Robicelli's

Anyone actually paying attention to the internet this week? No? Good, because I am EXHAUSTED. Between the wrapping of 10 million presents, watching every single one that took so long to perfectly wrap to my insane standard be ripped to shreds in a matter of seconds, getting everyone dressed and to church, cleaning the house, cooking, having guests, cleaning again, heading to Jersey to see family- I am SHOT. So making this blog a quick one today.

Cupcakes/whoopies/brownies in select stores today. This is the FINAL appearance of both the Hansel and Chocolate Candy Cane until next December, and come next week we’ll be back in “ordinary time”- no more special “once a year” flavors. Know I just compounded your post-holiday depression by a million. It’s hard on us, too.

Good news is that so many of the flavors you love that have been shelved for months for holiday/fall flavors are now back in play, so get over to Facebook and make requests for the January schedule! Because I’ve waited til the last possible minute to write it!

Little side note: Matt has been asked to judge the final projects for the Pastry Arts Department of the International Culinary Center (nee French Culinary Institute), meaning the fate of the pastry chefs of tomorrow is in his hands! ICC is one of the finest culinary schools in the world, so it’s amazing to know I’m sleeping with one of the judges. I’m super proud of him, as always.

Now here’s today’s flavors, and we’ll see you back here on Monday for our final post of 2012! Should be a doozy! Or I may phone it in again- let’s see how tired I am Sunday night.

(forgot picture tonight- here’s a dog in a hula skirt to make it up to you)

Hot Toddy: Honey whiskey soaked cake, honey cinnamon buttercream, candied lemon peel

Hey.

So I don’t know how to write today like I’m ok, because I’m not. We’re a week before Christmas, and I should be talking about cutting off mail orders or how you should order cupcakes/whoopies/etc for your holiday table. And I know no one on earth is coming to the Robicelli’s website for topical news, but it doesn’t seem right to go about business as usual like everything is ok.

I’ll say this: we are a mom and pop. Literally. Meaning we have two little boys, ages 4 and 5 at home. And like every person on earth who is a parent, we are hurting more than I can articulate. I have never even imagined I could love anything the way I love these kids. And it’s nearly heartbreaking in the fact that no matter what I do for them, no matter what I say, no matter how many adventures I take them on or presents I buy- it will just never seem like enough to make them realize how I feel. That I love them so much that I feel that I’ll explode. That I live every moment of my life just to make them proud of me. That every day I try to be the kind of person who is worthy of the love of the two most perfect little boys I have ever known.

I wanted to write something funny today. I wanted to make jokes and put up funny pictures and close out our busy season hoping that you’ll buy buy buy. But I, like every other parent in the world, am hurting far too bad right now to just conduct business as usual.  Because the moment you become a parent, your empathy gene goes into overdrive. You can barely watch the news on a normal day, much less how we watched this weekend. You become the person who looks at every human being as somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter. Your heart becomes a thousand times bigger to let more people in, to let more love in. And when we open our hearts to all that love, we open it to all the hurt out there as well. When other parents hurt, we hurt with them, because we understand how it is to love in a way none of us had ever dreamed possible.

So I will be brief today: if you’d like to place an online order for Christmas, today is the last day to do so- final UPS 2-day shipment is going out on Wednesday morning. We are taking cupcake/etc orders for Christmas eve/day delivery in NYC until Saturday. Everything is delicious and we won’t let you down.

Before I get to today’s flavors, I leave you with this. This is my favorite Christmas carol, and I share it on this blog every year as it’s not the most well known. I won’t pretend that I haven’t spent all weekend crying, wondering how I’m supposed to feel the joy I should during Christmas, how I celebrate despite all the pain I, and all of us, are feeling. These past three days, more than I ever have before, I’ve found this song as comforting as a soft blanket. I pray that maybe it will bring you some comfort, too.

I hope that you all find something beautiful in the world to smile about today. 

Clockwise from front: The Hansel, Chocolate Chestnut, Eggnog, Chocolate Candy Cane

The Hansel: Gingerbread cake, white chocolate pudding, speculoos buttercream, white chocolate dipped gingerbread cookie

Chocolate Chestnut: Chocolate cake, chocolate chestnut buttercream, candied chestnuts

Eggnog: Eggnog cake, eggnog buttercream, fresh nutmeg

Chocolate Candy Cane: Mint chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes.

You may have noticed that for the second week in a row, I didn’t do a Wednesday post. Or maybe just my mom notices these things and points them out. Moms are always good for that.

Anyway, til the end of the year I’m taking Wednesday off from writing the blog and will just be posting videos, links or silly non-original content on that day instead. We’re crazy busy with Sandy relief, our Fab sale, filling tons of private orders for corporate gifts, shipping Christmas gifts all over from our online store, and last but not least, I’m finishing up the first draft of the book (coming out in less then 12 months!). If I think of any good jokes this month I’m throwing them into that. You guys are going to be getting a lot of the B-list material for a few weeks, like how I’m feeling about holiday movies on ABC Family, or things I’ve seen on infomercials that I really want. Remember how a while ago we were like “we’re going to try to take it easy this holiday to spend more time with the kids”?  Well in the 6 minutes of free time I have each week, I’m spending it nearly comatose in front of the tv watching crap like this:

Not only am I wondering why I watched this the other night, I’m still trying to figure out how it was made in the first place.  Also, if the Brady Bunch could get back together for this thing 14 years after they went off the air, how the hell is no one getting the cast of Full House back together for a Christmas special?!?!? They never had a proper series finale, they’re all still good friends, Stephanie is off the meth, and John Stamos is actually getting hotter as he ages. If I wasn’t so busy, I’d totally start a petition, or make a video where I dress my cats up like Bob Saget & Dave Coulier and sing Christmas songs with them.

As amazing as my ideas are, I’m pretty sure that no matter how many signatures we’d get, the Olsen twins would screw everything up. Though let’s be honest- would anyone have a big problem if Michelle was killed off? Because I wouldn’t- that show really jumped the shark once they started focusing on her. Get the whole cast back together for one last Christmas in San Francisco, then just slip in that she was eaten by wild pumas on a Honeybee camping trip. Honestly, I think most fans will actually prefer this.

(It’s times like this I’m really glad I don’t know how to use Photoshop, because I’d then I’d stay up all night fabricating a picture of pumas eating one of the Olsen twins instead of sleeping. Though if one of you would like to make this picture happen, please send it to me and I’ll totally post it and link back to your site.)  

Moving on to actual business:

Our sale on Fab.com is still on til Sunday! We’re sold out of a few items, but there’s still plenty more deliciousness on sale to be had.  

If you for some reason forget to order from Fab this weekend, you can still send our brownies and other stuff to your friends and family across the US through our online store, or can send someone (or yourself) cupcakes for Christmas Eve provided you’re in Brooklyn or Manhattan. And as I mentioned before, we are doing corporate gifting, though you need to email me directly at allison@robicellis.com for that as we do this on a custom basis.

Now let’s close with talking about this weekend, namely….. HANUKKAH!!! Our once a year Hanukkah cupcake, “The Blatt”, is making it’s triumphant return- it’s as if a cupcake had a baby with a jelly doughnut, then THAT baby grew up and when it reached the proper age of consent made sweet love to a cheesecake, and the result of that sweet love was the Blatt. It’s so good, and you have 8 crazy nights to put it in your tummy. We’re also full on into holiday mode now, so start enjoying all these flavors for the brief window they’re available!

Clockwise from front: Eggnog, The Blatt, Cranberry Gingerbread, Chocolate Candy Cane

The Blatt (limited editon for Hanukkah!): Vanilla cake, raspberry jam, cheesecake buttercream, fried cookie dough

Eggnog: Eggnog cake & buttercream, freshly grated nutmeg

Cranberry Gingerbread: Gingerbread cake, vanilla buttercream, homemade cranberry compote

Chocolate Candy Cane: Mint chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

It’s a big news day!  I’ve had so much news lately that it’s been extremely hard to write a totally idiotic blog post that has pretty much nothing to do with the actual business.  This is weird for me too, guys.

First item of business…

Photography by Eric Isaac

This week, we’re the featured food sale on Fab.com! You can get up to 25% off our signature hot cocoa, brownies & loaf cake assortments, and have them shipped to you no matter where you live. This sale lasts only until inventory runs out, and our prices will not be this low again this year, so get while the getting is good.

Of course, Robicelli’s baked goods are the perfect gift for any of your friends, relatives, co-workers, next door neightbors, business associates, girlfriends parents, friendly lady who runs the laundromat, mailmen, receptionist at the dentists office, or friends whose pants you desperately want to get into but can’t because you’re socially awkward and fear rejection. But what if you don’t want to just send a box of brownies to their front door- what if you’re showing up at their door, in person, and want to be holding a big box of cupcakes?

If that’s the case, you can place your order directly with us and we’ll bring the cupcakes straight to you! We’ve already put up the Hanukkah ordering, which allows you to order cupcakes for any day from this Friday to the next one. And today, I’ve officially opened Christmas ordering, and this years Christmas menu officially determined by our fans on Facebook.

This year’s Christmas flavors, as chosen by you, are:

• Cranberry Gingerbread: gingerbread cake with vanilla buttercream and fresh cranberry compote
• Creme Brulee: vanilla buttercrea, vanilla custard buttercream, caramelized sugar
• Port Poached Pear: Pear cake, vanilla buttercream, port wine poached pear, port wine reduction
• Chocolate Candy Cane: Mint chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

But wait…..there’s more!

• Classic Vanila Marshmallow Whoopie Pies
• Chocolate Chestnut Whoope Pies: filled with vanilla buttercream, chopped roasted & candied chestnuts and chocolate chips
• Eggnog Whoopie Pies: filled with eggnog & bourbon buttercream and freshly grated nutmeg
• Classic Sea Salt Brownies
• Moverly Brownies: with Scotch whiskey, roasted walnuts & a touch of espresso

Order a box or two of those for Christmas Day, and just see how nice your Christmas presents get the following year. 

Now to today- we’ve got a bit of a holiday over here in the Robicelli’s household today: Matt’s mom’s birthday. My mother-in-law is one of the best home bakers I know, someone we’ve implored to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off more times than we could count, someone who’s Christmas cookies are anxiously anticipated 11 months out of the year. My favorite is a cookie she makes that starts off with a lemon & almond dough which she wraps around Hershey’s Kisses, bakes, and then rolls in powdered sugar. I’ll eat an entire tin of those cookies in a matter of minutes.

Lucky for you guys who think that sounds delicious but aren’t related to us so you can’t get those cookies- in honor of her birthday, we’ve turned it into a cupcake (of COURSE we did!). This will be available this week only, so go out and find the Gramma Jean. It will make you wish Jean was YOUR mother-in-law.

NEW! Gramma Jean: Lemon almond cake, chocolate pudding, vanilla buttercream, roasted almonds, chocolate chips

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

Pumpkin Spice Latte: Pumpkin cake, espresso mascarpone buttercream, fall spiced crushed chocolate espresso beans

Chocolate Candy Cane: Mint chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

When I got home at 10:30 tonight all amped up to dive into a big pile of paperwork, I found Atticus (the four year old) not only up, but completely wired.  I took TWO HOURS to get him down. Mind you, there was no sleeping late today, no naps- just pure adrenaline.  Now it’s 2am, I’m ridiculously behind on my normal crap, and I need to be up at 7am tomorrow.  Living the dream!

Quick notes of what I wanted to talk about today:

HOLIDAY ORDERING: We’re now taking orders for holiday parties, corporate gifts, offices, and Christmas Day.  Hannukah ordering will be up tomorrow night once I finalize the last few items for the menu- head on over to Facebook to give me suggestions. I could use them.

BUT ALLISON, WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE FANCY GIFT BOXES I’M SEEING AT UNION? HOW DO I ORDER THOSE?: Tell my kids to go to sleep on time so I can get the ordering page up.  They’re having a sleepover at Grandma & Papas house tomorrow night, so I should get it done by Saturday morning.

ANYTHING SPECIAL FOR THIS WEEKEND?: We’re going to the Bust Craftacular, and we’re bringing cupcakes, brownies, whoopies, and our hot cocoa.  And in true Robicelli’s fashion, we’re going to do something nuts, because we can and are drunk with power. DRUNK WITH IT!

WAS THAT SOME SORT OF CODE SAYING YOU’RE SPIKING THE COCOA?: No. But if you want to bring a hip flask of bourbon, I’m not judging you. *Note: Robicelli’s LLC and all associated companies do not endorse smuggling booze, hooch, or fun-time juice into the Bust Craftacular, Union Square Holiday Market, or any other venue.  And for legal purposes, we ARE judging you.

WHEN WILL PACKAGES OF COCOA TO MAKE AT HOME BE ON SALE FOR US TO BUY? It will be debuting this weekend at Craftacular, and will go to Union Square & DeKalb next week.

CAN I ALSO PLACE A CORPORATE ORDER FOR BAGS OF COCOA AS A GIFT? Yup. We’re gifting cocoa, brownies, and whoopie pies this year.  Give us a call or shoot us an email to start setting up your order, and we can delivery the whole shebang to your office.

I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT HAVEN’T BEEN ANSWERED! HOW DO I MAKE THAT HAPPEN?  Facebook. Twitter.  And if you follow us there, you get access to our special December deals. So, you know, DO IT.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CUPCAKE TODAY? I hate answering that question when we’re in seasonal mode.  Port Poached Pear will only be around for another few weeks, as will Hansel and Chocolate Candy Cane.  Milk and Cookies is new today, and it’s awesome. Just keep in mind that most of what you’re seeing for the next few weeks will disappear right after Christmas, so no matter how much you beg us, you’re going to have to wait another year for them. Perhaps you should get them all?

Clockwise from front: Port Poached Pear, Hansel, Chocolate Candy Cane, Milk & Cookies

NEW! Milk & Cookies: Brown sugar chocolate chip cake, mascarpone buttercream, chopped chocolate chip cookies

Port Poached Pear: Pear cake, vanilla buttercream, port poached pear, port reduction

Chocolate Candy Cane: Chocolate cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

The Hansel: Gingerbread cake, white chocolate pudding, speculoos buttercream, white chocolate dipped gingerbread cookie

Available at:

Robicelli’s at Union Square Holiday Market: C34

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle Street, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau & Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow 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)

Today is the LAST DAY you will see these flavors til next year!  *sniff**sniff*……it’s been memorable guys……….

We are doing a very limited number of deliveries today, as most of our shops will be closed for the weekend (this is why we always emphasize pre-ordering, since as former shopkeepers ourselves we did the same thing, and all the last minute types were always poop out of luck).  If however you did not have the foresight to pre-order cupcakes and were hoping just to swing by someplace and pick up a few cupcakes, here’s where to go!

Lily O’Brien’s Chocolate Cafe at Bryant Park- E40th btwn 5th & 6th

Cake Shop- 152 Ludlow St, L.E.S.

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

Hom- 88th & 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

All above will be getting: Chocolate Candy Cane, Hot Buttered Rum, Eggnog & Cranberry Gingerbread

Crespella- 7th Ave & 9th Street, Park Slope

This place is your best bet if you want to get cupcakes for a party.  They have the above mentioned flavors, plus Chocolate Chestnut, Tiramisu & Hazelnut Kiss

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Woooo!  I really don’t think there are words for how tired I am right now.  I have been in the kitchen either alone or with our incredible intern Alexandra for 5 straight 9+ hour days, in a 19th century warehouse that has no heat on the weekends (thank you union guys!).  Tonight I’m having dinner at 2 am, consisting of some leftover Italian bread the kids had with the babysitter and a cup of tea I got from a gas station.  This is the glamorous life of us Brooklyn indie food scenesters!!!

Speaking of exhaustion, totally forgot to take pictures of the cupcakes before I left tonight.  My bad.

The Big Social at 201 Mulberry is running through this Thursday every day from 12-8, and you MUST come down and check us out (and maybe grab some Luke’s Lobster or Pies n’Thighs for lunch?).  Our brownies are getting scooped up almost faster than we can make them- we’re thrilled you guys like them so much!  And our brownie gift boxes are flying off the shelves- they start at $10, so they’re the perfect little gift for a co-worker or that person you want to get just a little something for.  Remember- food gifts never need to be dusted and don’t take up space, so they’re perfect for the person or family who has everything (plus the brownies can be frozen for months, so no worries about them going bad!).

Also, if you want our cupcakes for Christmas, email us NOW or preorder through your nearest store.  Christmas flavors are:

-Hot Buttered Rum

-Cranberry Gingerbread

-Eggnog

-Chocolate Candy Cane

We’ll also have special Christmas flavors on Thursday at Big Social that aren’t in stores.  Remember, ALL of these are going in the vault after this weekend and you won’t see them until next year, so stock up!

Ok, enough of me blathering- onto flavors!!!

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

Chocolate Candy Cane:  Mint chocolate-chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

Sticky Toffee:  Sticky toffee date cake, hard sauce, vanilla buttercream, brown sugar sandies

Eggnog:  Eggnog cake & buttecream, fresh nutmeg

Available at:

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

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

Market:  1211 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park

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

Radish:  Bedford Ave off N8th St, Williamsburg

Cakeshop:  Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

Lily O’Brien’s Chocolate Cafe at Bryant Park:  40th St btwn 5th & 6th Avenues, Midtown

AT THE BIG SOCIAL (201 Mulberry St btwn Kenmare and Spring)

CUPCAKES

Eggnog

Kumquat:  Winter citrus cake, vanilla buttercream, candied kumquats

Sticky Toffee

Chocolate Chestnut

Cranberry Gingerbread:  Gingerbread cake, vanilla buttecream, fresh cranberry compote

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

BROWNIES

Classic Sea Salt

“The Maltz”:  Bourbon & Bacon

Chocolate Almond

“The Aztec”:  Ancho Chili & Pumpkin Seed

Chocolate Peppermint

Hello again!  We were unable to post our flavors for last Monday or Third Ward due to some unintended problems with Tumblr.  This is why we urge you to follow us on Twitter, which we all know NEVER fails!!!

If you’ve having a holiday party before Christmas, please note that because of our commitments at holiday markets we cannot make any private deliveries and are taking orders only through our stores.  We posted our flavor schedule in one of the tabs at the top of this page, so you’ll know what’s on tap for your local spots Monday or Thursday delivery.  If you need any help with orders, feel free to email us at info@robicellis.com and we’ll do our best to help arrange a private order for you.

Back to flavors- still going strong with our Christmas flavors!  This week we’re introducing a new one- Irish Coffee- which if it goes over well you’ll see all winter long.  Go eat one and tell us what you think!

NEW!!! Irish Coffee:  Irish Cream & espresso cake and buttercream, cocoa powder, ground white chocolate

Eggnog:  Eggnog cake & buttercream, fresh ground nutmeg

Chocolate Candy Cane:  Mint chocolate-chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

Hot Buttered Rum:  Rum-spiked butterscotch soaked vanilla cake, butterscotch buttercream, hot buttered rum drizzle

Available Thursday at:

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

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

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

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

MARKET- Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, Ditmas Park

FLYING SAUCER CAFE- Atlantic Ave. btwn 3rd Ave & Nevins Street, Boerum Hill

FARMACY- Corner of Henry and Sackett, Carroll Gardens

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

Available Friday at:

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

EASTERN DISTRICT:  1053 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

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

IT’S THE HOLIDAYS!!!!  YIPEEEEEE!!!!!

I’m a total nut about the holidays.  Our tree is already up, our stockings are hung, I haven’t done a bit of Christmas shopping because I wanted to wait til the stores were all decorated and crowded (yes, I like that stuff), and we’ve got his-and-hers elf hats to wear to all the holiday markets we’re doing this month (did you see the little tab at the top?  Click on it for info, and to keep up with all our events).

Best of all, holiday flavors are here!!!!  We’ve got a whole bunch of them that are getting rolled out over the next few weeks- we’ll be posting a schedule soon so that you can plan your orders for all the parties you’re bound to be attending.  In the meantime, here’s flavors for Monday!

HOT BUTTERED RUM: vanilla cake soaked with rum butterscotch, rum-butterscotch buttercream and drizzle (think our butterbeer, but rummier)

CHOCOLATE CANDY CANE:  mint chocolate-chocolate chip cake, peppermint buttercream, crushed candy canes

TIRAMISU:  espresso soaked cake, espresso ganache, mascarpone buttercream, cocoa powder

THE DUCKWALK:  vanilla cake, blueberry port mascarpone buttercream, port glazed wild Maine blueberries   (Note: we’ve decided not to make this a seasonal flavor anymore because we underestimated how delicious frozen blueberries were, especially the wild ones!  Expect to see this one in the rotation permenantly!)

Available at:

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

Radish:  Bedford Ave off N8th St, Williamsburg

Cakeshop:  Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

Lily O’Brien’s Chocoalte Cafe at Bryant Park:  40th St btwn 5th & 6th Avenues, Midtown