Robicelli's

When you shorten the link to the Amazon preordering page for our book, you come up with this:

amzn.to/18xBUTT

I couldn’t make this up if I tried.  I think this is a sign you should probably buy it. And these cupcakes (and the whoopies, brownies etc that don’t get photographed every day, because they’re pretty much the same pic over and over again)

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel

Bea Arthur: Black coffee chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

Blueberry Cobbler: Vanilla cake, blueberry syrup, vanilla buttercream, blueberry compote, brown sugar streusel

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

IT’S FINALLY TIME. 

I honestly don’t know how I managed to wait this long. This is the best thing that’s happened to me since I found Brian Austin Greene’s rap CD at a garage sale (someone let that thing go for only fifty cents! Can you believe that?!?!?!)

The Bluth: Chocolate banana cake, chocolate buttercream, roasted walnuts, chocolate ganache

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel

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

Toasted Almond: Almond cake, vanilla buttercream, toasted almonds

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****

I’m super stoked because today we are once again heading to Heritage Radio Network- aka the interweb’s best food-centric radio station. We’ve been on a few times before (here’s my favorite appearance), but this one is going to be extra awesome because we’ve been asked to be the special guests for a PILOT episode of something! Seriously- the success or failure of this project hinges on how interesting we can potentially be today. Y’all want to make fun of my big fat mouth until suddenly you need someone who can keep a discussion going for 30 minutes of airtime- then suddenly EVERYONE loves the Robicelli’s and their inability to have a serious conversation about anything.

And this isn’t just ANY show…..no, this is going to be Heritage’s first every baking/pastry centered show. It’s called “Batter Up” (cute!), and is going to be hosted by none other than the incredible Charlotte Druckman! You may know Charlotte from being one of the best food writers in the game, having the biggest sweet tooth in NYC, cowriting Anita Lo’s masterpiece of a cookbook, and being the sole author of THIS masterpiece:

I love this book, and you should, too.

I’m a big fan of Charlotte’s writing, so I really hope we do good on the pilot and don’t totally f*** this up for her. (but really what’s the worst thing that can happen? It’s the internet so I don’t have to watch my language, AND it’s radio so you guys can’t tell if I’m wearing pants or accidentally start a small fire).

We’ll keep you updated on when this jammie will be available online- in the meantime, check out our mention in Charlotte’s NY Diet for Grub Street , and why not buy her book? It’s super pretty to have lying around even if you can’t read!

And since you get to hear it about Batter Up here first, you ALSO get to hear the theme song first! Like the title, it’s cute!

SUH CYUT! Here’s “Give Me Lots of Sugar” by Bliss Blood and Al Street!

Speaking of lots of sugar, we’ve got lots of it heading to stores today. Brownies, whoopie pies, loaf cakes, hot cocoa- and of course, some very famous cupcakes! They suh cyut tuh!

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

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

Bea Arthur: Black coffee chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, hand candied citrus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’re officially one week into what we at Robicelli’s call our slllloooooowwwww season. Not that we’re not busy baking or taking orders- rather, in two months, we begin the “Oh my God why are we so freaking busy and I’m never going to sleep again” season, so we’ve learned to just enjoy July and catch up on all the other stuff we’ve been neglecting all year.

Like spreadsheets.

And holy crap are spreadsheets fun! You can add or multiply all sorts of crap together! And, um……you can make cell different colors, too! Like, wacky colors that people aren’t expecting, like orange. While you all were out this weekend enjoying the sunshine and the whatnot, I was macking all over Microsoft Excel making it as extreme as Mountain Dew. Or should I say: XXXTREME.

And 10% Rastafied.

You know, there’s times where our kids tell me that they want to be little boys forever. Then I show them these spreadsheets and they’re like “No WAY! We can’t wait to be grownups!”. And really, who can blame them.

Another perk to being a grownup? You can eat dessert whenever the hell you want. You can go and eat these right now. You can buy them and eat them in bed tonight at 3am. You can eat 16 in a row and get a massive tummyache, but no one can stop you because you’re a grownup! So go and seize the little awesome parts about being an adult, because eventually “the man” is going to make you change your spreadsheets from neon green back to grayscale and the party’s over.

Clockwise from front: Toasted Almond, Dark & Stormy, Creamsicle, Lemon Blueberry Ricotta

Toasted Almond: Almond cake, vanilla buttercream, crushed toasted almonds

Dark & Stormy: Brown sugar rum cake, ginger lime buttercream, hand candied lime zest

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

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta: Lemon cake, ricotta buttercream, blueberries & lemon zest

To find a list of locations serving Robicelli’s cupcake, brownies, and whoopie pies, click HERE.

IT’S SUMMERTIME! Everyone get up! Let’s dance!

My back is better, so now we must calypso! 

Not only are we counting coconuts, Matt and I are counting down the days until we take our annual family vacation to SESAME PLACE! As you know, I love Sesame Place not only because it’s super manageable with young kids or because every time I see Super Grover a burst out crying with joy, but also because every woman there has given birth at least once so it’s a judgement free zone in the swimsuit department. May not be the sexiest place on earth, but who really cares about sex appeal when you’re rambling down Big Bird’s Lazy River with remnants of chicken fingers in your hair and a five year old clinging to your neck because he refuses to believe that there are in fact NO alligators hiding on the rides waiting to eat him? Not I.

Besides if you’ve been married as long as I have, you’ll know that after a point it doesn’t really matter if you look flawless in a swimsuit, at long as you smell at least a little like fried chicken. And thank God my kids and their filthy little hands always make sure that happens.

This vacation is being made possible by the letter Q, the number 6, and by the fact that we’ve got a hell of a team running the Robicelli’s show.  So good, in fact, that this year Matt and I are getting to sneak away for a whopping FOUR WHOLE DAYS!  However I still run our entire social media department, so expect my blogging to be spotty, as I refuse to pay a surcharge for WiFi at hotels. Honestly, why not just make me pay for oxygen while you’re at it. Sheesh.

You know what else will get you stoked for summertime aside from dancing to Harry Belafonte? The return of KEY LIME CHEESECAKE!

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

The Pickett: Vanilla cake, custard buttercream, feuillitine (crunchy pastry), ganache

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, orange zest

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

Available at Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market and select Robicelli’s retail partners.

Things you learn when your back is out:

1. It is really, really hard to type with one hand while lying flat on your back, using your other arm to hold your laptop in the air where you can see it.

2. Your husband COULD help you by holding the laptop for you, but instead will think it’s a far better idea to sit across the room pointing and laughing.

3. Husband obviously has forgotten that my back will not be out forever, and once I’ve healed, I’m going to slapbox the living crap out of him and revenge will be mine.

It will be ever so delicious. Much like these cupcakes you see here.

Clockwise from front: Hazelnut Kiss, The Pickett, Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler, Creamsicle

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

The Pickett: Vanilla cake, vanilla custard buttercream, feuilletine (crunchy puff pastry), ganache

Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler: Vanilla cake, blueberry syrup, vanilla buttercream, blueberry compote, brown sugar streusel

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

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market is closed Monday, but will reopen with these flavors at noon on Tuesday. You can find these today at select Robicelli’s retail partners.

Did Memorial Day weekend just sneak up on anyone else? I could have sworn that spring just started, and just like that we’re jumping straight into summer. Meaning that everyone I know can expect a lot of me saying “UGH! Why is it soooo hooooooottt” for the next three months.

I am seriously just the worst when it comes to summer. I don’t know why I don’t just pack up and become Canadian or something. I mean, I like hockey. I like John Candy, poutine, AND excessive politeness. When I really think about it, I suppose it’s only my fear of marauding packs of bears that keeps me stateside. 

AAAAACCCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!

Let’s all compose ourselves and remember that there are absolutely no bears in New York City. None whatsoever.

Now let’s talk about just accepting the inevitable and welcoming in the summer the right way! Tonight we’re hosting Contra Dancing at DeKalb Market, and Sunday we have another epic dance party in the form of The Do-Over sponsored by Adidas (which is FREE with RSVP- so, you know, get on that!).  And what sort of sweets will we be releasing on not only our shop by NYC at large to welcome summers arrival? How about the entirety of our Good Humor Series. Nothings says summertime more than that!

Clockwise from front: Strawberry Shortcake, Hot Sundae, Creamsicle, Toasted Almond

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

Hot Sundae: Chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream, fudge sauce, maraschino cherry

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

Toasted Almond: Almond cake, vanilla buttercream, toasted almonds

For exact locations of these and other cupcakes, plus our brownies and whoopie pies, click here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s May! Already! And we’ve got tons of important stuff that goes along with the May-ness!

1. MOTHER’S DAY ORDERING is now up and ready to go! And Mother’s Day is especially notable as it will be the day where we finally complete our Golden Girls collection by releasing “The Betty White”!  As we had started this silly practice three years ago as a way to cope with Bea Arthur’s death, we planned to only release these tribute cupcakes posthumously in order to help us cope by eating our feelings.  But then we didn’t want to feel like we were waiting for Betty White to die so we could release her cupcake.  So if there was ONE day a year for us to finally release it so we can properly honor our beloved Golden Girls, it’s Mother’s Day.

You’ll be able to order cupcakes for pickup AND special delivery on Mother’s Day in Brooklyn. Ordering closes next Friday, so hurry since I’m sure that absolutely none of us (myself included) realized that Mother’s Day was in less than two weeks.

2. We will NOT be at Madison Square Eats this spring, as we are totally booked with Internet Week, Techmunch, the Brooklyn Food Conference, Morrissey’s birthday at Union Hall, Janeane Garofalo at the Bell House, writing our book, and aaaaallll the events we’ve got going on at DeKalb Market (Steve Lawler on the 12th, Roller Derby the 18th, Bike-In Movie the 24th, etc).

But don’t be sad, Flatiron! Even though we won’t personally be there, you’ll still be able to get our Classic and Nutella Whoopie Pies via the Red Hook Lobster Pound!  And speaking of lobstah…..

3. CINCO DE MAYO LOBSTER FIESTA AT DEKALB MARKET THIS SATURDAY! Thirty bucks gets you a 1 1/2 pound steamed lobster, spicy potato salad, Mexican corn & jicama slaw.  We’ll have LOTS of special Cinco de Mayo cupcake flavors and ice cream sandwiches as well, which we’ll post later in the week. And if you need cupcakes for your own Cinco de Mayo celebration, shoot us an email! In other private order news….

4. Our once a year Mint Julep cupcake is being released this Friday just in time for the Kentucky Derby! We don’t have a fancy preordering form for this one like we do for Mother’s Day, so same deal- if you’re having a Derby party and need the fanciest cupcakes on the block, you should definitely get in touch. 

5. THE BLUTH IS BACK! RIGHT NOW! THIS VERY SECOND! GO GET IT! GO GO GO GO GO!!!

Clockwise from front: The Bluth, Tres Leches, Creamsicle, Bea Arthur

The Bluth: Chocolate banana cake, chocolate buttercream, roasted walnuts, ganache

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

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

Bea Arthur: Black coffee brewed chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

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Cupcakes Available at:

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

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

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

Battery Place Market: 240 Murray Street, Goldman Sachs Building

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

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

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

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

This past weekend we beta launched Twilight Market at DeKalb, debuted ice cream sandwiches, and stayed up way way waaaaay past our bedtimes. The thing I love about beta launches is that it’s not as much about selling or doing but observing - watching and listening to your audience, figuring them out, learning from them to tailor your product and experience to them. 

I learned the following this weekend, and decided for the second post in a row to illustrate it in MS Paint. This isn’t going to be an every day thing, but I’m sort of on a roll with the clicking and the dragging and circle making, and with no sleep this weekend the English thing isn’t doing it too good for me right now but the stick figures are, so this seemed like the best way to make the point:

But to all the people who stuck out the freezing cold and stayed at Twilight Market, and hung out with me inside the store where we lived like kings in 56 degree temperatures, I had an incredible time with you all and can’t wait for you to come back! Absolutely the most fun I’ve had on a Saturday night in months.

Now we’re going to hang up the MS Paint for a while, as I need to conserve my awesome art skills for a very super awesome secret project I’m working on. Who could possibly want to utilize skills that mind blowing? The US Government perhaps? Mayyybeeeee…..

And yes, ice cream sandwiches were a huge success! We’ll have them all week at DeKalb, though not today as we’re closed on Mondays.  Need something sweet to make you smile at the very beginning of the work week? Who’s better at making that happen than us?

Clockwise from front: Creamsicle, Ebinger, Tiramisu, Funky Monkey

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

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

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

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

__________________________________________

Cupcakes Available At:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: 138 Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn (CLOSED MONDAYS- open Tuesday at noon, just in time for 2 for $5 Tuesday! Woot woot!)

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

Simon Sips: Hidden inside 1185 6th Avenue, Midtown

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

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

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

___________________________________

Whoopie Pies Available At:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market

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

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

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

___________________________________

Brownies:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market

Simon Sips: Hidden inside 1185 6th Avenue, Midtown

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

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

While our shop at DeKalb has been closed this winter, we’ve been doing LOTS of exciting back end stuff here at Robicelli’s. Like taxes! Setting up new accounting software to handle payroll! And (finally) finishing the book proposal! Would you believe that’s just the tip of the iceberg? Seriously! 

One of the many projects I’ve been working on is finally coming up with a “graphic identity” for us, which we haven’t really had for the past few years because we were broke and couldn’t afford it.  Also, throughout my entire career I’ve seen (and worked for) companies who spend all their efforts branding - creating a slick, glossy corporate package - and then once you look past the logo you find that there’s actually absolutely zero quality and nothing of substance.  

Though I can name a thousand graphic designers who will argue otherwise, not having a budget for design ended up being invaluable to us for lots of reasons. For one, it made people notice us on the strength of our product, and not because lots of stuff on our website moved around to trance music. Instead of having a fancy website, we ended up making our internet home here on Tumblr, which was without question the smartest move we could have made as a growing small business (as for all the reasons why- well, that’s another post entirely).  Also, trying to make a logo ourselves yielded this:

We made some other ones, too, but I’m trying hard to keep this blog PG-13. 

2012 finds us in a new place. We’ve proved that we have substance. We have plans of expansion, and big projects on the way. We’ve got our first whole season at DeKalb starting on April 6th.  And after years of hard work, we have a teeny weeny little budget. So one of my projects for this winter was to finally find a designer that answered emails and phone calls, and start working on a comprehensive visual branding profile for Robicelli’s.  This blog is going to get itself sexified!!! 

After countless interviews with designers who just didn’t get what we were looking for, hours of research, asking around for references, tons of preliminary sketches that we hated, we finally found our designer by screwing around on Facebook. I always think of my old friend Isaac Lubow as the 15 year old kid with a blue mohawk that I went to Stuyvesant High School with. I keep forgetting that since we graduate, he also graduated from Pratt, also became a parent, did some modeling, and opened a graphic design firm in Bali. He also takes the time out of his busy schedule to be one of the funniest people on Twitter, because he’s truly a gift to humanity.

Within 12 hours of talking, three preliminary sketches were in my inbox. Usually when I get sketches, I hate most, if not all of them. This time? HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE WITH THEM ALL. Which sucks, because I can’t choose. So I put all three of them up on Facebook and on my personal page, thinking there would be an obvious favorite and I’d just run with that. Except that when I broke down all the comments, they were all voted for equally, all defended by excellent arguments. And I cannot for the life of me decide which one to use as a starting point:

“Easy to read”. “Hands down my favorite”, “Like both the design/font”, “Has the most potential as a first draft”, “Clean & simple”, “Will translate well to packaging”

BUT ”Reminds me of a diner sign and crappy diner cake” “Too Broadway”

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“Personal, classy and already feels important”, “Reminds me of classic bakeries”, “Love the retro feel”, “Would look good on print materials”, “Reads more gourmet and upmarket”, “Fancier”

BUT ”I think the ‘o’ sort of looks like an ‘a’, so I’m reading it as Rabicelli’s” “Cursive writing is pretentious now, and people under the age of 18 can’t read cursive anymore”

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“Looks the most iconic and visually arresting”, “Progressive, new, and smacks your mother in the ass then licks your dads nose”, “Very ownable- retro, yet there’s something modern about it” “Like that it says ‘Brooklyn’”, “Will hold up in different sizes”, “The guys from Clutch would pick this logo, and seriously Allison, when do you not listen to the dudes from Clutch” 

BUT ”Reminds me of a Soviet Propaganda poster”, “Reminds me of gum” “Cold & sterile”

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And these aren’t even the final drawings! This is the first draft! How has a first draft become do divisive?!?!

This little social media experiment has accomplished the following:

1. Exposed me to the fact that every single person that I know is a designer, or is married to a designer, or has a best friend who’s a designer, or lives next door to a designer, or took design in school once.

2. Given me the worst headache I have had since my I finally finished the book proposal (so, since last Friday)

3. Made me realize that once I pick the first draft, I’m going to have to pick a second draft, then a third, and then we can start talking about color schemes. And this is just for the logo. After that, we redesign the Tumblr. And then packaging. And then the t-shirt and the officially licensed Robicelli’s tracksuits and G-strings. Meaning there’s an excellent chance that by the end of this year, I will be 100% catatonic, but as a small consolation, I will at least be wearing a dope-ass tracksuit. And maybe a G-string, depending on how cold it is.

Isaac told me to just go with my gut and pick one, but even my gut isn’t sure. So we’re doing the only logical thing:

We are making the entire process of branding our company interactive.

I mean really, who knows our company better than you guys- the ones who read our blog, buy our cupcakes, and have been supporting us as we’ve grown? And who are the people who are going to see this logo on shelves, on storefronts, on skimpy underwear? YOU are. So we want you to guide us along, tell us what you want to see, and have your opinions be a part of this company. CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FIRST DRAFT. We’ll tally the votes next week, then keep you updated as we move forward. And when we need to make another decision, we’ll ask you guys first. 

Because we loves and respects you guys long time. Super duper for reals. Now celebrate our love by eating some cupcakes!

Clockwise from front: Chocolate PB Pretzel, Duckwalk, Chocolate Merlot, Creamsicle

Chocolate PB Pretzel: Chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream, crushed peanuts and pretzels

Duckwalk: Vanilla cake, blueberry port mascarpone buttercream, port simmered blueberries

Chocolate Merlot: Chocolate merlot cake & buttercream, chocolate shavings, black pepper

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel

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Cupcakes Available at:

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

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

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

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

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

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Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

Queen City Cupcakes: 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

How come THIS didn’t happen when Matt was in the hospital?

Important thing is he’s all better, and he went back into the kitchen tonight to bake these cupcakes for you.  And there’s a new flavor! Ain’t he a swell guy?

Clockwise from front: Lime in da Coconut, Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, Hot Sunday, Creamsicle

NEW!!! Lime in da Coconut: Lime and coconut rum cake & buttercream, roasted coconut and lime zest

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

Hot Sunday: Chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream, chocolate fudge, maraschino cherry

Creamsicle: Orange cake, vanilla buttercream, candied orange peel

Available at:

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

HOM: 88th Street and 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge

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

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

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

BROOKLYNEER: 220 West Houston Street, West Village

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

Available Exclusively at DeKalb Market- 332 Flatbush Ave Extension:

Brownies:  

Whoopie Pies: 

Rocky Road, Bailey’s Cheesecake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Available at:

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

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

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

CRESPELLA: Seventh Avenue & 9th Street, Park Slope

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

RADISH: Bedford Ave & N8th, Williamsburg

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

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

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

Available Exclusively at DeKalb Market- 332 Flatbush Ave Extension:

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

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

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