Robicelli's

I already posted this on our Facebook page, but I wanted to make sure EVERYONE saw it, because it’s just so goshdarn charming.

I (Allison) have been the defacto voice of this company for ages, since I’m the one who writes the Tumblr and the Twitter and answers all the emails. And yes, people think I’m just hilariously brilliant (Oh, STOP it! No, really, STOOOOP it….you’re too much!), but oftentimes they don’t realize that Matt is just as hilarious. In fact, that’s what made me fall in love with him in the first place- and makes me fall in love with him even more every day we’re together, almost 8 years later.

After our film was shown at the Food Film Festival Matt got up and talked for a minute, and charmed the pants out of everyone in the room. And no, this isn’t a routine- this is just my husband. My funny, brilliant, handsome husband.

I don’t blame you if you’re jealous.

And he bakes, too! Tonight he made brownies, whoopie pies, loaf cakes and these cupcakes you see here!

Clockwise from front: Car Bomb, Pecan Pie, Pecan Potato Chip, Tarte Bourdaloue

Tarte Bourdeloue: Pear cake, almond buttercream, white wine poached pear, roasted almonds

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

Pecan Potato Chip: Potato chip cake, vanilla buttercream, roasted pecans, potato chips, salted butterscotch

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

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”.

***********************************************************

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.

************************************************************

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

I totally spazzed on writing the Tumblr Wednesday, and even though my last post was about us crossing the 30k mark I figured nobody would notice. Then I called my mom today and the first thing she says is “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TUMBLR?!?!!”. So, I’m sorry. And all of you can sleep easy now that you know that my mom is totally on top of this.

Why did I skip writing the Tumblr? Because I was working on getting our Thanksgiving ordering together. Yes, THANKSGIVING. I know we’re barely out of September, but over here at the Robicelli’s camp we need to plan ahead. Right now, we’re putting the finishing touches on our hot cocoa packaging so it’ll be ready for store shelves when the temperature drops, designing new loaf cake flavors for the holidays (and debating the legality of our fruitcake since it’s 5% fruit and 95% bourbon), and getting our baked goods packaged for the holiday markets (yup! Just because we’re not personally going to be there doesn’t mean our stuff won’t be- stay tuned for news on that!).

I’ve already started listening to Christmas music on Pandora to sort of get me amped up for all of this, which I could potentially be a very dumb move as I’ll be sick of it before Columbus Day. I find it hard to believe that with over 100 years of popular music, and far longer with traditional music, there are exactly 10 Christmas songs that are played over and over and over again. Luckily for me, through the power of Facebook, this past year I got to reconnect with an old friend from Stuyvesant High School- Liz Chan.

Back in high school Liz was the only 15 year old I knew with a major label record deal. She grew up not to be a musician, but a media executive. And while most people would envy a girl who ended up being an exec at places like MTV and Conde Nast, she always regretted not following her dream- writing a world famous Christmas song.  

Isn’t that the best dream ever? Creating something that will make people smile year after year? I mean, Matt’s #1 lifelong dream was to eat at a real Pizza Hut with a full salad bar. I really wish I was joking about that.

Aaaaannnnd this is a pretty spot-on representation of how I felt through the fulfilling of said lifelong dream.

Last September, Liz managed to snag a spot on Failure Club, the web documentary from genre-master Morgan Spurlock. In the past year, she committed to writing a Christmas song every single day, quit her job at Conde to follow her dream (seriously), and this week, released her first five songs on iTunes.

Am I plugging this project just because she’s an old friend? No. I’m plugging it because I listened to track one, “A Christmas Song”, and I CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD. And it would be nice if you all knew the song, because then I won’t look so crazy for singing it incessantly.

Also, if it becomes a hit, then maybe we’ll convince the radio to start playing it instead of that infernal “Christmas Shoes”. Oh man, I hate that song so freaking much. Christmas should be a time of love, compassion and good feelings- not a time where I think of tracking down whatever suck-ass band wrote that song and breaking their kneecaps. 

Go check out Liz’s vastly superior Christmas carol, then check out these cupcakes. They’re perfect for when you want to eat your feelings because you thought about a song where they kill a little boys mom just so some self centered jerk can learn the true meaning of Christmas.

*sniff*

Clockwise from front: S’Mores, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pecan Pie, Car Bomb

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

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

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

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

So I fell asleep while doing the Tumblr last night and once again I have to write something in two seconds.  Then while I was asleep, for the second night in a row my kids climbed into our bed and forced me out, so I ended up curled up at the foot of the bed like a dog.  

Can any parents out there tell me if I’m ever going to have a decent night of sleep again? Please?

*sigh* 

Tonight I’ll be speaking on a panel for Work It Brooklyn about using social media to grow your small business.  Obviously, I’ll be pointing out stellar examples such as this one.  Regardless, I’m incredibly honored to be asked, and very very stoked to meet lots of you there, so grab your tickets while you still can.  I’ve been told I’m very entertaining in person, regardless of my children’s best efforts to derail it.  Plus, there’s wine!

Time for cupcakes! Today’s the last time the Pecan Pie will be released into the rotation (though we’ll have it at DeKalb for a bit), and I heavily suggest you grab one, as Matt swears up and down it’s his favorite cupcake of all time.  I don’t blame him.

Clockwise from front: The Breucklen, Pecan Pie, Car Bomb, Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

The Breucklen: Apple cake, cinnamon caramel buttertcream, Good Batch stroopwaffel, cinnamon caramel drizzle

Pecan Pie: Pecan molasses cake, vanilla buttercream, butter molasses glazed pecan

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

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake: Pumpkin cake, cheesecake buttercream, chocolate fudge glaze

Available at:

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

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

Radish: Bedford Avenue off North 8th, Williamsburg

Jem: Broadway off Franklin Street, Tribeca

Red Hook Lobster Pound *Whoopie pies only*

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

Yes, Daylight Savings Time is over. And yes, now the suns setting at like five o’clock.  And yes, for the next few days, every at least five percent of your friends on Facebook will post a status update along the lines of “UGH! Why doez it have to get dark so EARRRRLLLLYYY!!!  OMGZ, I miss summer so baaaddd!”.  

Facebook was really made for thoughts like that.

But while you’re sitting at your desk today, silently bemoaning that it will already be dark by the time you get out of work, remember this:

You just happen to be in the one place that’s more beautiful at night than any other place on earth.  And you get an extra hour or two of that for the next couple of months.

So let’s celebrate! Grab a cupcake!  

Clockwise from front: Pecan Pie, Car Bomb, Pumpkin Caramel, Bourbon Caramel Apple

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

Car Bomb: Chocolate Guinness stout cake, dulce de leche buttercream, caramel shards

Bourbon Caramel Apple: Apple cake, bourbon salted caramel buttercream, roasted apples

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

Available at:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: Corner of Flatbush Ave Ext & Willoughby, Downtown Bklyn

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

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

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

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

Cake Shop: Ludlow St btwn Stanton & Rivington, LES

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

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

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)

It’s that time of year again, folks!

THANKSGIVING IS ONLY A FEW WEEKS AWAY!!!!

And while so many of you are going “NOOOOOOO!!!!!  NOT READY YET!!!!”, we here at Robicelli’s ARE getting ready, and have officially opened up Thanksgiving Pre-Ordering.  See that bit at the top of the page that says “Thanksgiving Ordering 2011”? Whenever you’re done emotionally preparing yourself for the imminence of the holiday season, click over there for details on how to order.  Here’s the Cliff Notes version for you all:

-We’ll have five flavors available: Pumpkin Spice Latter, Pumpkin Pie, The Ebinger, Bourbon Caramel Apple, and a NEW one we’re introducing that week- SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE.  That’s sweet potato cake with toasted marshmallow buttercream and a bit of sugar on top. Let’s not kid ourselves with the whole “sweet potatoes covered in butter, syrup and marshmallows is totally a side dish and therefore healthy” lie any longer.  It’s dessert- it’s rich, it’s decadent, and now in cupcake form, it’s portion controlled.  And delicious- did we mention delicious?

-We will have brownies and whoopie pies available for the first Thanksgiving ever! We debuted the Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pie this past Sunday at the Grub Street Food Festival, and it sold out by 2pm.  Not only that, half the people who bought one came back to buy a second. So if you were one of the people who waited on line only to learn they were sold out, you can blame those people for ruining your life.

-We’ll be doing a very limited number of deliveries in Brooklyn, so early bird gets the worm if you want a spot on the list (FYI- two dozen minimum on delivery).  Otherwise, orders will be available for pick-up at either our shop at DeKalb Market, or at our booth at the Union Square Holiday Market.  There are NO DELIVERIES IN MANHATTAN the day before Thanksgiving, because with traffic the way it’s been, you’re likely to receive your stuff at 4am.  Aside from Union Square and our usual places, we will have a brand spanking new location in Manhattan where you can pick up your stuff. You’ll have to tune in tomorrow for details on that though, because I like suspense and excitement. Can you feel the suspense? IT’S PALPABLE! 

-You can preorder 4 dozen cupcakes, you can preorder 4 cupcakes- it doesn’t matter.  What’s important is that we HIGHLY RECOMMEND PREORDERING, whether it’s though us via email, in person at DeKalb, or with one of the shops we wholesale to.  We recommended this last year, no one preordered, and thus many of our locations didn’t order any cupcakes at all.  And then I got dozens of angry emails and tweets from people who went to their local Robicelli’s outlets only to find no cupcakes, and having to go dinner empty handed.  Thanksgiving should not be about disappointment! It should be about getting so bloated you have to secretly unbutton your pants under the table, or passing out on the couch while watching football and covered in Ritz cracker crumbs!

IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MUCH YOU ARE PREORDERING- IT CAN BE ANY AMOUNT. EVEN TWO.  We will be baking as many cupcakes, brownies and whoopie pies as we can so that there will be some available for the last minute types- but if you don’t preorder, there are no guarantees that you’ll get your dessert.  Safety first, people.

-It is cold enough at this point of the year where you don’t have to worry about transporting the cupcakes.  We should be good from now til May at least.  Another reason I love this weather.

-Thanksgiving flavors will be available from Monday through Wednesday at all our locations, so if you’re leaving a day or two before Thanksgiving, you’ll be able to pick them up.  They freeze wonderfully in their boxes, which I would recommend if you’re picking them up on Monday or Tuesday.  If you’re grabbing them Wednesday, you can just keep them in the fridge overnight. 

That’s about all I can think of right now.  Any questions? Want more info? Hit us up on Facebook.

But enough about the future- let’s live in the now, particularly regarding these awesome cupcakes that are being delivered to stores as we speak!  Today we introduce the Pecan Pie cupcake, which Matt is now proclaiming to be his new favorite cupcake! And did he bring one home for me to try? Of course he didn’t!  Let me know how it is!

Clockwise from front: Pumpkin Caramel, Caramel Apple, Brandy Alexander, Pecan Pie

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

Caramel Apple: Apple cake, salted caramel buttercream, cinnamon sugar roasted apple, caramel drizzle

Brandy Alexander: Chocolate brandy cake, brandy mascarpone buttercream, chocolate dipped brandy snap cookie

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

Available at:

Robicelli’s at DeKalb Market: 138 Willoughby Street, Unit #18, Downtown Brooklyn

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, 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: Henry Street off Atlantic AND Clark off Henry, Brooklyn Heights

Radish: Bedford Avenue off North 8th, Williamsburg

The Brooklyneer: 220 West Houston Street, West Village

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

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

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

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