Robicelli's

Flavors: Friday, February 3rd

Image courtesy of Alison Grasso

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

-BUT-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Banana Cashew: Banana cake, cashew buttercream, cashew brittle

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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

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

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

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

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau Street off Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

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

Queen City Cupcakes: Patchogue, Long Island

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Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

_________________________________

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Flavors: Wednesday, February 1st

Matt was on Ink Master on Spike TV last night, and I couldn’t tell any of you to watch because we were under a contractual gag order! GYAH! AND I wanted to post up pics of his tattoo and video clips, but can’t because they haven’t put them on the official site yet! DOUBLE GYAH!  

I know for a fact that his episode will be rerun next Tuesday at 9pm, so you guys should catch it. In the event you’re looking for it on your DVR, the name of the episode is….*sigh*…..”Pasties and a Cameltoe”. 

I made it two years before I had to write the word “Cameltoe” on this blog.  I guess I can be proud of that.

And while screwing around on the internet today instead of working, you should check out Shane O’Neil, the guy who did Matt’s tat and won the challenge with it.  He’s ridiculously hot and I’ve got a huge crush on him.  Fortunately, Matt’s ok with that because he’s got a crush on Shane, too.

I’ll be updating the blog later today once all the stuff gets posted to Spike TV and I’m 110% positive that we can no longer be sued for talking about the show (we’ve been under gag order for over 5 months about this- and the release instructing us what we were not allowed to say before the show aired was about 10 pages long in 6pt font, meaning I totally didn’t read it).

Here’s pictures of Matt’s tattoo, courtesy of UltraClay!

In the meantime, eat some cupcakes while you wait in eager anticipation!

Clockwise from front: Pecan French Toast, Blueberry Cobbler, Banana Cashew, The Hinsch

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

Blueberry Cobbler: Blueberry soaked vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream, blueberry cobbler, cinnamon streusel

Banana Cashew: Banana cake, cashew buttercream, cashew brittle

The Hinsch: Chocolate malted cake, vanilla buttercream, chocolate malted milk balls, malted chocolate sauce

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Cupcakes Available at:

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

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

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

_______________________

Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

_____________________

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Flavors: Wednesday, January 18th

We can’t go TOTALLY dark today, but I’m not writing anything (this doesn’t count).  Click on the pic above to be taken to the online petition to stop SOPA. If you don’t know anything about it, scroll through this infographic I pilfered from their site:

Back on Friday!

Clockwise from front: Pecan French Toast, S’Mores, Ebinger, Dom DeLuise

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

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

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

Dom DeLuise: Pistachio cake, cannoli cream buttercream, pistachios, citron, mini chocolate chips

__________________________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

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

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Batter Park City

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

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

Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Flavors: Monday, January 16th

Ok, remember how I was a total jerk on Friday saying I had news that I couldn’t tell you? Well I can finally start telling you a bit of it……….

Image courtesy of Free Food Boston

…..BROWNIES! You know- the ones that we kept selling out of like crazy at DeKalb and Madison Square Eats and Union Square…..as of this very second, we’re finally wholesaling them!  (We hired more people to keep up with demand) WOOT WOOT!  

If you haven’t had the opportunity to try them yet, you need to get to this.  Brownies were one of the top sellers at our original store before we closed it to go wholesale over 2 years ago, and were the #1 most requested item from all our original fans.  As you might have noticed, Matt and I are perfectionists when it comes to what we do, and we have no desire to release a product unless we can consider it as one of the absolute best that we have ever tasted (and trust me, we’ve tasted a LOT of brownies.  For, um, research. Yeah….that’s it….research). So until we had enough hands on deck to make sure we could produce these in large enough quantities where the quality would be flawless and none of our other products would suffer- they were left on the back burner.  And now, their day has come! Huzzah to that! 

What differentiates our brownies from the rest of the pack? Ultra chocolatey Valrhona cocoa, plenty of eggs and butter, and copious amounts of melted chocolate.  It’s not cakey, and not exactly fudgy- it’s just wrong, in a very, very right way.

You can find them at current Robicelli’s retail partners Crespella (Park Slope) and Queen City Cupcakes (Patchogue Long Island), and our NEW LOCATION:

Oaxaca Tacos!  With three locations in Brooklyn, and one on Extra Place in Manhattan (you know, that alley behind CB’s. And YES, it will always be CB’s, and I will acknowledge it as the John Varvartous whatever store over my cold dead body).  You can get our “Fany” brownie on their dessert menu: rich chocolate swirled with cinnamon and cajeta from Fat Toad Farms in Vermont.  And if you’re curious about the name, it’s names for one of my best friends and the grand dame of Mexican pastry- Fany Gerson.  And if someone I admire as much as Fany loves them, I know they’re good!

We’re going to start pounding the pavement and trying to bring these brownies to more shops around NYC soon- if there’s a place near you that you’d like us to hit, let us know!  And I am swearing in front of you all at this very moment- these brownies WILL SHIP IN 2012.  Super-duper-ultra-infinity promise.  

Even though we’re letting brownies finally have their moment in the sun after playing third fiddle to our other products, there are still cupcakes that are going to stores and need to be eaten to fulfill their cupcakey destiny.  Back from the vault today- The McFadden! Lemony delicious with just a splash of Pimm’s- this one’s a huge cult classic, and worth searching out.

Clockwise from front: S’Mores, McFadden, Hazelnut Kiss, Pecan French Toast

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

McFadden: Victorian lemonade cake and buttercream with lemon, ginger and a splash of Pimm’s, candied lemon peel

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

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

______________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

Aloha Grinds: 77th and 3rd, Bay Ridge

Bagel Schmagel: 76th and 3rd, Bay Ridge

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

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

Cake Shop: Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

Whoopie Pies Available At:

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

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

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

Brownies Available At:

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

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

Flavors: Friday, November 4th

Today I’m not going to hound you to preorder Thanksgiving cupcakes.  No, today I’m going to hound you about why you should sign up for Samplrs!

What is this “Samplrs”, you ask?  It’s actually an idea so smart, I’m really shocked that no one has thought of it before.  Like how when I saw the Snuggie I was all like “I have been complaining about the lack of armholes on my blanket for YEARS!”, or when I saw the Big Top Cupcake and I was like “DAMNIT! I just thought that big cupcakes were called ‘Cakes’, and I was apparently so wrong! We could be making a freaking FORTUNE! I AM SO STUPID!”.  It’s exactly like that.

You know all these great little food companies that keep popping up on the blogs or in the papers? All the small businesses starting out that don’t have the money or capital for mass distribution? It would be great if you could try them all, but with them all being in select stores, it’s nearly impossible to track them all down.

This is where Samplrs comes in.  Once a month for $30, they’ll bring a beautiful reusable tote bag full of assorted goodies TO YOUR HOUSE. Meaning not only do you not have to drag your ass all over town to try this stuff- now you don’t even have to wear pants!

You know those brownies we make that keep selling out faster than we can make them? Well those are going into this months tote bags. And because I asked nicely, they are extending this month’s sign-up deadline through the weekend just for you guys.  How sweet is that?

I don’t know what other surprises you’ll be finding in this month’s bag, but based on some of the people their owner told me he was speaking to, I’m almost positive it’ll be insanely delicious.  And let’s not forget the whole “not having to wear pants” thing. That really sort of sells me on just about anything.

Today, however, I think you should put on pants, and go out to try these yummy cupcakes, especially this insanely delicious new flavor that won’t make it back until January.  It’s also the last appearance of the Brown Sugar Pumpkin this year, so go git!

Clockwise from front: Brown Sugar Pumpkin, Chocolate Graham, Pecan French Toast, Abuelita

NEW! Chocolate Graham: Chocolate cake, graham cracker buttercream, chocolate fudge, graham cracker crumbs

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

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

Abuelita: Chocolate cinnamon cake, cajeta buttercream, ground Abuelita chocolate

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

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

NEW LOCATION! The West: 379 Union Avenue, Williamsburg

Eastern District: Manhattan Ave off Eagle Street, Greenpoint

Brooklyn Standard: Nassau & Jewel, Greenpoint

Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Standon & Rivington, LES

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

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

Brooklyneer: 220 West Houston, West Village

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)

Flavors: Wednesday, November 2nd

Well, Halloween has come and gone.  But before I start bugging you all incessantly about placing your Thanksgiving orders as soon as possible, I need to be that parent who tells you about what happened to their kids on Halloween, because I’m still shaking my head over this one.  

After school let out, we went to the Halloween party at the Museum of Natural History- totally awesome, probably the best thing ever.  But this isn’t about that.  Nor is it about the part where Atticus decided to do some “fancy walking” on Central Park West and charged smack into Lewis Black, who was actually so cheerful I didn’t even recognize him til Matt pointed out that our son had come within 3” of headbutting him square in the crotch.

This is about how after the party was over and we had taken the long subway ride home, we went to the Starbucks around the corner from our place, aka my office/second home.  As I order my drink, our little boys give the baristas their best “Trick or Treat” and hold out their bags, and both receive THIS:

An unsharpened number two pencil!  Not a special Starbucks branded one, not a green one- AN UNSHARPENED STAPLES BRAND PENCIL FROM A SACK OF PENCILS. And because we’re regulars, MY kids get hooked up with TWO pencils a piece. That Starbucks Rewards Gold Card Status paid off yet again!

I made a crack about how we should have gotten there earlier before they had to resort to giving out office supplies, and that’s when the baristas told me that the decision to give out pencils was from corporate.

Listen, I can understand not wanting to give out candy. But pencils? I thought for a minute maybe it’s just a way to dissuade kids from ever trying to trick-or-treat at a Starbucks again, but everyone knows that if you want to do that, you hand out raisins.  As bizarre as it was, I was highly amused, and happy that it made the toothbrushes and pretzels they got look AMAZING in comparison.

Now here’s where it gets hilarious.

We go home, take off our costumes, and the kids go straight for their trick or treat bags.  Is the first thing they take out the Oreos, or the chocolate? No- it’s the freaking pencils.  Toby starts trying to draw a picture with his, but nothing- it’s unsharpened.  He turns to me and asks for help, but there’s nothing I can do as we don’t own a pencil sharpener. I mean really, it’s 2011- who has a pencil sharpener lying around besides my parents? 

So despite the fact that they went to a Halloween party, got to trick-or-treat in the dinosaur museum, got to see a show from the Big Apple Circus, got to ride the subway, got to almost hit Lewis Black in the nuts, got to share custard from Shake Shack, got a giant sack of candy AND had pretty much the best Halloween two kids could possibly have, my kids ended the night hysterically crying in disappointment because of those damn unsharpened pencils. 

Fortunately the next morning, they brought back the Gingerbread Latte so all is temporarily forgiven.  Besides, it was better than getting a rock.

Clockwise from front: Brown Sugar Pumpkin, Liddabit, Twicks, Pecan French Toast

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

Liddabit: Chocolate cake, salted caramel nougat buttercream, roasted peanuts, ganache and caramel

Twicks: Vanilla cookie cake, salted caramel buttercream, chocolate fudge, cookie crumbs

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

Available at:

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

Hom: 88th Street and Third Avenue, Bay Ridge

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

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

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

Radish: Bedford Avenue off North 8th, Williamsburg

Jem: Broadway off Franklin Street, TriBeCa

Battery Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

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

Flavors: Monday, October 3rd

Thursday night, I wrote the Tumblr in bed wearing my Pajama Jeans. Then Matt came home and saw them, and promptly started ripping into me.  Let’s take a look at his tweets in succession, shall we?

@MattRobicelli   Well the honey moon is over, I thought I married a rough and tough city girl but she proves me wrong with the pajama jeans@robicellis

@MattRobicelli All she need now is some blacked out teeth, some chaw and the theme to green acres playing the back. Well goodnight Ma@robicellis

@MattRobicelli     Hey @robicellis just bought pajama jeans, I’m ok with that cause I just invented pajama thongs. They look like real thongs but their pajamas

So now these are no longer just “Pajama Jeans”. Oh no no no…..these are spite pants.  I promised him the next day that I was wearing them to Madison Square Eats, and he just rolled over and went to sleep.  The next morning I was pulling them on, and this is how that went:

Matt: You’re not actually wearing those outside, are you?

Allison: Oh hell yeah I am.

Matt: I thought that you were just going to wear them when you go to Starbucks to work on the book?

Allison: What about your basketball shorts?

Matt: What about them?

Allison: I have never once, in over six years together, ever seen you play basketball.  NOT ONCE.

Matt: But they’re comfortable!

Allison: GO PLAY SOME BASKETBALL!!!!

Matt: TAKE OFF THOSE PANTS!

Allison: NO!

Matt: FINE! GO OUT AND MAKE AN ASS OF YOURSELF!

I wore them to Madison Square Eats, and aside from the people who actually read the blog who knew to look for them, no one noticed they weren’t real jeans.  Yes, the infernal pink drawstring kept popping out (you know how I llooovvveee pink), and yes the dye bleeds like hell, so every time I touched my pants I blue myself, but the point is I took a stand for something, and it feels pretty good. I may not ever relegate them to Starbucks only duty- I may go on embarrassing my husband and children with them full time, or at least til the basketball shorts disappear.

Then today, while I was suffering the indignity of wearing real pants, I saw this tweet:

@feistyfoodieYvo     OMG my day is made:youtube.com/watch?v=5S2p7A…cc: @robicellis (take that, pajama jeans!)

And here’s what she was talking about.

See, now this……this is too far, America.  Too, too, too damn far.  

However, now you people are under the impression that I’m a lazy sack of crap, rather than someone who draws the line at wearing boxed pants from Walgreen’s out of spite.  Even though I didn’t think that my life had spiraled down so low to the point where people would expect to see me in a hot pink fleece jumpsuit, or to ever have the urge to go tailgating in such a jumpsuit, or really just to have the urge to tailgate at all……..well the point is, I’m a woman of the people, and I have to give the people what they want.

This is why I made the following declaration:

Currently we have 1,740 followers on Twitter, and 749 on Facebook.

IF, by Wednesday, October 19th, we have 2,000 followers on Twitter (260 to go) and 1,000 “Likes” on Facebook (251 to go), I WILL PURCHASE A FOREVER LAZY AND WEAR IT FOR THE FINAL DAYS OF MADISON SQUARE EATS.

I am more than willing to make an ass of myself for you guys, but you need to pitch in a bit, too.  You want to experience THIS kind of extreme sexiness? You need to help us spread the word and let people know they need to be following us.

PS- see that black line on the side of the girls leg, by her tushie?  That’s a zipper, so one can do, erm, their “business”.  These people thought of everything.

Today I shall spend the morning at Madison in real clothes and proper pants, so you should come and visit me while I still have a shred of dignity in tact.  I will also have these cupcakes with me, in case you need more motivation:

Clockwise from front: Apple Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Caramel, The CPB, Pecan French Toast

Apple Peanut Butter: Apple cake, peanut butter buttercream, homemade peanut brittle

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

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

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

Available at:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market:  Flatbush Avenue Extension & Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn

Robicelli’s at Madison Square Eats: Corner of 25th Street & 5th Avenue

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

Aloha Grinds: 76th Street and 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge

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

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

Cake Shop: Ludlow Street btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

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

Queen City Cupcakes (Closed Monday- Flavors for Tuesday):  62 West Main Street, Patchouge, Long Island 

Red Hook Lobster Pound: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook (Whoopie Pies Only)

Flavors: Wednesday, May 18th

We changed the schedule up a bit today; “The Ebinger” was supposed to be released next week, but as we were sketching it out we didn’t want to wait any longer than we had to in order to eat one. 

Since we first put it on the schedule, we got lots of messages asking “What’s an Ebinger?”. Ebinger’s was one of the great Brooklyn bakeries- some say the greatest- which gave the world what’s known as “Blackout Cake”.  Right now I’d love to hit you all with a sentimental story of going down to Ebinger’s with my mom and begging her for cake, but alas, the company folded long before I was born. 

It was only recently that I learned that Blackout cake was an iconic Brooklyn food.  I’ve had plenty of them, but to be honest, they were never any good.  It was always that weird cake in the diner display case spinning around and around, tempting me with it’s chocolatey promise, only to break my heart once I actually tasted it.  No one knows the original recipe for the cake, even though everyone can agree on it’s essential components: cake, cake crumbs, pudding, and fudge frosting.  I asked my mother if she had ever had one, and immediately her eyes looked like she was lost in a far away land, and a huge grin spread across her face.  “Oh, Ebingers!” she said.  “That cake wasn’t just cake.  That cake was magic”.

So even though we’ll never know first hand what it tasted like, we knew our job was to make a chocolate cupcake that tasted like pure magic.  And since the name “Blackout” has been trampled on so much by mass-production bakeries and a certain diner (you know who you are), we’d call it “The Ebinger” to honor our Brooklyn heritage, and to remind everyone of the rich baking heritage the Brooklyn has always had, LONG before any sort of trendy food scene happened.  

While we’re on the topic of great Brooklyn baking, we’ve brought back the “Dom DeLuise” this week for the first time in two years.  Why has it been so long?  I have absolutely no idea- this is by far one of our best cupcakes.  While the rest of America grew up eating cupcakes, I grew up eating cannolis, particularly the ones from Alba’s up on 18th Avenue.  If you ask me to name one culinary hero, one chef that I’ve admired more than any other, it was whoever was making those damn cannolis at Alba’s.  We first made this one when Dom DeLuise died in his, as we grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same public schools and our families were friendly.  Plus, I must have read his cookbook about a thousand times when I was a kid.  The recipes aren’t the best, but his love of food, being Italian and our community was infectious, and it remains one of my favorites to this day.

 If neither of these are coming to a store near you today, fear not: they’re both on the rotation for Friday. 

NEW!!! The Ebinger:  Chocolate cake, chocolate custard buttercream dipped in chocolate fudge, chocolate cake crumbs

Dom DeLuise:  Pistachio cake, cannoli buttercream, roasted pistachios, candied citron, miniature chocolate chips

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

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

Available at:

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

HOM:  88th and 3rd Ave, Bay Ridge

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

CRESPELLA: Seventh Avenue off 9th Street, Park Slope

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

COURT STREET GROCERS: 485 Court Street, Carroll Gardens

JOE- Columbia: Broadway & 120th Street, Morningside Heights

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

Flavors: Monday, May 16th

We didn’t make our goal.  We were $220 short. (You get to keep the money you raised on IndieGoGo- it’s not like that Kickstarter “All or Nothing” stuff. We are ecstatic right about now)

I am so overcome with emotion and full of words, and when I try to write them down for you all they get all crazy and jumbled and hysterical.  Sure, I get away with that with just about all my posts, but what I need to say to you guys now is just too important for half asleep rambling after a long hard day of work. 

I need a bit for my head to catch up to my heart- it’s having trouble processing it all.  Right now, I’m going to go give my kids one last kiss goodnight, crawl into the arms of the man I love, and fall asleep knowing I have thousands of angels watching over my family.  And tomorrow morning, once Matt goes out on deliveries, the kids are playing with their toys, the coffee has been made and I have taken all of this in to the point where I can articulate it better, then I’m going to write about this weekend. I’ll announce on Twitter and Facebook when it’s up.

In the meantime- it’s Monday morning, so get your asses to work! And maybe pick up one of these flavors if you need a pick me up.

Love you guys. :)

Clockwise from front: Rue McClanahan, Hazelnut Kiss, Pecan French Toast, S’Mores

RUE MCCLANAHAN:  Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, spiced peach compote

HAZELNUT KISS:  Chocolate hazelnut cake, Nutella buttercream, roasted hazelnuts

PECAN FRENCH TOAST:  Maple custard soaked cinnamon cake, maple-cinnamon buttercream, candied pecans

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

SIDE NOTE: Good news! The refrigeration at Qathra has been repaired, meaning we’re back, Ditmas Park!!!!

AVAILABLE AT

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

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

Crespella: Seventh Avenue off 9th Street, Park Slope

The Cupcake Stand: Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st, Sunset Park

Qathra:  1112 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park

Radish: Bedford Avenue off N. 8th, Williamsburg

Cake Shop: Ludlow Street between Stanton and Rivington, Lower East Side

Schnitzel and Things: Third Avenue between 44th and 45th, Midtown

Joe- Columbia: Broadway & 120th Street, Morningside Heights

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

Flavors: Monday, March 7th

Today, thanks to our intern Glori, our cupcakes have gotten INSTAGRAMED!!!  I’m not part of the Apple cult (yet), so I have to admit that I’ve been constantly perplexed by all the ones shared on Facebook & Twitter: people have been working since the 70’s to bring us such incredibly sophisticated technology that’s beyond our wildest dreams, only so we can use it to take pictures that look like they’re from the 70’s. 

Clockwise from bottom right: Pecan French Toast, Toasted Almond, Bananas Foster, Bea Arthur

Look at them!  Can’t you just see them sitting in a wood-paneled basement getting totally hammered on Schlitz?  It’s uncanny!

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FLAVORS:

TOASTED ALMOND:  Almond cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted almonds

PECAN FRENCH TOAST:  Maple custard soaked cinnamon cake, maple-cinnamon buttercream, maple sugared pecans

BEA ARTHUR:  Black coffee infused chocolate cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

BANANAS FOSTER:  Rum-banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

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Available at:

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

Market:  Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Arglye, Ditmas Park

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

Radish:  N8th & Bedford Ave, Williamsburg

Cake Shop:  152 Ludlow St, Lower East Side

Lily O’Brien’s at Bryant Park:  E. 40th St btwn 5th & 6th Ave, Midtown Manhattan

Joe: Union Square-  E. 13th Street btwn 5th Avenue & University Place

Joe: Chelsea-  W. 23rd Street btwn 9th & 10th Avenues

Flavors- Thursday & Friday, 2/10-11

It is mere DAYS until Valentine’s Day!  If you haven’t placed your order with us yet for one dozen sweet-as-all-hell cupcakes to be delivered to your beloved, do so quick before we’re 100% booked.  One dozen cupcakes are tasty, beautiful, can be stored in the freezer for weeks so there’s no pressure to gorge on them all at once, and best of all they can be shared by the fine piece of tail who bought them for you.  On the other hand, one dozen roses will eventually die, but more than likely your girlfriend’s cat will eat them and then throw up all over her bed.  Do you really want your love to be associated with cat vomit?

Clockwise from front: Creamsicle, Pecan French Toast, Car Bomb, Southern Belle

The cupcakes that are going to stores for this weekend might not be the most overtly Valentine’s-themed flavors, but they have proven themselves to be our most romantic.  In 2009 one of our customers proposed to his wife by putting the engagement ring on top of one of our Creamsicle cupcakes.  The first cupcake our biggest fan ever tasted was the Southern Belle, and her fandom has led to a wonderful loving friendship that Matt and I have with her and her partner.  And we know an engaged couple who’s first date was to our old store, where they both had Pecan French Toast cupcakes. 

The final cupcake of this weeks foursome, the dearest to my heart, is “The Car Bomb”.  Matt and I met in the spring of 2005, and after only a few weeks of quasi-platonic friendship (meaning that sometimes we’d get drunk and do stuff that is TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE for me to be taking about on this blog, you nosy freaks), we both admitted we were crazy about each other and became a couple.  And by becoming a couple, I mean we were completely inseparable, to the point where it was actually a little weird how happy and compatible we were (my mother would joke that if you transcribed the things we said onto paper, you wouldn’t be able to tell who said what because it seemed we shared a brain).  In fact, there was only one thing that could tear the two of us away from each other- NYC Restaurant Week.  Matt and I spent an entire seven days apart in our respective kitchens, doing hundreds of covers every night only to sleep a few hours and go right back for more.  You people just loooooove restaurant week, but to all of us working station day in and day out, it was obviously created by the devil (side note: Winter restaurant week has been extended through February, and you should immediately make reservations at The Red Cat or The Harrison, which are run my our friend and Top Chef Master Jimmy Bradley- who is NOT the devil).

Back to the story- since we both scored Sunday off, we decided to meet up post-shift at the bar we met at in Bay Ridge.  And, as we both survived the week from hell, we immediately started getting as drunk as possible to kill any lingering memories we had of work.  Now, in my head, I’m thinking about talking to him about maybe moving in together, because at this point I have completely resigned myself to the fact that I am completely, utterly, madly in love with him.  But this is a BIG talk, so I decide more liquid courage is needed and order shots.  Car bombs, to be precise- a pint of Guinness with a shot glass full of Jameson & Bailey’s dropped in, then chugged as quickly as possible.  A highly sophisticated beverage, it was created by the Queen Elizabeth the Second to commemorate the theatrical release of “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”.  Since I had about 3 or 4 of them, the rest of the story gets a tad shaky.

So I look at Matt and say “I think we need to talk”.  He says “Yes we do, and I’m going first.  This week has been hell.  Absolute hell.  But the worst part about all of it was the fact that I was apart from you.  I’ve been thinking a lot……I think I want to spend the rest of my life with you”.  I said “I’m cool with that”.  Then we did the only logical thing………

MORE CAR BOMBS!!!!

The next morning I woke up snuggled in bed with the man of my dreams with a throbbing headache, saying to myself “Did I get engaged last night?”.  And you don’t want to ask a guy if you got drunkenly engaged, because that sounds REALLY clingy.  So I just played it cool until he asked me again that night.  And again the next day.  He still to this day asks me at least once a week.  I asked him when he actually decided to propose, and he says “About 10 seconds after I blurted it out that first time”.  So ladies, if anyone is telling you that you can’t get a man drunk and trap him into marriage, they are TOTALLY WRONG!!! 

Our wedding day: October 7, 2006

Everyone thought we were nuts…..the timeline of the story I just told you is a whopping six whole weeks.  And here we are, six years, two children and a business later, and I can say without a question that I am more in love with Matt now than I have ever been in my entire life.  

And THAT, ladies and gentleman, is the much alluded-to story about how Car Bombs are responsible for our marriage, and how they are without question the world’s stupidest, stupidest drink, but its most romantic cupcakes.

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FLAVORS (yeah, we got there eventually):

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

Pecan French Toast:  Maple custard soaked cinnamon cake, maple-cinnamon buttercream, maple candied pecans, cinnamon sugar

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

Southern Belle:  Banana-bourbon cake, vanilla buttercream, brown butter & bourbon glazed pecans

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Available Thursday at:

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

HOM- Third Avenue & 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

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

MARKET- Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, Ditmas Park

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

BEDFORD HILL:  Corner of Franklin & Greene, Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill

Available Friday at:

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

EASTERN DISTRICT- Manhattan Ave off N8th Eagle St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN STANDARD:  Nassau Ave & Jewel St, Greenpoint

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

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

THE BROOKLYNEER-  220 West Houston btwn 6th & 7th Avenues, West Village

Also: Wild Maine Blueberry Cupcakes available at

Red Hook Lobster Pound

284 Van Brunt Street -AND- The Brooklyn Flea @ One Hanson Place

Flavors- Thursday & Friday 1/13-14

Even though I was dreading January, this whole “no seasonal produce” thing is actually pretty nice.  I went over our entire back catalog in planning this months schedule and found so many great cupcakes that honestly, I had completely forgotten about. As we have tons of flavors and are constantly introducing new ones, some flavors inevitably get lost, or they debut quickly and go back into the vault before we have enough time to make an adequate fuss about them.  So it goes with two of this weeks cupcakes: The Abuelita & Maine Blueberry Cobbler, which I feel we didn’t really give the attention or respect they should have gotten their first times around.  They are both absolutely delicious, and we totally Jan Brady-ed them.  I just hope they can find a way to forgive all of us.

Abuelita:  Mexican chocolate cake, cajeta buttercream, ground Abuelita Mexican chocolate

Maine Blueberry Cobbler:  Vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream, wild Maine blueberry compote, crumbled cobbler topping

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

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

Available Thursday at:

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

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

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

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

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

MARKET- Cortelyou Road btwn Westminster & Argyle, Ditmas Park

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

BEDFORD HILL:  Corner of Franklin & Greene Avenues, Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill

Available Friday at:

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

EASTERN DISTRICT- Manhattan Ave off N8th Eagle St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN STANDARD:  Nassau Ave & Jewel St, Greenpoint

BROOKLYN LABEL:  Corner of Franklin & Java Streets, Greenpoint

CAKESHOP- Ludlow btwn Stanton & Rivington, Lower East Side

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