

Boston Cream: Vanilla cake, vanilla custard buttercream, chocolate fudge

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

Note: To make my life slightly simpler (and to stop cutting into my sleep time), I will no longer be posting the entire list of locations at the end of every post. I will just be putting a link to our locations tab for you to reference. Please note that inventory, rotations and quantity is up to our retail partners and not us, so please call ahead if you’re looking for something specific or want to ensure availability.

Super short post tonight because I have to be up super early to make it to a Gifted & Talented kindergarten open house at 8:30 in the morning.

I know I’m a giant crybaby, but I’ve been working nights for as long as I can remember, and my day typically ends somewhere between 3 and 4am.  I’m terrified I’m going to end up accidentally growling at the principal, Atticus won’t be allowed in because no one wants the crazy growling lady near the building, and then he ends up shooting dice in an alley somewhere, never ends up getting into an Ivy league school, then winds up living with us til he’s 45 while he’s waiting for his reggae-funk-fusion band to take off. 

Two quick notes:

1. We’re 77% of the way to our internet fundraising goal for the Great American Bakesale- every donation, no matter how small, makes a BIG difference. And don’t forget that 25% of all purchases made at our DeKalb Market shop until Friday will be donated as well!

2. Today’s flavors? Four of our most popular flavors ever. Why? Because they are so ridiculously delicious that they may make you spontaneously burst into tears. As I’m expecting to do at PS 748 at about 8:35am. 

Clockwise from front: Coconut Custard, S’Mores, Chocolate Caramel Pretzel, Banana Cream Pie

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, vanilla bean custard buttercream, roasted coconut

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

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

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

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Cupcakes Available at:

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

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City AND 200 West Street, Goldman Sachs Building

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

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

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Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

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

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Brownies Available At:

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

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

Every year, Share Our Strength asks people around the country to help fight childhood hunger by hosting a bakesale. Since our lives sort of are a bakesale, and since childhood hunger is a cause near and dear to us, we are proud to announce that this is Great American Bakesale Week at Robicelli’s!

From this Tuesday til Friday, 25% of every single baked item sold at our store at DeKalb Market will be donated to Share Our Strength. And from Saturday the 21st til the end of April, we will feature a special item every day that will have 100% of it’s profits donated! The item will change every single day, so you’ll have excuses to make multiple trips.

We know that cupcakes, brownies and such are not the highest priced item in the world, and it might not seem all that important to leave your desk at Metrotech to come by, or maybe stop in one night on your way home from work. I thought the same thing too at first. But then I saw these facts on the SoS website:

$1 can provide a hungry child with 10 healthy meals

Only a dollar can do that! Buy a cupcake and 10 healthy meals come of that!

$4 can help provide a child facing hunger with a backpack full of healthy food over a weekend when school meals are not available

Grab a co-worker or two, come by for something sweet and a Manhattan Special, and you managed to feed a child by taking a coffee break

$9 can help connect a child with healthy lunches during summer when school is out

Swing by and pick up a dozen for your office. Not only are you now the most popular person at work, but THAT just happened.

Want to help us do even more good, but just can’t bring yourself to eat 500 cupcakes by yourself, no matter how delicious they may be?

Take the “No Kid Hungry” pledge. It’s totally, 100% free to do

Donate directly to our bakesale page. If every person who subscribes to our Tumblr or visits this website donated just a dollar a piece, we could raise over $50,000. We’re just hoping to be able to raise a simple $300 this week through internet donations. Pledge a few dollars, help spread the link, and let’s cross our fingers that we can make it happen!

Host a bakesale of your own. You don’t need to be a pastry chef or a wizard in the kitchen. Use cake mixes, refrigerated doughs- hell, even store bought stuff is fine! I’m hoping to be able to make cookies with my kids sometime this year and sell them in front of my parents house for less than a buck, just to show my boys how awesome it is to be involved in this. You can organize a group or just do it with your own family, but either way it’s a very fun way to get people together to do something wonderful.

Visit the NYC Food Blogger Bakesale on April 28th. This is part of a national movement where food bloggers all over the country will be participating in different cities. Last year they collectively raised close to $25,000- with your help we can break that record this year!

Now……the first cupcakes of the week!

Clockwise from front: Coconut Custard, The JoJo, Turtle, Banana Cream Pie

Coconut Custard: Coconut cake, vanilla bean custard buttercream, roasted coconut

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

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

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

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Cupcakes Available At:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: 138 Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn (CLOSED MONDAYS UNTIL THE SUMMER- OPEN TUESDAY AT NOON)

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

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

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

Cake Shop: 152 Ludlow St, Lower East Side

Battery Place Markets: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City AND 240 Murray Street, Goldman Sachs Building, Financial District

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

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Whoopie Pies Available At:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market

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

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

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

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Brownies:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market

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

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

It’s March 23rd! (Wasn’t Christmas just like 2 weeks ago?) This means:

A) we’re only a week and a half away from Tasting Brooklyn! 

B) the grand reopening of Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market is ALSO only two weeks away! AND it’s Easter/Passover weekend, so you should place your orders for pick-up!

C) then the EscapeMaker.com trade show is only THREE weeks away! We’ll be doing free tastings and selling some super-special baked goods!

D) and then the wedding of the millennium, Simon & Christina from Macaron Parlour, is FOUR weeks away! We’re making the cupcakes for it, proving once and for all that cupcakes and macarons can peacefully co-exist. It’s going to be just like the Peace of Westphalia, but with more tummyaches.

E) and finally, to end the month of April, I’m going to be headed to beautiful sunny Delaware for the weekend. If you think for a second that I’m not crazy excited about that one, you’re wrong. Matt’s going to be getting his tattoo finished with Shane O’Neil, so I’m going to hole myself up in a hotel for two days with my phone off, hide under the covers and eat an entire case of Swiss Miss pudding packs. I’ve been dreaming of a vacation just like this one all my life.

You’re going to need to start training if you’re going to keep up with all the deliciousness we’re going to be bringing. I say you start now with some of these:

Clockwise from front: Tiramisu, Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler, Banana Cream Pie, Ebinger

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

Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler: Vanilla cake, blueberry syrup, vanilla buttercream, blueberry compute, streusel

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

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

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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

Hom: 88th & 3rd, Bay Ridge

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

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

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau Street off Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

Battery Place Market: 240 Murray Street, Goldman Sachs Building, Financial District

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

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

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Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

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Brownies Available At:

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