Robicelli's

I’ve been intending to write more blog posts about the behind-the-scenes goings on regarding our upcoming cookbook for a while, since I’m asked so many questions about how it all comes together (it’s actually incredibly interesting, which makes you wonder why I haven’t spoken about this earlier and rather have posted an ungodly amount of cute animal photos instead. Then again who needs to question baby animals on the internet- those are always appropriate!).

One thing I’ve been terrified about is making a mistake. I’ve got hundreds of cookbooks in my collection, and I’d say nearly all of them have a typo, or  an accidental omission, or some other sort of error. I never understood how or why this would happen- you figure that the people at major publishing houses are some sort of insane type-A sorcerers who would make sure these things would never happen, right? And certainly many of you out there must feel the same way- go look up some cookbooks on Amazon and read the anonymous customer reviews. So many frowny face emoticons!

Well that sure as hell isn’t going to happen to OUR book! I went over our book with a fine toothed comb, as did the good people at Penguin/Viking Studio, and then finally our copyeditor. After all of that, it was sent back to me for a once over before we go to print.  This is what I got in the mail:

Yep. A year of writing and editing, followed by months of more edits, re-reads, revisions, and there she is- our cookbook! To get a better scope of this:

Two hundred and seventy five pages. That’s what a lot of coffee and not sleeping for weeks on end will get you.  And with all the work we all did, those pages came back flawless, right?

Blurred to keep you in suspense! And also to keep this blog PG- there’s some drawings of boobs in the margins.

Two hundred and seventy five pages of corrections, edits, and “other”. This leads me to understand one thing- copyeditors are superheroes. I must have been over this manuscript about 50 times, my agent has been over it, and many, many hands have touched it over at Penguin, namely my editor and her amazing assistant. And still, we find things to tweak here and there- ways to make instructions clearer, jokes funnier, stories tighter. 

What’s even more amazing to me is that with all the hard work I put into this book, how hard I tried to make it perfect, it STILL ended up being 275 pages riddled with little mistakes.  Invisible to Matt, myself- probably everyone except our superhuman copyeditor, and of course to the worlds absolutely highest authority- anyone who would have inevitably reviewed it on Amazon. 

Lesson learned: cut all the cookbooks in my collection some slack, because this crap is HARD. I didn’t even take into account getting an agent, or writing a proposal, or shopping the book around, or writing the book, or rewriting it after I decided the first draft sucked, or developing the recipes, or photographing and styling the cupcakes, or any of the other stuff I know I’m forgetting.  I’m basing this all on the past 8 hours sitting over a cup of coffee with this manuscript, pouring over small print, reading and rereading every single word, wondering why they don’t just go ahead and start serving bourbon at Starbucks already because people like me would gladly triple their stock value off that fact alone.

So I forgive you, all the cookbooks I’ve been mean to! I didn’t know how rough you had it! And all of you out there- go forgive some of your cookbooks, too. Tell them you know they’re doing their best. Then maybe go leave them a nice little something over on Amazon- that peanut gallery can be pretty brutal.

But before any of that, go grab cupcakes- it’s the first appearance of our seasonal spring cupcake Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp! And personal favorite Blueberry Blintz is back from the vault as well for the first time in what feels like ages - I should put that on the menu more often. Mental note made. If you have other suggestions what should go on our menu for the next few months, hit me up on Facebook and let me know!

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

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

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

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

It’s MARCH everyone! Already! We’re just plowing through this year like a thoroughbred racehorse on cocaine!

We’ve been waiting for March 1st forever, because today’s the day……

THE RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND REOPENS!!!

Over four months after being completely destroyed by Sandy, the best lobster roll in the world is coming back to Red Hook tomorrow! And there will be $20 lobster dinners, lobster mac & cheese, lobster BLTs, lobster chowdah……oh the hell with it, here’s the menu:

Know what else they’ll be serving? Our famous whoopie pies are coming back! Not only that, since tomorrow’s kinda a special day, we’re doing something very special….

BEHOLD THE BEAUTY THAT IS OUR BLUEBERRY COBBLER WHOOPIE PIE.

This is our classic vanilla whoopie filling with homemade wild Maine blueberry compote and brown sugar streusel. And it tastes like victory. You can get them tomorrow starting at noon at:

Red Hook Lobster Pound

284 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn

And aside from Whoopies, here’s the first cupcakes of March. Suck it, Sandy! Red Hook is back!

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

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

Ellie: Walnut orange cake, espresso ganache, vanilla buttercream, roasted walnuts

Dark Chocolate Dulce: Dark chocolate cake, dulce de leche buttercream, dark chocolate ganache, sea salt

It’s time for MARDI GRAS! And this year, it’s going to be EXTRA absorbant!

After our limited-edition Lunar New Year cupcakes from last Friday, we have ANOTHER limited edition cupcake today- King Cake. Our version is a miniature version of the original French version, also known as a pithivier. If you’ve never made a pithivier, I implore you to attempt one- it was one of the first recipes I made when teaching myself how to bake as a teenager, and is still one of my favorites to this day.  It’s as simple as a two discs of buttery puff pastry encasing a filling of warm frangipane (almond cream).

Alternately, if you have absolutely no baking skills whatsoever, or don’t actually need a giant pastry that serves 12 in your house that you’ll of course eat all of yourself, you should just buy a cupcake. Totally easier. 

And now…..I’ve got one more chance to nag remind you about Valentine’s Day!

1. You can order Valentine’s Day cupcakes/brownies for hand delivery in Manhattan and Brooklyn until 2pm Tuesday! Fifty bucks buys you one dozen limited-edition cupcakes (including the 4x a year and much loved Strawberry Champagne, the only appearance of “The Eve” and the last appearance of Creme Brulee til Christmas), PLUS a ribbon, a handwritten note card, and hand delivery to your valentine. Best part of all of this- your loved one will more than likely not be able to eat all 12 cupcakes at work, and will bring the remainder home to store in the freezer, AND share with you! This is win-win!

2. We are four days away from giving you the most romantic Valentine’s Day of your life, OR the most delicious “Screw Love” ladies night out ever (I had more than enough of those pre-Matt. And they were not as tasty as this one is going to be).

We’re doing a one night only event at The Owl’s Head Wine Bar in Bay Ridge, where we’re taking the cupcakes that we’ve made that were inspired by our ideas for plated restaurant desserts and actually making them into plated desserts. Is that meta? Ah who cares- HERE’S THE MENU!

First Course: Pear Mascarpone
Mascarpone panna cotta, roasted pear compote, spiced pear chip
Served with: German Gilabert Zero Dosage Cava Brut Nature 2011

Second Course: The Noah
Apple galette, goat cheese mousse, roasted candied bacon, bourbon brown sugar sauce
Served with: Niepoort 2001 Colheita Port

Third Course: Car Bomb
Jameson whiskey, Bailey’s Irish Cream & Guinness stout opera cake, Guinness beer nut praline
Served with:Sixpoint 3beans über-porter

Know when the next time we’re doing this is? NEVER. So you will call the Owl’s Head at (718) 680-2436 and make your reservation now before they’re all gone, and you’re left with nothing but a puddle of regret, and maybe some Cheetos as that’s what I use to kill the pain of regret. You personally might use Doritos- there’s no wrong answer here.

Now- MARDI GRAS CUPAKES!!! Go git em!

King Cake: Almond cake, almond pastry cream, almond custard buttercream, feuillitine

Pecan Praline: Pecan cake, vanilla buttercream, N’Awlins style pralines

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

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

Thanks to Emily Hannahan, aka Nomnivorous, for this LOLCat.

Yep, Matt and I are on vacation with our two boys in beautiful sunny Sesame Place/Philadelphia. And I am OFF THE G-DAMN GRID. Though I do need recommendations on where to eat down here because our hotel is sandwiched between an Arby’s and a Taco Bell, and I have to share a bed with Matt.

If you’ve visited Philly, lived there, loved there etc, hit me up on Facebook and tell me where to go.  As for today, I’ll be relaxing next to Count Von Count’s Splash Castle with Big Bird and Elmo, sipping on cherry slushies and eating dried out cheeseburgers. This is adulthood at it’s finest.

Hugs and kisses to our amazing staff who are taking the reins for us this week so we could spend a week being a family outside of the business. You guys are the best ever. Now go buy these cupcakes they made and tell them how much you love them, too!

Clockwise from front: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel, Rue McClanahan, Tiramisu, Bananas Foster

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

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

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

ACHTUNG!!!!

I am about to type the single most awesome thing that has ever been typed on this website. You all should probably sit down. Well, you’re probably already sitting down if you’re on a computer, but some of you might be reading this on your phones while walking. In that case, you should probably stop reading so you can watch where you’re going. And also because you really will need to sit, because your mind is about to be blown.

Ready? *ahem*

Tomorrow, Saturday the 14th, THERE IS A ROBOT FESTIVAL AT DEKALB MARKET.

What exactly is a robot festival, you ask? I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA, AND I HONESTLY DON’T CARE.

And YES, I know I mentioned it briefly on Wednesday, but it seems no one believed me. Which is understandable. I mean, I still don’t really believe it, but I saw our event producer Jen Lyon yesterday and she swears to me that this is totally real. I mean, even if it turns out there’s only one guy DOING the robot, I’d still think it’s absolutely the greatest thing ever.

So what are we doing for Robot Saturday? A robot cupcake would have been nice, but we couldn’t find any Jagged Metal Krusty-Os to use for toppings. So we’re doing the next best thing and doing WAY TOO MUCH. You can expect both our classic and Nutella whoopie pies, two types of brownies, marshmallows, coconut macaroons, and no fewer than sixteen types of cupcakes. Chicken n’Waffles, Elvis, Romeo y Juliette, Matzoh Toffee, Tiramisu, Coconut Cream Pie and more…..including THESE!

Clockwise from front: Bananas Foster, Car Bomb, Blueberry Blintz, Pickett

NEW! The Pickett: Vanilla cake, vanilla custard buttercream, feiulletine, chocolate sauce

NEW! Blueberry Blintz: Brown sugar cake filled with sour cream bavarian, sour cream custard buttercream, blueberries, candied almonds

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

Bananas Foster: Banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream & drizzle

___________________________

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

Yesterday we got our first ever school portraits of our boys, and they are so adorable I totally cried.  They’re both sitting at their little preschool desks with their hands folded, looking wide-eyed off into the distance…..really, there’s only one way it could have been better:

LASERS!!!!

I say this without an iota of facetiousness- whenever I see a laser background I get butterflies, because there will always be a little part of me that thinks that this truly was the coolest thing that has ever existed. I don’t know if this background has been discontinued, but if it has, I urge all of you to pester the School Portrait Photographers Council to reinstate the lasers. Truly, one of the things that makes America great.

This week we passed 12,000 direct subscribers to this blog, and have tens of thousands more visit us directly. When I started writing I honestly didn’t think anyone but my mother was reading this, so I am completely floored we’ve reached these numbers, and incredibly grateful for it. But the realization of how popular this blog has become and how it continues to grow bigger every day makes me think that as much as I am tempted to show you all the school pictures so you can all bask in how ridiculously good looking our kids are and how obvious it is that Matt and I have superior genetics, I’ve decided that for now I don’t want to share pictures of my kids. They’re going to hate me enough one day for sharing stories about them on the blog and my assorted writing- the least I can do is try to keep them somewhat anonymous so they’re not “internet famous” before they’re ready. If they decide they want to be a part of it one day that’s fine, but it will be their choice and not me Mama Rose-ing them.

Now I know I got your guys all psyched up for school pics, and you’re all just dying to see some right now! I mean, who wouldn’t be!  I feel bad that I led you on a bit just to let you down, but I think I’ve come up with a great consolation. 

My BFF Danny Macaroons with lasers AND lightning. It’s also his birthday today and I’m hoping this picture can count as his present, because I’m not buying him anything. 

This is obviously the type of quality material that has brought us 12,000 Tumblr subscribers.

Thank you all for subscribing, following our adventures as we’ve grown, and supporting us. We’re happy you’re here.

Clockwise from front: S’Mores, Bananas Foster, Ebinger, Milk & Cookies

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

Bananas Foster: Banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream & drizzle

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

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

___________________________

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

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

Brooklyneer: 220 West Houston Street, West Village

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: Clark St off Henry AND Henry St 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

Lent is finally here! YES, I’m excited about it! 

You heard me, shocked kitten!!! I said I’m excited about Lent. In fact, it’s actually one of my most favorite times of the year. I did a big blog post about it last year, but I’ll try summing it up real quick for those of you who don’t want to do the whole click-through sha-bang:

- When I can’t have meat on Fridays, I remember that a few years back, I was lucky enough to be eating any food at all. And that there are millions of people all over the world who don’t have so many choices of things to eat, if they’re lucky enough to have the choice to eat in the first place.  I have food to eat and healthy children. Life is good.

- I also stopped giving up tangible things, because God doesn’t really care if I don’t eat tacos for 40 days. I mean, I’m just going to go right back to eating excessive amounts of tacos after Easter. Not like this is a marathon or other feat of endurance where God’s handing out medals and free Subway sandwiches at the end.

- Instead of giving up a “thing”, I give up one of my bad qualities. You know how we all made New Years resolutions, and then halfway through January they all went to crap? Well, they say it takes about 30 days of doing something every day to make it a habit, and Lent is 40.  And God will be much happier with me for growing into a better person than for giving up carnitas. Plus, he wouldn’t want my taco lady to lose money over this! I’m sure he loves her, because her tacos are so delicious that I’m sure they’re going to be served in heaven!

Heaven will also have rivers filled with Mexican Coke, and an Unlimited Peanut Butter Oreo Tree.

Last year, I gave up being jealous of what other people had, and not only did I become happier, but instead of just coveting peoples things (totally a sin!), I started working harder for the things I wanted. Does this means I’m perfect at it? Not even remotely. But it DOES mean that one year later I’m conscious of it when I slip up, and that I take steps to work at being better.

This year, I’m going to try and give up fear. Yes, this sounds, and probably is, incredibly stupid. There are risks I have wanted to take, situations where I have wanted to stand up for myself, brass rings I have wanted to reach for, but haven’t because I’m terrified, or unsure of myself.  Behind the scenes, I’ve actually suffered from crippling panic attacks for nearly 20 years, and I am incredibly tired of them taking over my life.  

Every time an iota of self doubt enters my head, I’m going to be like “AAAAY! What the f*$k is wrong with you you little p*)$#y a$$ b*@#h!?!?!?! Get the mo*#$*f&$*@# sand out of your v@#$(*, grow some G-ddamn b*@ls and kick some (*$&(#$#_!”.  And then I will crush my enemies with rock solid fists of fury and leave a trail of scorched earth behind me!!!! 

Or I might just finally finish the business plan up so we can seek investors and finally move a step closer to opening a full bakery again. I told the world we had no plans to ever open a proper shop until the kids were in school. Well, Atticus starts kindergarten this fall. It’s time to get on with this and stop procrastinating.

It’s also time for me to get the balls to sign up for the breakdancing class at my gym. I will not only leave this Lent a stronger person, but also poppin’ and lockin’ as I go forth.

Head on over to our Facebook page to share what you’re giving up if you’re on board with the whole Lent thing.  Now onto today’s cupcake flavors- King Cake is back, but since it’s not colored for Mardi Gras, it’s going by it’s French name of “Pithivier”. Still delicious!

Clockwise from front: Rue McClanahan, Pithivier, Southern Belle, Tiramisu

NEW! Pithivier (King Cake): Almond cake, almond pastry cream, almond custard buttercream, feuillitine

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, brown sugar peach compote

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

___________________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

Queen City Cupcakes: West Main Street, 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:

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

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

It’s Mardi Gras, it’s President’s Day weekend- it’s just madness over here! Yesterday, we drove from Brooklyn out to Patchogue to visit our only Long Island outpost, Queen City Cupcakes (GORGEOUS!!! A must visit if you’re out east).  After Patchogue, we drove out to East Hampton to see my aunt, then to Maidstone, then back to East Hampton, then to Bridgehampton, then Southampton, the Quogue to give our class at the Quogue Library (also gorgeous! Seriously- Bay Ridge looks like crap after this weekend!), then back to Brooklyn to get the kids, then to Staten Island, and now finally to Monroe Township in Central New Jersey.

I. Am. Exhausted. So I get to blame all typos, poor segways, and idiotic sentence structure on that today. It’s nice to finally have a real excuse for it, in contrast to all the other days the blog is comprised mostly of that stuff anyway.  Those times it solely because I’m lazy and/or writing the blog while simultaneously screaming at “Days of Our Lives” on SoapNet.

Here’s some random stuff I have to talk about that has really nothing to do with each other. I really tried hard to find a thread to tie it all together, but the magic is just not happening today. I must admit, I’m half tempted to make some crack like “the magic’s not happening - except in my pants!”, which can only mean I have spent entirely way too much time hanging out with my husband this weekend.

1. A big THANK YOU to all the people who sold out our master class in Quogue. We are both so floored that you all took the time out of your busy schedules to come and spend an afternoon listening to us ramble on and on and on and on……

Also a big thank you to Ann Marie Borghese of Borghese Vineyards who provided us with the merlot we will now be using in our Chocolate Merlot brownies. You can catch her at the Union Square & Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket on select days- we heavily suggest the Merlot, which in our eyes is a great basic table red.  And as for those merlot brownies- expect to be able to find them regularly at our DeKalb shop starting on 4/6, and potentially out east soon…..

2. …..speaking of out east - the last time we were at my aunt’s house out east was seven whole years ago. Now most of you, rightfully, are probably wondering what the hell is wrong with us, since anyone who has an open invitation to stay out in the Hamptons any time they’d like should probably go three times a week. And I will tell you what was wrong with us: we had kids. Then the kids weren’t enough so we threw a small business on top of that! 

Within five minutes of being back on Route 27, I instantly remembered all the days I had spent as a child catching blue crabs and digging for clams like they were yesterday. The weekends spent fishing off the back of my aunt’s kayak, bringing a bag of porgys back to my aunt’s one room cottage and spending the night cooking and eating in our bathing suits.  It made me realize that one quick overnight stopover during a business trip after a seven year absence was not remotely enough.

Now the kids are old enough to take out east, but we still have that little problem of us being entrepreneurs, meaning that it is next to impossible for Matt and I to turn “off” and justify being off from work for more than two days. So if anyone out there can come up with any way to rationalize an extended stay in the Hamptons, let us know. You know a shop we can run a week-long pop-up in? Have a wedding you want us to cater? Want us to give private baking classes?  Give a lecture for your organization? Bake pies for charity? Want Matt to clean your pool?  

We just need leads, because that place is totally unrecognizable from when I was a kid. Seriously, my old toy store is a Juicy Couture now, and my favorite candy shop is now home to the Corcoran Group. I DO, however, still know the best spot to go to catch frogs, so don’t think this would be a one-sided information exchange!

3: LOGO SEARCH 2012: Current results- #1 and #3 are TIED, each with 40% of the vote, and #2 has 20%. So I’m going to give this a few more days.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FIRST DRAFT OF OUR NEW LOGO. Note that I put “First Draft” in bold. These are not close to final- we’re picking a design to use as a starting point, hoping to get a final in a few weeks. I had a lot of people say they hated #3, but voted for it because it said “Brooklyn”. We can put Brooklyn on any of the logos- we probably will. We’re also changing the colors. Those will all be future polls- we promise. Right now, we’re going straight for gut reaction.

What is your gut telling us to do? Because mine is telling me to take a 5 minute writing break in order to eat some ice cream sandwiches. 

Yes, sandwiches. I meant that to be plural.

4: MAAAARRRRDDDDDIIIIIII GRRRRAAAAASSSSSS!!!!

This is a very special cupcake day, because we’ve got a bunch of N’Awlins inspired flavors on the menu, including two brand spanking new ones: Pecan Praline & King Cake!

When researching King cakes, we found about 1,000 recipes, all of them radically different. Then we learned that we’ve been making the original King cake for years, except in our house, we called it by the name we learned from our French training: Pithivier. Not only delicious, but really really really fun to say out loud. Almost as fun as saying “Me montrer votre belle poitrine” (WOOOO MARDI GRAS!).

Pithivier is a very simple cake, made with frangipange (aka almond cream) sandwiched between two disks of puff pastry, then baked until puffed and golden.  If you buy the puff pastry (we recommend Dufour all-butter puff), it’s an amazingly easy dessert to try and make on your own. Here’s a link to Jacques Torres’ recipe, which is the first one I ever made when I was 16 years old, and the basis of the recipe I use til this day.

Our “King Cupcake” is an almond cake filled with almond pastry cream, topped with an almond custard buttercream, then rolled in feuillitine (aka crispy puff pastry). And since it’s a special occasion, we’ve airbrushed the cupcakes the traditional colors of purple (for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power).

I know, I know - we don’t use food coloring! But all the cajuns we talked to stressed how important the colors were, and coincidentally we were just introduced to 100% natural line of non-chemical food coloring! It’s a Mardi Gras miracle!

So we’ve got the King Cake, Pecan Praline & Bananas Foster cupcakes to celebrate, but there’s always a 4th cupcake. What else could we be celebrating?

5: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUE McCLANAHAN!!!!

Happy 78th birthday in heaven, beautiful. We still love you down here.

Now let’s go make Fat Tuesday live up to it’s name!

Clockwise from front: King Cake, Pecan Praline, Rue McClanahan, Bananas Foster

NEW! King Cake: Almond cake, almond custard filling, almond custard buttercream, feuillitine

NEW! Pecan Praline: Pecan cake, vanilla buttercream, homemade pecan pralines

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, brown sugar & peach compote

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Cupcakes Available at:

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

Aloha Grinds: 77th and 3rd, Bay Ridge

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

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

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

By Brooklyn: 261 Smith Street

Queen City Cupcakes: 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 Cafes: Clark off Henry AND Henry off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights

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

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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

So…..just because our apartment flooded, we have to live with my parents, we’re opened a new store and Matt was rushed to the hospital with a severe kidney infection DOES NOT MEAN WE DON’T STILL BAKE THE CUPCAKES!!!!  BOOYAH!!!!

However, this does mean an extraordinarily short blog post today. It’s one of those weeks where the universe piles as much as it can onto your shoulders just to see if it can break you, and you have to push back in hopes that if you survive you end up with a big bag of gold or your own private unicorn or something.

I’m going to try and post a few more things today if I can carve out the time, but right now I’m going to sleep.  In the event the posts I want to write don’t happen, just know that Matt and I love all of you very, very, very much.  Thank you for being there for us this week.

Clockwise from front: Key Lime Cheesecake, Bananas Foster, Liddabit, North Fork

The North Fork:  Chocolate cabernet cake, blackberry cabernet buttercream, cabernet simmered blackberries

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

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

Liddabit: Chocolate cake, salted caramel & nougat buttercream, peanuts, ganache, caramel drizzle

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

BLUE APRON FOODS- Union Street off 7th Avenue, Park Slope

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

COURT STREET GROCERS: 485 Court Street, Carroll Gardens

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

Today, thanks to our intern Glori, our cupcakes have gotten INSTAGRAMED!!!  I’m not part of the Apple cult (yet), so I have to admit that I’ve been constantly perplexed by all the ones shared on Facebook & Twitter: people have been working since the 70’s to bring us such incredibly sophisticated technology that’s beyond our wildest dreams, only so we can use it to take pictures that look like they’re from the 70’s. 

Clockwise from bottom right: Pecan French Toast, Toasted Almond, Bananas Foster, Bea Arthur

Look at them!  Can’t you just see them sitting in a wood-paneled basement getting totally hammered on Schlitz?  It’s uncanny!

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FLAVORS:

TOASTED ALMOND:  Almond cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted almonds

PECAN FRENCH TOAST:  Maple custard soaked cinnamon cake, maple-cinnamon buttercream, maple sugared pecans

BEA ARTHUR:  Black coffee infused chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

BANANAS FOSTER:  Rum-banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

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Available at:

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

     Man, I’ve got to stop writing these things at 2am.  You know how hard it is trying to write anything coherent at this hour? I should get a medal.

     I’m happy it’s warming up a bit, so we brought back the “Romeo y Juliette” cupcake, which is bright, tropical and summery tasting.  It’s a riff off these pastries with the same name I’d get at a long-gone Cuban bakery in the East Village, which was a slab of cream cheese topped with guava paste baked into a perfect little puff pastry crust.  It was so unbelievably simple, but unforgettably delicious.  I’m not positive about the name, but I’m guessing it’s because cream cheese and guava are so perfect together that it seems like the universe made them just for each other, just like Romeo and Juliet.  Or because guava killed cream cheese’s cousin and fiancee, and then they both went out in a horrible and tragic double suicide.  Thank Jehosephet all that senseless bloodshed brought us such a sunshiney-delicious cupcake.  Silver lining, mofos!

     Also, yesterday we hit 1,000 followers on Twitter, so here’s yet another one of my gratitude schpiels: thank you. Thank you to every single one of you who has ever bought a cupcake, read our Tweets or Tumblr, mentioned us to a friend, referred us to a store or sought us out in any way.  If you haven’t noticed, I don’t have much downtime with two toddlers and a business, so Twitter has essentially become my entire social life. Over the past year I’ve gotten to know so many of you online- had you pick up up when we were down, kick us in the ass when we needed the motivation, and made us smile on days where we thought we had nothing to smile about.  Matt and I don’t think of you as customers- we think of you as Robicellis, too.  

     In fact, I think it’s about time we found a proper name for all you guys. You know, like the Grateful Dead have “Deadheads”, Jimmy Buffet has “Parrotheads”, or The Situation has “Sluts Named Theresa Marie”.  Something catchy that can refer to you guys as a whole.  And please don’t suggest “Cupcakeheads”, because that makes me think of people walking around like zombies with giant bobble-like cupcake heads, and that is just TERRIFYING. Think something quirky and adorable, like “Juggalos”.  And post your ideas up on Twitter during the day- we’ll come up with a few ideas to vote on as a group starting next week. Deal?

Now to flavors! Forgot the camera again, so instead of cupcakes, enjoy this picture of Batman riding a Lisa Frank unicorn!  TOTALLY BADASS!!!!

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

THE LIDDABIT:  Chocolate cake, salted caramel & nougat buttercream, roasted peanuts, ganache & salted caramel drizzles

BANANAS FOSTER:  Rum-banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER PRETZEL:  Chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream, crushed pretzels and peanuts

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Available at:

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

HOM- Third Avenue & 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

MARKET- Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, Ditmas Park

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

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

THE BROOKLYNEER-  220 West Houston btwn 6th & 7th Avenues, West Village

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

Mondays are my Fridays…..we start our workweek on Wednesdays, and end with Monday morning deliveries.  It’s really nice because while you all are bitching about your jobs on Facebook, Matt, the kids and I have the whole city to ourselves and finally get a moment to unwind.  And this Monday is particularly special because JESUS H CHRIST you would not believe the week we just survived.  I really don’t think any of you need to hear yet another person complain about the snow, but I will say this: if it snows again, I will personally walk down the street and punch every goddamn snowflake I see in its smarmy little jerk-ass face.  For reals. 

If you have sent me an email or are waiting for a response from me on something, I apologize for all the delays.  We do all our own deliveries and inventory, and the weather has literally tripled the amount of time I need to spend in the car, which means that every waking moment of “personal time” I have (which is my chance to do paperwork) has been completely erased.  It’s now close to 1am and I’m chugging coffee while Matt and the kids sleep in an attempt to catch up.  If you do get an email from me that contains mostly vowels and various threats against the UN, again I apologize.

On another tangent, a BIG thank you to everyone who came out to our latest Pop-Up on Saturday at 201 Mulberry!  Also a big thank you to our friends at NoLIta Mart, who supplied me with the 13 cups of coffee that allowed me to stand upright all day.  We got awesome feedback on the cupcakes, but as always the best part of the day was seeing all of you guys.  I hope we get to do it again real soon. :)

In fact, real soon could be tonight, especially if you’re into facial hair.  The Bell House is hosting the 2011 Beard Fest & Stache Bash- a celebration of all things beardy!  And when they thought of beards and they thought about awesome food, there was only one call they could make.  Fortunately for us the Mast Brothers were unavailable and we got called instead!  Matt will be there all night selling manly flavors and watching dudes get frosting in their beards, hoping to get on this site.  You could be one of those dudes, or a woman who loves one.  Is that really the sort of opportunity you can pass up?

And now………flavors!

From top: Banana Foster, Pecan Potato Chip, Boston Cream, Tres Leches

Bananas Foster:  Banana rum cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream & drizzle

Pecan Potato Chip:  Pecan potato chip cake, vanilla buttercream, crushed pecans & potato chips, salted butterscotch drizzle

Boston Cream: Vanilla cake, pastry cream buttercream, chocolate ganache

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

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

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s, and that you’re already succeeding at your resolutions!  Except if that resolution was to eat fewer sweets, in which case we hope you fail miserably, or at least make an exception for our cupcakes. 

On the topic of weight loss and cupcakes, here’s a totally true story.  One of our oldest customers happens to a regional director for Weight Watchers, and used to come into our old store every weekend with her family for a cupcake.  We were actually really surprised when we found out where she worked, because quite frankly, she was one of our best customers and most enthusiastic supporters when we began to do cupcakes.  Then she shared something we found quite suprising- our cupcakes helped keep her ON her diet.  It was a treat she looked forward to every week, and knowing that our flavors changed every week, she had to come in and try each one when it was released.  Any time she’d be tempted to eat mindlessly- a few packaged cookies or a cheap packaged cake- she’d remind herself that she could either eat those or save the “points” for one of our cupcakes that weekend.  And she said that the wait every week was totally worth it.

One Saturday, she walked in with her husband and daughters, sat at a table and watched them all buy cupcakes while she just scowled.  Then her family proceeded to eat them in front of her, exclaiming “Oh my God!  This is the best flavor ever! ” while she began to scowl even more (I think it actually went from scowling to full-on glowering).  We asked her where her cupcake was, she looked at us with the most pathetic puppy dog eyes we’d ever seen, and said “I had a handful of chips on Tuesday!”. 

From then on, we saw her every weekend with cupcake in hand, and then once the store closed she’s been getting a cupcake at Hom every Thursday.  And she’s lost 20 lbs and kept it off.  I never thought we’d be part of someone’s diet regiment, but there you are.  It fits perfectly into our philosophy- all good things, but in moderation.  And if you are going to invest the calories into a dessert, that dessert better be worth it.  Do you really want to spend your calories on something reduced fat that you’re going to forget you ate in five minutes, or want to forget you ate?  If you’re bothering going in, go ALL IN.

Now-flavors!  Fall and holiday flavors have returned to the vault for another year, so we’re back to classics!

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

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

Bananas Foster:  Banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream & drizzle

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

AVAILABLE MONDAY AT:

Market:  1211 Cortelyou Roast, Ditmas Park

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

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