Robicelli's

Googa Mooga is ALL SOLD OUT. Lobster Roll Rumble is ALL SOLD OUT. But there are still a few tickets available for next weeks Tasting Brooklyn,  AND we’re going to have another big event announcement soon!  

And it may involve this picture. 30% chance it’s Matt dressed as Cher.

In the meantime you can still only find us through the shops we wholesale to, private delivery in NYC (including event catering!), or via mailorder- Matt and I have decided not to do any weekly markets this year so we can actually see our kids on their days off.  The entity and popular internet search result known as the DeKalb Market was demolished last year- and by demolished, I don’t mean “relocated” or “not open for the season just yet” or “on hiatus”.  I mean big construction machines were brought onsite, everything was smashed to bits, the land was ripped up and a huge skyscraper with a Century 21 and perhaps a Jamba Juice is being put in it’s place. So PLEASE stop telling us “you haven’t been down there but have been meaning to go”, or worse yet calling us to tell us that you’re at the address but you can’t find anything but a giant hole in the ground.  It’s impossible to delete DeKalb from the recesses of the internet, and Matt and I feel horrible with every single phone call we answer that involves a bunch of lost tourists or people who have traveled for over an hour on the subway just to find a big, dark hole in the ground. It’s gone forever. Don’t go there.

Will we ever have a storefront again? I can’t even think about that question right now because the only thing I can think of is blowing up buildings so they can be replaced by Jamba Juices. And what could possibly be better than blowing sh*t up?  Why, blowing sh*t up to the strains of a smooth EZ listening instrumental featuring ample amount of pan flute solos, that’s what!

I’m not going to say that I’m SURE videos like this are the reason the internet was invented, but I will say that it’s highly probable. It’s still between that and this:

I really need a playlist of YouTube soundtracks. Someone get on that.

Now to today’s flavors!

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

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

Lime in de Coconut: Coconut lime cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted coconut and lime zest

The Duckie: Peanut cake, peanut butter pudding, marshmallow buttercream, roasted peanuts

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****

Flavors today are the same as Monday- we repeated them because they’re so goshdarn popular. Just scroll down a bit and you’ll be up to date!

Speaking of flavor schedules, did you know that one of the ways we decide on what flavors we’re doing is by asking for your input? AND I just so happen to be finishing up the schedule for November and have waaay too many flavors to choose from, so I absolutely need your help. Head over to our Facebook page and throw me your requests.

Remember- if you don’t give me your two cents, your dreams may not come true. Because I’m completely positive that’s what your dreams are about. Mine are usually about Chris Christie and water skis. Far too complicated to explain here, but trust me- they’re exhilarating   

Since we’ve already posted a pic of today’s flavors in the last post, here’s an adorable pictures of baby otters! Hat tip to @ChurchoCupcakes on Twitter for this!

In Fridays post, I made mention of Matt’s #1 lifelong dream of eating at a Pizza Hut. I suppose you can argue that it’s wrong to judge a person’s dreams, or maybe it’s understandable as we’ve been tempted all our lives with their commercials, yet we don’t have real sit-down Pizza Huts in New York City to indulge our stuffed crust fantasies at.

But you know what? It’s a STUPID dream. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Regardless of my personal beliefs, I love my husband, and I promised him seven years ago that for the rest of our lives, I’d stand by him and believe in these dreams, even if they are the dumbest freaking thing that I’ve ever heard in my entire life. So a few weeks ago during a family visit out in Jersey, we had dinner in a Pizza Hut. 

I don’t think we need a full recap here. I will say that Matt found his dream “less than fulfilling”, and said that we need to maybe go to another Pizza Hut somewhere for a “Do-Over”. Perhaps that Pizza Hut will have a salad bar that doesn’t look as if it’s been hosed down with salmonella.

And then yesterday, we saw THIS:

I don’t know what to say about that. I mean, I’d love to say “This is what’s wrong with the world” or “You wonder why everyone thinks Americans are fat and lazy”, or most of all- “I REALLY don’t want to ever eat that”, but I honestly can’t. I’m totally hypnotized by this thing. And I’m wondering why the most exciting menu item at Pizza Hut I went to was small nuggets of pizza dough rolled in cheap Parmesan cheese, and Pizza Hut Middle East has…..

I don’t even know how you’re supposed to eat that! And yes, I know it’s more than likely horrible, but I can’t stop thinking about it! 

You may also remember earlier this year when I posted about how they have 10 billion different flavor varieties of many American products in other parts of the world, like Clam Chowder Doritos or Caviar Lay’s Potato Chips.  Most notably, my favorite candy of all time- KitKat- is insane overseas. Pizza Hut Middle East thew their hat into the ring with this:

I really don’t care what that does to my body. I’m positive just looking at that picture shaved 5 years off my life, and I’m totally ok with that.

Now to the point of this post: last December I received an email from a person in Saudi Arabia inquiring about how they could open a Robicelli’s franchise in Dubai. If you are still out there and read this blog, I’m sorry I said we couldn’t do it! I was probably drunk and didn’t know what I was talking about. You should TOTALLY call me and I’ll be happy to discuss business while slowly killing myself with Pizza Hut.

Also of note: This may be the first time that today’s cupcakes look like the healthiest thing on this page. 

Clockwise from front: Bourbon Caramel Apple, Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake, Caramel Macchiato, Cinnamon Bun

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

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

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

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

Our store at DeKalb Market opens again today at noon, which is nice because we’ve got TWO NEW CUPCAKES! And instead of talking about cats or robots today, I’m actually going to talk about baking.

I totally mean it, flabbergasted cat! (ok, so maybe I wasn’t able to do this without cats)

First up on the schedule is The Pickett. Jeremy Pickett is a master carpenter/designer we met a few years back when we were the dessert vendor for the sorely missed Red Hook Mercado. He was a fan who quickly turned into a friend, and then last year he decided to custom build all the wood features of our DeKalb shop for us. Because he’s seriously just the greatest guy ever.

When you’re the greatest guy ever, you get a cupcake named for you. We took a cue from his favorite dessert, the sublime profiteroles from Balthazar, to create the Pickett: our buttery vanilla cake topped with our vanilla bean custard buttercream, then coated in homemade feuilletine, then drizzled with chocolate. 

Our second new cupcake was invented on Sunday night while we were lying in bed, and Matt says “You know what I could really go for? A brown sugar cupcake filled with a sour cream bavarian custard, with sour cream bavarian buttercream, slivered almonds, and blueberries. Who do you think makes something like that?”. To which I replied “Costco”, and he said “Really?”, and I said “No, dumbass- those are the types of cupcakes WE make”, and he said “DAMNIT!!!”.

This is often how the R&D process works, by the way.

We originally had Strawberry Rhubarb on today’s schedule, but as luck would have it, someone went to our produce market before we could get there and bought aaallllll the rhubarb. So now thanks to divine intervention, you can get Matt’s dream cupcake at stores today instead of having to wait three more days til this weekend’s Robotfest at DeKalb Market. (ok, so I wasn’t able to do this without mentioning robots at least once, either)

Clockwise from front: Caramel Macchiato, Blueberry Blintz, The Pickett, Tres Leches

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

Caramel Macchiato: Mocha cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, chocolate espresso beans

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

___________________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

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

Simon Sips a secret coffee bar inside 1185 6th Avenue soft opening today….sneak in through the back alley under the scaffolding….shhhhhh…..

Queen City Cupcakes: 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

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

Simon Sips

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

_____________________

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Simon Sips

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

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

In case you weren’t there, about 4 billion people came to DeKalb Market this weekend. We sold out of Chicken n’Waffles cupcakes by 1:30 on Saturday, and out of just about everything else by 5. We restocked the best we could for Sunday, and sold out of everything by 4. 

We were expecting a good turnout- but we weren’t expecting that. I mean, we had lines out the door and going down the block at points. Bananas! Fortunately, since we’ve already baked the cupcakes the line moved really really fast, but we still felt awful telling people stuff was “sold out”, especially when they had traveled all the way down to Brooklyn to try it. And this is why…..

WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THE CHICKEN N’WAFFLES CUPCAKES AGAIN NEXT WEEKEND, TOO!!!

We never do this one two weeks in a row because as a bakery, we don’t own a fryolator and do all the chicken on a stove in a very small pot. And also because Matt comes home smelling like the dumpster of a KFC and I have to put his clothes out in the hallway, and then the neighbors complain. But no matter how long it takes us or how stinky my husband gets, we will take it to the wire next Friday night and stay til the wee hours of the morning making our famous Chicken n’Waffle cupcakes for all the good little boys and girls of NYC!

Now for the bad news- since we ran out of inventory, we’re closing today and Tuesday. We’re closed Mondays anyway for the first few weeks, but we need to take care of same back-end stuff to amp up production of all our products in the kitchen and train some of the new hands we’re taking on.

For all of you who are confused (and I’ve learned there is a lot of you), I’m going to put some more stuff in bold so you know it’s important to read. Imagine me cupping your hands into mine, staring deeply into your eyes, and saying this with so much passion and conviction that you actually start to get a little uncomfortable and you think “Is she trying to make a move on me? I mean, she’s great and all, but she’s married and this is really weird”. I promise I’m not making a move. Now you can let all that go and concentrate on what I’m saying:

DeKalb Market is open 7 DAYS A WEEK. This is not a weekend market. This is not the Flea, or Smorgasburg, or Hester Street, or the West Williamsburg Underwater Funtime Jamboree or any of that. DeKalb isn’t even really just a “market”. It’s our version of a town square- where people all over can come and eat, drink, shop, listen to music, meet their neighbors, take a workshop, engage in a project, play some games, and, at least this past weekend, pet a llama. 

And our container is not our “stall”, it’s our semi-permanent flagship store. I say semi-permanent because in a year or so, DeKalb will be disassembled to make way for the eventual tallest skyscraper in Brooklyn, housing luxury apartments and retail (that has always been the plan- btw. We were built as a placeholder).

But that is the (near) future. Right NOW, some of the most creative minds in food, music, art, design, and events are coming together to create Brooklyn’s own version of Brigadoon (and if you were there this weekend, you’d know that it’s just as magical). And once the developers are finally ready, we will all move on and make room for progress.

So, you know, GO. Go often. Because when something this awesome is ephemeral, you really can’t sit home on your couch and take it for granted.

And go support these businesses around town who have these cupcakes in store today! They’ll whet your tastebuds for the upcoming weekend!

Clockwise from front: Lime in de Coconut, The Duckie, Caramel Macchiato, Tres Leches

Lime in de Coconut: Coconut lime cake & buttercream, roasted coconut, lime zest

The Duckie: Peanut cake, peanut butter buttercream, marshmallow buttercream, roasted peanuts

Caramel Macchiato: Mocha cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, salted caramel & ganache drizzles

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

__________________________________________

Cupcakes Available At:

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

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

___________________________________

Whoopie Pies Available At

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

___________________________________

Brownies

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

Matt went away for the weekend, the kids were at my moms, and I must have cried like four times. Seriously. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. Last week was the 7th anniversary of the day we met, and I went 12 hours without him before I got really sad and started listening to the Air Supply station on Pandora. Is that normal after 7 years? Or am I just pathetic?

I did get my mind off of him for a few hours by heading down to DeKalb Market tocheck out how some of the construction is coming along (answer: lovely!), talk to the new management team about all the improvements still to come, meet the new beer & wine bar manager, and hear more about upcoming events like:

-Sunday afternoon dance parties

-the monthly roller derby hosted by Down & Derby

-lobster boils with our good friends (and Robicelli’s retail partner) Red Hook Lobster Pound

-live bands and DJs on the brand spanking new stage 

-bike-in movies

-SQUARE DANCES (yes! I have always wanted to try this! And considering that everyone else participating will probably have spent the day drinking beer in the hot summer sun, there’s at least a small chance that I won’t be the most spastic!)

-and finally, updates on the super ultra crazy big opening weekend featuring an Easter Egg hunt, plant market, cooking & gardening classes, bands, DJs, special Easter cupcakes & Passover brownies, and of course…….

Photo courtesy of Blondie & Brownie

CHICKEN N’WAFFLES!!!!!

Our most famous creation, our #1 best seller, our most requested by a mile, and also one of our rarest.  This is only released a few times every year, so if you’ve been dying to try it, you need to get there opening weekend. You’ve been told, so put it on your calendars.

Super excited yet? Can’t wait two weeks for us to open? Maybe you should go grab a couple of these to hold you over.

Clockwise from front: Boston Cream, CPB, Lemon Blueberry Ricotta, Caramel Macchiato

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

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta: Lemon cake, ricotta buttercream, wild Maine blueberries, lemon zest

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

Caramel Macchiato: Chocolate espresso cake, caramel mocha buttercream, salted caramel, ganache, crushed chocolate covered espresso beans

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Cupcakes Available At:

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

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

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

___________________________________

Whoopie Pies Available At

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

___________________________________

Brownies

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

Image courtesy of Alison Grasso

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

-BUT-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Banana Cashew: Banana cake, cashew buttercream, cashew brittle

___________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau Street off Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

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

Queen City Cupcakes: Patchogue, Long Island

________________________________

Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

_________________________________

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Well here we are: OPENING DAY OF THE 2011 UNION SQUARE HOLIDAY MARKET!!!

We have soooo many exciting things we’ll be bringing out over the coming weeks, but I won’t tell you any just yet so I can save some material for upcoming blog posts (it is HARD thinking of stuff to write about three times a week when I’m exhausted).  But here’s the first surprise: aside from our usual offerings, we’ll also have:

Salted caramel coconut macaroons from Danny Macaroons!  If you follow me on Twitter you’d know that Dan & I are BFF 4evah+infinity, so this really isn’t shocking to you.  We’ll also be carrying the macs at DeKalb soon, and gift bags of them as we get closer to the Holidays.  

So now with the macaroons, the cupcakes, the brownies AND the whoopie pies, I bet you want to go down there RIGHT NOW.  And I can’t wait to see you!  But you need to be warned- this thing is huge. HUUUUUGE.  I know Union Square doesn’t seem that big the rest of the year, but you put a labyrinth of booths down there and you’ll be surprised how many times you can get lost (my personal record: nine times in one day).  We’re on the southeast part of the square, in the first row, close to the upside down elephant.

That makes sense, right?

For those of you without a compass or a seaman’s sense of direction, I drew you a map.  Because it’s been a few weeks since I busted out my MS Paint skills for you guys, and I just know that you missed them real bad.

Print that out, stick it in your pocket and come see me!  I’ll be waiting!  With these cupcakes you see…….waaaaiiiittt a second……

HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR THANKSGIVING CUPCAKES YET?!?!?!

And you guys thought for a second I was going to forget to nag you there, didn’t you?  We’re taking orders through Monday, so this was going to be the second to last time for me to do it and I nearly missed it! This is what I get for switching from coffee to tea!

Ok, where were we.  Come to Union Square!  I’ll be waiting for you there with these!

Clockwise from front: Caramel Macchiato, Hazelnut Kiss, Pear Cardamom Ginger, Butternut Spice

Caramel Macchiato: Chocoalate espresso cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, crushed chocolate covered espresso beans, espresso ganache, caramel drizzle

Pear Cardamom Ginger: Pear cardamom cake, honey spice buttercream, candied ginger

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

Butternut Spice: Butternut squash cake, vanilla buttercream, candied pumpkin seeds, butternut squash seed oil

Available at:

Robicelli’s at Union Square Holiday Market

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

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

Aloha Grinds: 76th and Third Ave, Bay Ridge

Bagel Schmagel: 76th and Third Ave, Bay Ridge

Crespella: Seventh Ave off 9th Street, Park Slope

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

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

Court Street Grocers: Court Street off Luquer, Carroll Gardens

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle Street, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau & Jewel, Greenpoint

The Brooklyneer: 220 West Houston St, West Village

JEM: Broadway off Franklin Street, TriBeCa

Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

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

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

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

Oh man- I really have been half-assing this blog for the past week or two, and I am so freaking bummed about it.  Before the store opened I had a million things to do and I was totally stressed out. Then it actually opened and I had a million and one things. And then, as you know, Matt got sick, and as of a few hours ago he’s been admitted to the hospital with not only a massive kidney infection, but colitis and double pneumonia as well.  It sounds scary, and to be honest I was freaking out for a good long while, but the hospital is the best place in the world for him now, and he’s already starting to joke around and get antsy. (If you want to send well wishes, email matt@robicellis.com, or Tweet him @mattrobicelli)

Photo courtesy of Foodaissance

I’ve gotten a ton of messages offering help, and even though I probably won’t take most of you up on them, they are extremely appreciated.  From the outside this looks bananas, but when you’re a small business owner you honestly get used to this stuff. Seriously, I know lots of people dream about owning their own business, but they never talk about the excruciating parts in the books and those shows on Cooking Channel that make “artisan” food look so glamorous.  When one of my best friends committed suicide three years ago, I had to go to work with a smile on my face for customers.  When my 22 year old cousin was killed in a motorcross accident last year and my whole family was at the funeral, I was baking and making deliveries.  Even when Atticus was in the pediatric ICU a few years ago with a lung infection, I did paperwork while I held my suffering baby, all tangled up in IVs.  

What’s happening right now isn’t really unique- every single one of us has stretches of bad luck, we suffer through them and come out on top. The difference is that when you own a business, you don’t get paid leave from your job, or at least have the comfort of knowing that your job will get done by someone in a worst case scenario.  You may think I’m my own boss, but you’re wrong- every single one of you is my boss.  Every store, every customer, every single person who walks down the street that may potentially buy a cupcake one day or write about us on Yelp- all my boss.  And no matter how stressful it gets, or how many balls I have up in the air, I know that my priority is making all of you happy every day, because honestly that’s what Matt and I live for and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I don’t mean to shatter the dreams of anyone out there who fantasizes of being an entrepreneur, but I think it is so important to be honest about the fact that it is not just a job, but an entire lifestyle change. I’ve seen peoples marriages and relationships crumble, perfectly amazing women unable to go on a date or socialize because they work all the time, nervous breakdowns, burnouts and bankruptcies. It’s wonderful to be able to survive these things and come out on top, but it doesn’t always happen, and it takes a very special type of person to do it. And that person is completely, utterly, and madly insane.

I made it a point to spend my entire pre-Robicelli’s career in small business so I would one day be able to open my own. I saw many people who were smarter, more experienced, or far richer than I fail in the most spectacular fashion. The universe’s message to me was “Don’t do it”. Yet still I’d move on to the next boutique caterer or next restaurant consulting gig and stand in the middle of bedlam.  Again, “Don’t do it”. But I’ve never been one for listening to authority, even if it is the universe.  Matt and I went out on our own, the stock market promptly crashed, and we lost everything we’d spent years working towards.

“Told you so! Don’t do it! Should have listened!”

Instead of making the smart decision of quitting, we kept going. And here we are- sometimes broke, always struggling, sometimes so stressed and overwhelmed that we wonder if we’ll be able to make it though.  But we always do, and we keep going.  It’s not just because we’re passionate about baking or our mission- it’s because the insanity, challenges and constant problem solving that comes with running a business is the most amazing thing in the world to us, and we’re addicted to it like a drug. The baking part of Robicelli’s takes the least time, and honestly, it feels like a break.

If you want to run a food business, here’s my advice: don’t do it.  Go work in a restaurant and wash dishes, bus tables, answer phones and do every job there is to do no matter how “beneath you” you may think it is. Get a customer service job where you spend hours listening to peoples complaints. Buy a good pair of walking shoes and do cold call door-to-door sales. Every day, you’ll hear that voice in your head that says “don’t do it”. That voice is called reason.

Then, if after hearing it a million times, after learning every good lesson and seeing every argument against it you still want to do it? Well, then you WILL do it. And you will love every single goddamn second of it as much as Matt and I do.

However, there will come weeks like this one where your husband is in the hospital, your sous chef is on vacation, you’ve just opened a store, your apartments floods & you move in with your parents, you have you cancel your son’s birthday trip and don’t even get to see him on his special day, you get 2 hours of sleep every night because you’re covering all the work of three people, and you will want to run away to Aruba and make a living dressing up like Carmen Miranda for tourists. And you will look in the mirror every day at 5am before you go to sleep and go “Allison, you are a stupid, STUPID person”, and you’ll be right. But you’ll be the happiest stupid person in the world.

On a side note, today is my birthday! I’ll be spending the morning in the Jetro Restaurant Supply Warehouse buying Mexican Coke and paper towels- come say hi!

Clockwise from front: Horchata, PB&J, Cookies & Cream, Caramel Macchiato

PS: I was called about Matt being rushed to the hospital towards the beginning of production. Don’t thank me for today’s stuff- thank Rachel Anderson , Monique Henry, and Siobhan Wallace- former interns who have quickly become just about the best thing that’s ever happened to me. After the kids, of course. And Matt. And my InStyler- I really love that thing.

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

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

Cookies & Cream: Chocolate cake, cookies & cream buttercream, crushed homemade chocoalte cookies

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

Available at:

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

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

CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue & 60th Street, Sunset Park

CRESPELLA: Seventh Avenue & 9th Street, Park Slope

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

RADISH: Bedford Ave & N8th, Williamsburg

BATTERY PLACE MARKET: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

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

BROOKLYNEER: 220 West Houston Street, West Village

Today’s the day….our whoopie pies are finally back and at the Red Hook Lobster Pound! Um….WHOOPIE!!!!

I’m going to do something pretty shocking in today’s post: I’m ACTUALLY going to talk about baking!  Trust me, none of you are as surprised about this than I am.

We were first asked by RHLP to do their whoopie pies months ago, but didn’t just want to jump into it until we developed a recipe that we felt was perfect.  We’d tested dozens we had found in books and online, tasted more than our fair share, and at the end of the day we just couldn’t get into them.  Crazy, right?  I mean, it’s cake baked into the shape of a cookie and stuffed with frosting!  How can that possibly go wrong?

Well, we took one for the team and ate enough whoopie pies to figure out exactly why we weren’t having our socks knocked off, then went all Chris Kimball on its ass.  And THEN we made this handy dandy illustration to make it easier to understand!

I know, I know…..that picture just changed your life.  I knew it would happen.

Whoopie pies look like they’re chocolate, but when we bit into them they didn’t taste like chocolate at all.  They were an odd shape with each bite getting a different ratio of cake to buttercream.  The center, where the cake was the highest, seemed to dry out quickly, leaving us with a pie that had delicious edges, but a center that was a chore to finish.  And then the worst part: the filling that tasted like nothing but pure sugar.  Honestly, that’s bound to happen when your classic filling recipe is 1:1 Marshmallow Fluff:Pure Vegetable Shortening. 

We spent several weeks tinkering with our ratios to get the right shape for the cake/cookie (caookie?).  We changed the entire recipe process and fiddled with the classic ingredients so it wouldn’t just look like it was chocolate- it would have a deepest chocolate flavor we could cram into it.  We kept the marshmallow fluff in the center out of respect to tradition- but we replaced the shortening with our signature French buttercream. 

The end result?

Look how adorable that whoopie pie is!  Couldn’t you just die?!?!! Look, it looks like he’s smiling at you!  I bet he’s saying “Please eat me- I’m ever so delicious!!!”

And you know what?  He IS delicious.  And when you eat him, you may spontaneously combust out of sheer joy.  It’s been known to happen.

Whoopie pies will be available exclusively through the Red Hook Lobster Pound at all their locations, including the shop on Van Brunt street, the Brooklyn Flea, and their brand spanking new LOBSTERMOBILE, taking to the streets in only a few short weeks to bring lobster rolls and whoopie pies to all the good little girls and boys!!!

And yes, we made cupcakes too today.  If you can, grab an Aris- after this weekend, it goes back into the vault until next year!  Also be keen on our delivery list- the weather sort of hurt everyone pretty bad this week.  We’ve had one store see all his refrigeration blow, and two who need new air conditioners to regulate the extreme humidity.  If we get a nice day this weekend, go out and spend some cash at a small business.  They could use it.

Clockwise from front: Coconut Custard, Funky Monkey, Caramel Macchiato, Aris

NEW!!! COCONUT CUSTARD:  Coconut cake, vanilla custard buttercream roasted toasted coconut

FUNKY MONKEY:  Banana chocolate chip cake, peanut butter buttercream, banana chip, chocolate ganache

CARAMEL MACCHIATO:  Chocolate espresso cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, ganache, caramel, ground chocolate covered espresso beans

THE ARIS:  Walnut cake, honey butter, Greek yogurt buttercream, honey orange and cinnamon glazed walnuts

Available at:

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

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

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

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

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 *Whoopie Pies and Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler cupcakes only*

THE BROOKLYNEER:  220 W. Houston Street, West Village

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

QUEENS COMFORT: 40-09 30th Ave, Astoria

,..,nmYou know what’s fun? Getting home from work and doing the Tumblr from bed, as my two kids (ages 4 and 2 1/2) are in bed with me because THEY WON’T GO TO SLEEP.  You’d think with a king sized bed we’d get09upoik0[pfrl;kjasdj sdf<—————-ok, see, THIS is what happens when the kids participate in the blog.  That was a foot, for the record.  There may be more of this coming up, since it’s really late and I don’t have the patience to edit things 60 times.  Fortunately for them, they are really really really cute.

Tonight we made a new flavor that we sneak previewed at yesterdays pop-up: Coconut Custard!  It took us so long to do this one since Matt’s incredibly allergic to coconut, but as we now have some of the greatest apprentices in the world (including our NEW sous chef, Kristen!), we can finally do it without fear of his hands blowing like a Macy’s balloon.  This one pairs our moist coconut cake with a vanilla bean custard buttercream, and topped with roasted flakes of real organic unsweetened coconut.  That last bit totally makes a difference- trust me.

Flioujljk;ljvors!

Clockwise from front: Caramel Macchiato, Coconut Custard, Stawberry Cheescake, The Hinsch

NEW!!! COCONUT CUSTARD:  Coconut cake, vanilla custard buttercream roasted toasted coconut

CARAMEL MACCHIATO:  Chocolate espresso cake, caramel macchiato buttercream, ganache, caramel, ground chocolate covered espresso beans

THE HINSCH: Chocolate malt cake, vanilla buttercream, chocolate malted sauce, homemade malted milk ball candy

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE:  Graham cracker cake, strawberry cheesecake buttercream, strawberry jam, graham cracker crumbs

Available at:

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

HOM:  88th and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

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

COURT STREET GROCERS: 485 Court Street, Carroll Gardens

QATHRA:  1112 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park

JOE: GRAND CENTRAL STATION:  Graybar Passage

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

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

Now that fall is in full swing and the markets are changing up, we’re getting inspired like never before with new cupcake ideas.  I think we came up with another 2 dozen this week alone!  But before we can roll them out, we need to play catch up with the MASSIVE list of ideas that we began back in April of ‘09- there were lots of fall flavors we planned for last year we just didn’t get around to (and believe me, there’s lots of spring and summer ones in there too).  So this week, we’re whipping out TWO flavors from the bucket list, and will probably be rolling out some new flavors next week, too.  Hope you guys enjoy them!

NEW!!!!  MAPLE WALNUT:  Walnut cake with maple buttercream, topped with maple-candied walnuts

NEW!!!  GERMAN CHOCOLATE:  Chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream, rolled in toasted unsweetened coconut

THE JULIA:  Pear-brandy cake with brandy buttercream, topped with a brandy snap tuille

CARAMEL MACCHIATO:  Chocolate espresso cake with caramel macchiato buttercream, sprinkled with crushed chocolate espresso beans and drizzled with salted caramel and espresso ganache

Available Thursday at:

HOM- 88th St and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

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

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

CAFE 474- 4th Ave off 11th St, Park Slope

FARMACY- Corner of Henry and Sackett, Carroll Gardens

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

FLYING SAUCER CAFE- Atlantic Ave btwn 3rd Ave and Nevins, Boerum Hill

MARKET- Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, Ditmas Park

Available Friday at:

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

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