Robicelli's

Flavors: Friday, May 11th

Right on the heels of our historic couch purchase on Wednesday comes yet another monumental day in the Robicelli’s household. Seriously, everything’s just been coming up Allison all week. And with Steve Lawler, Internet Week, Techmunch, Rooftop Films, and Down & Derby Roller Disco all happening in the next seven days, I’m thinking it’s only going to be getting better. Or I’m going to have a nervous breakdown from exhaustion. Luckily for all of you, I’ll probably live-Tweet it, so at least you’ll all be able to point and laugh.

Back to the awesomeness of today: at 12:30, I will be attending my first ever “Muffins with Mommy” tea party at my children’s preschool! Further explaining the magnitude of this event: I’ve been a mom for five years now, meaning that I’ve had five Mother’s Days. But to tell you the truth- none of them really count until your kids understand what it is, and have enough dexterity to make a passable macaroni necklace. And this is that year! Not only that, but they’re actually making the muffins at preschool, which means not only are they finally cooking for me, but that I can probably put them to work once summer vacation starts. 

Speaking of Mother’s Day, while pre-ordering is now closed and we are no longer accepting delivery requests, we will still have LOTS of special Mother’s Day cupcakes all weekend at DeKalb, including the first ever appearance of the Betty White cupcake (more on that tomorrow), and Chicken n’Waffles! And our super duper ultra popular Strawberry Champagne cupcake is back not only at DeKalb but at our retail partners as well. It’s only released four times a year: New Years Eve, Valentine’s Day, our anniversary (October 7th), and Mother’s Day. Grab one before you have to wait another ten months to revel in it’s sexiness!

Clockwise from front: Strawberry Champangne, Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur, Banana Nutella

Strawberry Champagne: Champagne cake, strawberry champagne buttercream and compote

Estelle Getty: Amaretto cake, cheesecake buttercream, crushed imported Sicilian amaretti cookies

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

Banana Nutella: Banana cake, Nutella buttercream, banana chip and hazelnut praline

___________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

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

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

Hom: 88th & 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

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

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau Street off Jewel, Greenpoint

Battery Place Market: 240 Murray Street, Financial District

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

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

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Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

Red Hook Lobster Pound: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, Bklyn Flea, Smorgasbug, and Madison Square Eats

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

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Brownies Available At:

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

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

Oaxaca Tacos: 250 4th Avenue- Park Slope Brooklyn; 251 Smith Street Cobble Hill Brooklyn; 16 Extra Place, LES Manhattan; 48 Greenwich Avenue, West Village, Manhattan

Flavors: Monday, August 15th

This is Mikey. He’s the son of an old friend of Matt’s and the nephew of a friend of mine from high school.  He is five years old, loves Sesame Street, the color orange, and football.

Mikey has cancer.  He was diagnosed with an unidentifiable form that causes tumors to grow on his brain and spine, and although they’ve sent the pathology to everywhere from Memorial Sloan Kettering to Johns Hopkins, no one can figure out what the tumors are, or how to cure them.

Sorry for bumming you out so early on a Monday morning.  There’s really, REALLY important stuff coming up, I promise.  Just stick with me for a bit.

Anyway, Mikey’s family has been very active in a charity called St. Baldrick’s, which helps communities and volunteers create local fundraisers to benefit kids with cancer.  Recently they’ve been working on a fundraising drive to raise $20,000, culminating in a head-shaving event near their home in Rockaway on September 17th.

Now you’re about to go from being sad to being really, REALLY angry. Like, desk punching, screaming out loud angry.  Warn your coworkers.

Matt saw a post on Facebook about someone stealing some of the money raised for St. Baldrick’s. He reached out to Mikey’s mom, Christine, to find out what happened, and this is part of what she emailed us back:

“Natalie, our Hope is in the (h)Air treasurer, was on the other line. Her dad was doing a great thing today. He was standing outside (in Donagan Hills, SI) collecting donations in a jug for our event, he had bags of stuffed animals and was manning a ‘Take a Toy, Make a Donation’ table! The jug was labeled & had Mikey’s picture on it so everyone knew where the money was going.

He went in the backyard to grab something for a minute and as he was coming out a woman in a car was stuffing both the bags of toys and the donation jug in her car! He started running but she pulled away too quickly! Then she had the nerve to, not only keep the toys and money but to throw the jug with Mikey’s picture and story and our event information out the window like it’s garbage.”

Let’s recap!  This woman:

A) SAW that this was a fundraiser for a kid with cancer

B) Stole all the money from said kid with cancer

C) Stole all the merchandise to ensure that there would be no more raising money for those greedy kids with cancer that day!

D) Felt the need to discard the fundraising information AND the picture of the poor kid who’s dying from incurable cancer because it was obviously taking up WAY too much room in her car, room that could eventually be filled with fur coats made from kittens or black market kidneys.  PLUS the woman discarded these things by

E) Littering.

NOW you guys can punch something! And once you get done with your emotional issues, this is what we’re all going to do:

PHASE #1:  This entire week, Matt and I are donating 50 cents of every cupcake sold at DeKalb Market and 25 cents of every cupcake sold wholesale to the Lograno family’s Hope Is In The (h)Air fundraiser benefiting Mikey and two other local kids who are fighting cancer.

PHASE #2: Every day from now until September 17th, we’ll feature one cupcake at DeKalb that will have 100% of its profits donated to Mikey.

PHASE #3: I’m going to be making calls and asking lots of friends to either contribute a portion of their sales or make a donation to Mikey. So far, Nachos NY has agreed to contribute a portion of their internet sales to the cause.  When I can convince more, I’ll let you know either via Twitter or Facebook, or in my weekly blog posts.

***UPDATE*** Pastry chef extraordinaire Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina will be donated a portion of all her August profits to St. Baldrick’s & Mikey! Go visit her on the Highline or at Hester Street Fair!

***UPDATE*** Granola Lab will be donating bags of their amazing granola for us to sell at DeKalb this weekend, with 100% of the profits going to Mikey’s St. Baldrick’s fundraiser!

PHASE #4: GET INVOLVED. St. Baldrick’s is a volunteer driven charity, meaning they not only will they help you organize a bake sale/supper club/head shavathon/dance-off/fundraiser, but they NEED you to.  Click here to see where the money you can raise will go.

PHASE #5: Help us get the word out about this!  Learn more about Mikey here, here and here.  Mikey and his family need our support, and the entire world needs to know that it’s NOT COOL to steal money and stuffed animals from children with cancer!  Boundaries, people!!!!

I never ask for retweets, reblogs, or anything like that.  But today, I am begging you all.  Help us make this go viral. It is way more important that most of the stuff you’ll be mindlessly clicking through all day.

Today’s special “Cupcake for Mikey” at DeKalb is Chocolate Cashew- chocolate cake with cashew buttercream, roasted cashews and ganache.  Below are the cupcakes that are going to our retail partners.  Please shop, contribute, or do whatever small bit you can from your corner of the world.

And please, the next moment you have, hug your kids or loved ones as tight as you possibly can, and never forget for a single moment just how lucky you really are.

Clockwise from front: The Bluth, Peach Cobbler, Hazelnut Kiss, Estelle Getty

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

Peach Cobbler: Peach cake, vanilla buttercream, peach compote, streusel topping

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

Estelle Getty: Almond cake, cheesecake buttercream, crushed Amaretti cookies

AVAILABLE AT:

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

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

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

ALOHA GRINDS: Third Avenue and 77th Street, Bay Ridge

THE CUPCAKE STAND: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

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

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

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

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

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side 

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

Also Available At DeKalb Market:

Cupcakes: Chocolate Cashew (cupcake for Mikey), Bananas Foster, McFadden, Breucklen, Dom DeLuise, All Rotation Flavors

Whoopie Pies: Classic, Pecan Bourbon Butterscotch

Brownies: Classic Sea Salt, Maltz (bourbon-bacon), Moverley (Scotch whiskey espresso walnut), L’Orange Noir (Grand Mariner)

Flavors: Wednesday, July 27th

I’ve gotten about a million billion questions this week, so instead of writing something quirky about time travel or something equally awesome, you’re getting some FAQs.  That’s what happens when you ask too many questions, nosypants.

“How often is the store at DeKalb open?”

Seven days a week, folks!  This is NOT the Flea or a weekend only dealie or a pop-up. We are there every single day…..except Christmas. And Thanksgiving. Probably closed for New Years, too.  And Good Friday.  But if you guys need us on Arbor Day or Cinco de Mayo, you bet your ass we WILL be open!

“What are your hours?”

Right now, Sunday from 10-7, Monday through Thursday 11-7, and Friday and Saturday from 10-10.  If we decided to change the hours we’ll let you know- we’re still figuring this out.

“Are you baking at the store?”

No- the store is a little over 140 square feet, meaning that even if we wanted to do it, there’s no way it could happen.  Our kitchen just happens to be about a 10 minute drive away, so this is what we do: we go in during the night shift, bake til the wee hours of the morning, then go home and go to bed.  Early morning, our neighbor Mike wakes up, drives to the kitchen and picks everything up, then drops it off at the store right before opening.  Andrew stock the cupcakes in the case and runs the shop, while we go back to the kitchen to bake.

“Who is this ‘Andrew’ you speak of?”

This guy:

Andrew is a good friend of ours, a father of two kids the same ages as our boys, and the holder of a Master’s degree in quantitative statistical something something I forgot.  Anyway, he’s one of the smartest (and funniest) guys we know, but he finished his degree right after the economy went to hell, so he graduated into a world with zero job prospects.  But did Andrew sit back and complain, and just idly wait until something that met his ridiculous qualifications came along? HELL NO! Andrew isn’t one to sit back and do nothing, and so he came to work for us at our old store, and was without question one of the greatest people we ever worked with.

It’s funny that when a store closes, we just look at it as a “thing”- as if it had no human impact. When we closed, like the many Bay Ridge businesses that have shuttered in the past 3 years, a lot of people lost their jobs, and Andrew was one of them.  We are so, so lucky that we were able to hire him back, because he’s been such an important part of Robicelli’s since the very beginning, and it wouldn’t feel right if anyone else was running that store.  

And remember, the more you support not only us but ALL the small businesses in your neighborhood, the more jobs you create.  That does a lot more good for the economy than just bitching about the government on Facebook all day.

“When will you and Matt be there?”

For the first month at least, we’re going to try and ensure one of us is there on the weekends while the other one stays in the kitchen and bakes.  However, we didn’t plan for the near-destruction of our apartment when we drafted up the plan for the store, so we’ll more than likely be plotting our schedules on a day to day basis until the flooding situation has been resolved.  But you will have to believe me that Andrew is just as good, if not BETTER then Matt or I, so you’ll definitely want to go down and spend lots of time with him.  

“How are you deciding on what flavors to do?”

We are making this up as we go along.  Right now we’re buying a bunch of inventory for select flavors, and making them for a few days until we run out of the correct ingredients.  We keep picking up different things during the week to work with, so even though you’ll see our usual rotation flavors there, we’ll have those flavors for more days than our wholesale shops do, and you’ll be seeing lots of off-rotation flavors as well.

We’re also going to be sending most of our new flavors to DeKalb first rather than just releasing them straight to the public so we can see how they play out.  Also, all our “wilder” flavors, like El Guapo, The Iona and Chicken n’Waffles will be at DeKalb on a semi-regular basis (in fact- the Elvis is returning for this weekend!).

“How do I know what flavors you’ll have at DeKalb every day? Will you post them here?”

I’m working on setting up a new site specifically for the DeKalb store, and by working on it, I mean putting it on my to-do list and then sleeping in front of my computer with my eyes open.  In the interim, all flavors will be posted each day on our Facebook page, so make sure you’re a fan (and remember there’s a link right below our name on this page).  

“Will you be having some sort of Grand Opening party or something?”

I promise you that we’re going to have LOTS of great events not only at our shop, but at DeKalb as a whole.  We’re going to have something pretty spectacular come next Thursday, so keep your eyes peeled…………..

“Where are the pictures of the shop?”

I haven’t had any time to upload them. You got some? Show us on Facebook. Besides- stores not done yet…….I still have to get artwork together, install the baseboards, install the back counter………..IT NEVER ENDS!!!!

“This is an FAQ, but you didn’t A my Q! Was it not F enough?”

Again, head over to Facebook and ask me.  I’m taking questions all the time over there.  And screwing around a little.  Come on, it’s ME we’re talking about.

“What are today’s flavors?”

I’m glad you asked!!!

Clockwise from front: The North Fork, S’Mores, Estelle Getty, Key Lime Cheesecake

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

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

Estelle Getty: Almond cake, cheesecake buttercream, crushed imported Amaretti cookies from Sicily

Back After Two Years in the Vault! Key Lime Cheesecake: Graham cracker cake, key lime curd, key lime cheesecake buttercream, graham cracker crumbs and lime zest

AVAILABLE AT:

ROBICELLI’S AT DEKALB MARKET: 332 Flatbush Ave Extention off Willoughby, Downtown Brooklyn

HOM- Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

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

Flavors: Monday, July 25th

I know you’re probably expecting some long, awesome post about our grand opening weekend at DeKalb Market or Meatopia. I was, too. Then today after production and picking up our kids, we went home to find our luxurious basement apartment completely flooded. Do I really need this right now, Jesus?!?! Really?!?!?! I’d go look for another apartment, but it’s down the block from the preschool I just put a deposit down at, and besides, I have NO time to pack. I may just set the place on fire and start new somewhere.  Right now, that somewhere new is a sleeping bag in front of the air conditioner on my parents’ dining room floor.  

That’s EXACTLY right, cat. Exactly right.

But now lets get to the sunshine of life……the cupcakes.

Just because we opened up our new shop at DeKalb Market DOES NOT mean that we’re stopping our wholesale business!  We’re keeping the relationships we have with all of our current stores, and will more than likely be adding a few more through the year (and if you’re interested in becoming one of those stores, email us!).  And all the rotation flavors will be going to DeKalb, PLUS off-rotation ones and exclusives which will probably only be posted on Facebook and Twitter.  So in summary- NOTHING has changed….except we added one more location that happens to be ours.

And if you’re going to visit any of our locations, it’s a very special day!!!!  That’s right America……..it’s Estelle Getty’s birthday, meaning it’s a GOLDEN GIRLS DAY!!!  Estelle died before we began making cupcakes, so even though we designed this one over two years ago, we knew we’d wait to release it on her birthday.  In honor of Sophia’s Sicilian heritage, we’ve made an almond cake with the Golden Girls Cheesecake buttercream, then sprinkled crushed imported Amaretti cookies all over the top.  Insanely delicious.

Joining in today’s celebration are Bea and Rue, though there is no Betty yet since she’s thankfully still with us.  Now I don’t want any of you to go rooting for Betty to kick it so that you can finally try her cupcake.  That’s just sick, folks.  But the only way we’ll release it sooner than posthumously is if we get permission from Betty herself, and girlfriend won’t return my calls or answer those notes I tied to rocks and threw through her window.  So you’re just going to have to eat the ones we have, and you’re going to have to like it.

Clockwise from front: Estelle Getty, S’Mores, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan

NEW! Estelle Getty: Almond cake, cheesecake buttercream, crushed amaretti cookies

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

S’Mores: Chocolate cake, speculoos pudding, toasted marshmallow buttercream, ganache, crushed graham crackers

Available at:

ROBICELLI’S AT DEKALB MARKET: 332 Flatbush Ave Extention off Willoughby, Downtown Brooklyn

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

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

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

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

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

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

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

BROOKLYNEER: 220 West Houston Street, West Village

BATTERY PLACE MARKET:  77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

Behind the Cupcake: The Bea Arthur (Plus, how we got into this crazy cupcakeness in the first place)

Matt and I never sought out to start a cupcake company.  We had opened up a specialty food store in our neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, a few short days before the stock market crashed and the Great Recession began.  One thing we were certain about upon opening, that with two kids under the age of two and all the madness and responsibilities of running a store, we would NOT be baking, despite the fact that we both were accomplished pastry chefs.

Come March of 2008, our store was standing, but barely.  We desperately needed to find some sort of draw to bring people in.  Many years prior to all of this, I used to make a carrot cake for a local pub that gained a very rabid following.  It so happens that one of these fans went into that pub and asked if they would ever get my carrot cake again, and they directed him to our store.  I agreed to make him one on special order for his birthday that week, and again the next week for a party he was attending.  I began to think that the carrot cake could be the draw, bringing people in to discover our cheese counter, charcuterie, and all the specialty foods that we had yet to see in Bay Ridge, at least in my lifetime.  But even if it was a draw, what were the odds of people coming in and buying an entire cake several times a week?  So I decided to make two batches of cake batter a week and divide it into cupcakes, thinking that we’d only sell 30, maybe 40 of them each week.

I mentioned my idea to Matt, who immediately went into his super-chef bravado.  “Well, you can make carrot cake, but I can make a dark Valrhona chocolate cake with a whipped peanut butter ganache and sprinkled with grey salt.  I used to make that at the Water Club and everyone loved it.  Billy Joel said it was the best cake he ever had”.  For those of you who aren’t chefs, it is VERY common for them to name drop, and very common to see these sort of “ego duels” (Matt and I engaged in about a 2 hour long one the first night we met, which eventually led to us falling in love).  Specifically, these ego trips are very common to male chefs, and as a girl in what has been throughout my career a male-dominated profession, I don’t exactly take to kindly to them.  After a good 15 minutes of us fighting about who made better cake, I challenged him to a duel, which became “Cupcake Wars”: we’d put one of each of our cupcakes in a “Battle Box”, and have customers eat both and vote online.  Matt was extremely confident going in- not only did he think his baking skills were superior to mine, but who in their right mind would vote for the lowly carrot cake against something with chocolate?

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