Robicelli's

Hostess is dead. No more Twinkies, no more  Ho Hos, no more Ring Dings, no more Yodels (yup, they owned Drakes, too).

But I seriously need to remind you guys- these things were AWFUL. Every so often I get a craving for a Suzy Q or frozen Yodel, and I am floored at how much they taste like pure sugar and wax. Probably because as the cost of chocolate, butter and every single ingredient went up over the years yet people still demanded low, low prices, that’s exactly what they mostly became- sugar and parrafin wax (used as a commercial chocolate extender), held together with an ample amount of pure vegetable shortening.

Once upon a time someone realized this and started making cupcakes and other single sized baked goods from scratch again, and suddenly cupcakes became a massive phenomenon. Why? Because thanks to Hostess, we forgot how good dessert was supposed to taste. Cupcakes are not a new thing have been around FOREVER- Hostess, Drake’s et al just made them unremarkable for you. 

I say good riddance. People have highers standards now. People are willing to pay more for something that actually tastes good rather than something east something barely acceptable that’s cheap. I mean, if you’re going to put all those calories in your body, they should taste good, right?

So why not go out and eat one of these today? This is the last appearance of these flavors until fall of 2013, so take advantage before they disappear just like Twinkies have. Particularly the Chocolate Graham, as Sandy wiped out the Biscoff spread warehouse in NYC, and we’re facing a massive speculoos shortage.

Today is really just fulled of bad pastry news, ain’t it?

Brown Sugar Pumpkin: Brown sugar cake, chocolate pumpkin buttercream, ganache

Chocolate Graham: Chocolate cake, graham cracker buttercream, ganache, graham cracker crumbs

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

Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, pear chip

I only have five more days to harass you about Thanksgiving ordering! You know I wait all year for these precious moments to nag you, in the honored tradition of my grandmother and many generations of Sicilian women before her. 

In this vein, I thought I’d take a picture of my nagging face, but I’m exhausted and look like crap today. So I Googled an image of “nagging”, and found this:

.

…..and then this….

….then this…..

and finally….THIS.

I’ve learned two things tonight:

1. I will wear people down quicker if I throw my hands in the air, and wave them like I just don’t care (or DO I?!?!)

2. If you don’t place a Thanksgiving order, Gordon Ramsey will come to your house and eat your soul.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty scared right now. So, um, order and stay safe, people. And keep one eye open in case Gordon Ramsey comes to kill us all.

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

Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, pear chip

The Siobhan: Chocolate cake, bourbon butterscotch buttercream, bourbon butterscotch drizzle, chocolate chips

Pumpkin Pie: Pumpkin cake, vanilla buttercream, crushed all-butter pie dough

As Allison is focusing on recovering from being hit by a car, friends and fans of Robicelli’s have pitched in to keep the blog going. She will be back shortly, we promise. You can send her messages over Twitter and Facebook, where she is popping up sporadically. 

Today’s blog post was contributed by one of Allison’s favorite authors: Ken Wheaton.  Ken is the author of the The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival, and his second novel, Bacon & Egg Man, will be released later this year. Ken is originally from Louisiana, lives in Brooklyn, can be found blogging at KenWheatonWrites.com, and is, in Allison’s words “our generations Andy Rooney”.

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ADDENDUM ADDED ON 10/11- The following is a work of SATIRE. It is not true. There is no need to email/call us to ask if we really sold the company. Please read the into paragraph above that explains that this was written by Ken Wheaton as a fictional guest blog. We do appreciate the emails/phone calls- it’s nice to know that you guys were concerned.

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A Message From the New Management

                                                       by Ken Wheaton

Dear Valued Robicelli’s Customer,

We here at KRUMmy Cupcakes Inc. would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as the new owner of Robicelli’s. As you may have heard, part of the Robicelli’s team ran into a little trouble recently – or, more accurately, a little trouble ran into her – and it was an honor, a privilege and, quite frankly, smart business for KRUMmy to step in and offer assistance by way of a buy-out.

Before we go any further, though, we’d like to clear up one thing. The driver of that vehicle was not an employee of our company and has never been on the KRUMmy payroll. Reports that he was seen leaving the country soon after the accident with bags of cash are little more than unfounded rumors.

But let us not dwell on the past. Let us look to the future, a future filled with exciting cupcakey goodness.

You may notice some small changes at Robicelli’s as we move forward. For example, we are pleased to announce our new flavor lineup.

1.      Chocolate with extra frosting.

2.      Red velvet with extra frosting.

3.      Cupcake stuffed with M&Ms, rolled in M&Ms, with extra frosting and then sprinkled with M&Ms.

Some of you will no doubt notice that we are moving away from Robicelli’s, shall we say, unique ideas about what a cupcake is. Here at KRUMmy  we firmly believe that when the good lord created cupcakes he never intended meat and other exotic ingredients to be involved. Fried chicken belongs in a bucket with French fries and olive oil belongs on pasta. Further, if a cupcake does not deliver two days’ worth of sugar, then it might as well be a muffin. And KRUMmy is not in the muffin business.

We will also be standardizing cupcake names as we feel that while noted Hollywood icons like Dom Deluise and Rue Mclanahan may be popular now, not every cupcake consumer is current in pop culture and may be confused by such names.

Regarding the size of cupcakes, KRUMmy doesn’t believe that one size fits all – unless that size is extra large. Therefore we will be phasing out Robicelli’s traditional cupcake size – we’ve tried a miniature line in the past and it did not sell as well as we’d like. Moving forward, Robicelli’s by KRUMmy cupcakes will serve six, weigh in at two pounds and require utensils. (A plate isn’t necessary – as long as you have a Shopvac handy to deal with the aftermath.)

These cupcakes will be available at local neighborhood retailers including: Gristedes, Key Food, The Met, C-Town, Target and, if you’re lucky enough to live near one, Walmart.

Once again, we are excited to be serving you, the Robicelli’s consumer and hope that you welcome us into your home and come to consider us part of your family.

—Peter I. Wankworth III, CEO, KRUMmy Cupcakes Inc.

Coming soon we’ll have posts from author Aaron Goldfarb, screenwriter John Capo, food bloggers and PR mavens and many more. But now there’s today’s cupcakes, plus lots of other good stuff going to stores all over NYC tomorrow. Enjoy!

Clockwise from front: Ebinger, Pecan Pie, Brown Sugar Pumpkin, Pear Mascarpone

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

Brown Sugar Pumpkin: Brown sugar cake, chocolate pumpkin buttercream, ganache, demerera sugar

Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, pear chip

Pecan Pie: Pecan molasses cake, vanilla buttercream, molasses glazed pecans

Hey everyone it’s Matt. I know you’re all expecting Allison to be here writing the blog as she’s the good writer in the marriage and I’m just here to be eye candy. 

Eat your heart out, America.

As you can imagine, Allison isn’t in the best shape right now, and is ordered to be on bedrest and lots of painkillers, so I, with the rest of the Robicelli’s team and the help of some good friends, will be picking up the slack for her over here on the blog for a while so she can focus on healing. I don’t know when she’ll be back full time because she’s already yelling at me that she wants to work because she’s my thick headed stubborn wife and she’s not good at sitting still, even when she’s in horrible pain. Right now she’s yelling at me from the bed that I better not make spelling mistakes and to use good grammar, because she knows that’s not my strong suit. One time I wrote her a love letter and she corrected all the run on sentences and punctuation.

However, the show will still go on. We still have cupcakes, brownies, whoopies and loaf cakes going to stores three times a week. You can still expect to see Robicelli’s at this years NYC Food and Wine Festival, even if my wife won’t be with us. And we’re still working on some new locations and planning for the holidays, even if this has thrown a monkey wrench into some of the things we were thinking about. If there’s one thing I think embodies Robicelli’s, is that we have never been quitters, no matter how difficult things get. 

Allison told me to thank you all for all the nice emails and messages you all have sent. They’ve been one of the only things that have made her smile for the last few days, so I’d like to thank you for them as well. And I want to thank you for reading all of this even if I’m not as good as a writer as she is. I am really good at baking though, so you should go out and buy yourself something delicious today as proof of that. My personal favorite cupcake of all our 200+ flavors is out today: Pecan Pie! 

Clockwise from front: Pecan Pie, Brown Sugar Pumpkin, Pear Mascarpone, The Tina

Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, pear chip

Pecan Pie: Pecan molasses cake, vanilla buttercream, molasses glazed pecans

The Tina: Chocolate almond cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted almonds, ganache

Brown Sugar Pumpkin: Brown sugar cake, chocolate pumpkin buttercream, chocolate drizzle, demerara sugar

Last day of November, and I’ve already reaching my threshold for tolerating Christmas songs.  This is especially sad as I’m one of those people who LOVES Christmas music.  Like, listens to it in July loves it.  And for this, I blame the fact that we as a society are insistent in playing the SAME TEN SONGS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR SIX FREAKING WEEKS.

Nothing can hold up in that rotation. Nothing. Except Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song”, which is technically perfect.

In the event that you’re in the same boat, here’s a few songs that I’m actually loving to death right now that are getting me in the Christmas mood- regardless of our 70 degree weather.

Alan Jackson & Alison Krauss- “The Angels Cried”

Probably the most beautiful Christmas song I’ve ever heard. Pay no attention to the fact that the lighting director of this video attempted to make Alison Krauss look like a demon from a Japanese horror film.  Also don’t remember what we were all thinking regarding hairstyles back in 1993.  It’s like we had learned nothing from the 80s.

Sting: “Gabriels Message”

Sting’s a total effing pretentious weirdo, which lends itself perfectly to traditional Christmas music.  Plus he looks kinda hot with that beard.  Yes, I hate myself for thinking that.

Weezer: “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”

Did you know Weezer cut an entire Christmas EP? I had no idea! There’s something incredibly exciting about learning a band you love cut a holiday album, like…..

HALFORD!!!! Lead singer of Judas Priest, heavy metal GOD Rob Halford apparently has a Christmas album.  So that means it’s TOTALLY OK…..

……to now declare Slayer to be the official band of Christmas.  Take that, Bing Crosby! 

Now for the most metal thing of all- CUPCAKES!!!!  The ridiculously popular Creme Brulee is back, and the Chocolate Merlot has returned after an absence of over two years.  Let us know if you’d like to see it return for good!

Clockwise from front: Pear Mascarpone, Chocolate Merlot, The Bluth, Creme Brulee

Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, pear chip

Chocolate Merlot: Chocolate merlot cake and buttercream, chocolate shavings, black pepper, merlot reduction

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

Creme Brulee: Vanilla cake, vanilla custard buttercream, caramelized sugar

Available at:

Robicelli’s at the Union Square Holiday Market: South row closest to 14th Street, towards the east side, booth C34

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

Hom: 88th Street & 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

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

Radish: Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

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

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

Queen City Cupcakes: Patchogue, Long Island

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we are already over a week into the Union Square Holiday Market.  As awesome as it is to see all of you (and trust me I LOVE seeing you), the fact that I barely get to see my kids at all wears on my pretty badly.

Matt and I insist that we take one day a week, Wednesdays, to do nothing but concentrate on our family (and if you are a small business owner with a family, I really feel it is absolutely mandatory that you do this as well).  You may remember saying that during Madison Square Eats we’d spend one great day with the boys, I’d tuck them into bed and say “I’ll see you next week!”, and they’d each give me six kisses for every day that I would be leaving before they woke up and coming home after they went to bed.  It was tough, and they hated it, but I promised them it would only be for a few weeks, and then they’d have more time with Mommy until the holidays started.

Like all of us, my kids weren’t thinking the holidays were going to show up so fast.

Atticus has not been happy with me at all. He doesn’t understand why Matt and I have to work all the time instead of going to the Children’s Museum or the zoo or any of the fun places we’re constantly taking them to overcompensate for our ridiculous work schedules.  He told me he didn’t want me to go back to work all the time, and then when I told him I didn’t have a choice, he told me he didn’t love me anymore.  Fortunately, Toby slid in with a “Don’t worry, Mommy- I still love you!”. So at least I have a 50% approval rating, which is nice.

Now that they’re 3 and 4 and rapidly maturing preschool students, I thought it was about time I sat them down and really explained things to them, hoping they’ll finally understand.  It’s Economics 101- surely young kids can get that, right?

“Atticus, Toby- let me ask you a question. Do you like toys?”.  Immediately their eyes light up-“YES!”.  Good, I’ve hooked them.  ”Do you like cupcakes and brownies?”, I continue. “YES!” they scream.  Now they’re precisely where I want them.

“Well, it’s Mommy & Daddy’s job to make sure that there’s enough cupcakes and stuff for people to eat. If it wasn’t for us, the world might run out of cupcakes! (side note: HAHAHAHAHAHA!) And when we make cupcakes, people give us money for them, so we can take that money and buy you more toys.  So you see, if we don’t go to work, you don’t get any toys!”.  

This is pretty cut and dry, no?  But yet they sit there and stare at me in befuddled silence, looking at me like I have six heads.  And then finally, Toby speaks:

“But Mommy, that’s silly!  We can just ask SANTA for toys! Now you can stay home with us!”.

Children: 4,212. Allison: 0

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again- there’s very few feelings worse than being outsmarted by your children.  And mine do it about 10 times a week.  

Damn you, Santa.

Clockwise from front: Pear Mascarpone, Tiramisu, Tres Leches, The Bluth

Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, homemade pear chip

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

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

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

Available at:

Robicelli’s at Union Square Holiday Market

Robicelli’s: DeKalb Market- 138 Willoughby, Downtown Brooklyn

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

Aloha Grinds: 77th Street and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

Bagel Schmagel: 76th Street and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

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

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

Cake Shop: Ludlow Street btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

Joe at Columbia University: W120th Street btwn Broadway & Amsterdam, Morningside Heights

Queen City Cupcakes: Patchogue, Long Island

Red Hook Lobster Pound Whoopie Pies Only

You know how we said we’d never, ever participate in one of those group buying sites?

We lied.

How does something like this even happen? What made us change our minds? Well, Juice is a “mom-driven site”- it not only generates deals for families, but it provides commission based employment opportunities to moms as well.  I remember Atticus’ first year and how I was going absolutely nuts trying to figure out a way to bring money in but still stay home with my son since we couldn’t afford daycare (Plus being cooped up in the house with an infant as your constant companion is a very stark departure from the hustle of a commercial kitchen- believe me when I say as much as I loved my son and being home with him, I really missed working a lot). Point is, any company that’s helping moms from that angle is A-OK in my book!

Also, a very good friend of mine happens to be the district manager.  That helps, too.

So here’s the deal: AN ENTIRE DOZEN CUPCAKES FOR $18. That ain’t too shabby!

Of course, there’s deal points. I could be that schmuck that hides them in fine print, then springs them on you at the last minute when you’re at the shop and disappoints you. I HATE it when people do that to me, and have way too much respect for all of you to do that, so I’m going to lay just about everything I think you need to know up front:

-The deal can only be redeemed at our store at DeKalb Market.  We cannot legally accept them at Union Square, for any delivery orders, holiday pop-ups, or at any of our retail partners- only DeKalb.  If you’ve been meaning to visit, this is a great excuse! We’re 2 blocks off the Manhattan Bridge on Flatbush Avenue Extension, or right off the DeKalb Avenue subway station on the R,Q, B line!

-This deal is not valid for the week of Thanskgiving or Christmas.  We are already at such high volume those weeks, due to space constraints we could not possibly accommodate any more production (speaking of which, Thanksgiving orders have already started coming in, so get them in sooner rather than later!).  This deal IS valid for every other holiday weekend and most of December- meaning if you have a holiday party, an office potluck, or a gift to your kids teachers- this is perfect!

-You need to use the entire voucher in one go- it doesn’t split. If you’re buying the whole dozen for yourself, they freeze beautifully! Put whatever you’re not eating in an airtight container and into the freezer for up to 6 weeks.  When you want one, just put it on the counter or in the fridge to come to room temp.  If you’ve ever met me in person, you know how I’m a big proponent of having “emergency cake” in my freezer at all times, just for those times when it’s 4am, I can’t sleep because I’m really stressed out, and all I need is a big piece of cake to stuff in my face while I’m curled up in a ball on the kitchen floor (I can’t be the only one who does this, am I?).  Anyway- 12 cupcakes? 12 pieces of emergency cake.  Think about the holiday season.  What are the odds you will at some point need emergency cake?

-These things don’t include tax, so you’re going to have to pay that when you redeem the coupon.  It’s about $3. Uncle Sam thanks you!

And I think that’s just about all- CLICK HERE to grab the deal! And take a look at these sexy sexy cupcakes we made last night, because 12 of those could be in your belly on the cheap real soon!

Clockwise from front: Pecan Pie, The Bluth, Pumpkin Caramel, Pear Mascarpone

NEW! Pear Mascarpone: Pear cake, mascarpone buttercream, pear chip

NEW! Pecan Pie: Pecan molasses cake, vanilla buttercream, butter molasses glazed pecans

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

Pumpkin Caramel: Pumpkin cake, salted caramel buttercream, candied pumpkin seeds.

Available at:

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: 7th 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

Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Standon & 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)