Robicelli's

It’s time for MARDI GRAS! And this year, it’s going to be EXTRA absorbant!

After our limited-edition Lunar New Year cupcakes from last Friday, we have ANOTHER limited edition cupcake today- King Cake. Our version is a miniature version of the original French version, also known as a pithivier. If you’ve never made a pithivier, I implore you to attempt one- it was one of the first recipes I made when teaching myself how to bake as a teenager, and is still one of my favorites to this day.  It’s as simple as a two discs of buttery puff pastry encasing a filling of warm frangipane (almond cream).

Alternately, if you have absolutely no baking skills whatsoever, or don’t actually need a giant pastry that serves 12 in your house that you’ll of course eat all of yourself, you should just buy a cupcake. Totally easier. 

And now…..I’ve got one more chance to nag remind you about Valentine’s Day!

1. You can order Valentine’s Day cupcakes/brownies for hand delivery in Manhattan and Brooklyn until 2pm Tuesday! Fifty bucks buys you one dozen limited-edition cupcakes (including the 4x a year and much loved Strawberry Champagne, the only appearance of “The Eve” and the last appearance of Creme Brulee til Christmas), PLUS a ribbon, a handwritten note card, and hand delivery to your valentine. Best part of all of this- your loved one will more than likely not be able to eat all 12 cupcakes at work, and will bring the remainder home to store in the freezer, AND share with you! This is win-win!

2. We are four days away from giving you the most romantic Valentine’s Day of your life, OR the most delicious “Screw Love” ladies night out ever (I had more than enough of those pre-Matt. And they were not as tasty as this one is going to be).

We’re doing a one night only event at The Owl’s Head Wine Bar in Bay Ridge, where we’re taking the cupcakes that we’ve made that were inspired by our ideas for plated restaurant desserts and actually making them into plated desserts. Is that meta? Ah who cares- HERE’S THE MENU!

First Course: Pear Mascarpone
Mascarpone panna cotta, roasted pear compote, spiced pear chip
Served with: German Gilabert Zero Dosage Cava Brut Nature 2011

Second Course: The Noah
Apple galette, goat cheese mousse, roasted candied bacon, bourbon brown sugar sauce
Served with: Niepoort 2001 Colheita Port

Third Course: Car Bomb
Jameson whiskey, Bailey’s Irish Cream & Guinness stout opera cake, Guinness beer nut praline
Served with:Sixpoint 3beans über-porter

Know when the next time we’re doing this is? NEVER. So you will call the Owl’s Head at (718) 680-2436 and make your reservation now before they’re all gone, and you’re left with nothing but a puddle of regret, and maybe some Cheetos as that’s what I use to kill the pain of regret. You personally might use Doritos- there’s no wrong answer here.

Now- MARDI GRAS CUPAKES!!! Go git em!

King Cake: Almond cake, almond pastry cream, almond custard buttercream, feuillitine

Pecan Praline: Pecan cake, vanilla buttercream, N’Awlins style pralines

Bananas Foster: Banana cake, rum salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

Thanks to Emily Hannahan, aka Nomnivorous, for this LOLCat.

Yep, Matt and I are on vacation with our two boys in beautiful sunny Sesame Place/Philadelphia. And I am OFF THE G-DAMN GRID. Though I do need recommendations on where to eat down here because our hotel is sandwiched between an Arby’s and a Taco Bell, and I have to share a bed with Matt.

If you’ve visited Philly, lived there, loved there etc, hit me up on Facebook and tell me where to go.  As for today, I’ll be relaxing next to Count Von Count’s Splash Castle with Big Bird and Elmo, sipping on cherry slushies and eating dried out cheeseburgers. This is adulthood at it’s finest.

Hugs and kisses to our amazing staff who are taking the reins for us this week so we could spend a week being a family outside of the business. You guys are the best ever. Now go buy these cupcakes they made and tell them how much you love them, too!

Clockwise from front: Chocolate Caramel Pretzel, Rue McClanahan, Tiramisu, Bananas Foster

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, espresso ganache

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

Bananas Foster: Banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

Lent is finally here! YES, I’m excited about it! 

You heard me, shocked kitten!!! I said I’m excited about Lent. In fact, it’s actually one of my most favorite times of the year. I did a big blog post about it last year, but I’ll try summing it up real quick for those of you who don’t want to do the whole click-through sha-bang:

- When I can’t have meat on Fridays, I remember that a few years back, I was lucky enough to be eating any food at all. And that there are millions of people all over the world who don’t have so many choices of things to eat, if they’re lucky enough to have the choice to eat in the first place.  I have food to eat and healthy children. Life is good.

- I also stopped giving up tangible things, because God doesn’t really care if I don’t eat tacos for 40 days. I mean, I’m just going to go right back to eating excessive amounts of tacos after Easter. Not like this is a marathon or other feat of endurance where God’s handing out medals and free Subway sandwiches at the end.

- Instead of giving up a “thing”, I give up one of my bad qualities. You know how we all made New Years resolutions, and then halfway through January they all went to crap? Well, they say it takes about 30 days of doing something every day to make it a habit, and Lent is 40.  And God will be much happier with me for growing into a better person than for giving up carnitas. Plus, he wouldn’t want my taco lady to lose money over this! I’m sure he loves her, because her tacos are so delicious that I’m sure they’re going to be served in heaven!

Heaven will also have rivers filled with Mexican Coke, and an Unlimited Peanut Butter Oreo Tree.

Last year, I gave up being jealous of what other people had, and not only did I become happier, but instead of just coveting peoples things (totally a sin!), I started working harder for the things I wanted. Does this means I’m perfect at it? Not even remotely. But it DOES mean that one year later I’m conscious of it when I slip up, and that I take steps to work at being better.

This year, I’m going to try and give up fear. Yes, this sounds, and probably is, incredibly stupid. There are risks I have wanted to take, situations where I have wanted to stand up for myself, brass rings I have wanted to reach for, but haven’t because I’m terrified, or unsure of myself.  Behind the scenes, I’ve actually suffered from crippling panic attacks for nearly 20 years, and I am incredibly tired of them taking over my life.  

Every time an iota of self doubt enters my head, I’m going to be like “AAAAY! What the f*$k is wrong with you you little p*)$#y a$$ b*@#h!?!?!?! Get the mo*#$*f&$*@# sand out of your v@#$(*, grow some G-ddamn b*@ls and kick some (*$&(#$#_!”.  And then I will crush my enemies with rock solid fists of fury and leave a trail of scorched earth behind me!!!! 

Or I might just finally finish the business plan up so we can seek investors and finally move a step closer to opening a full bakery again. I told the world we had no plans to ever open a proper shop until the kids were in school. Well, Atticus starts kindergarten this fall. It’s time to get on with this and stop procrastinating.

It’s also time for me to get the balls to sign up for the breakdancing class at my gym. I will not only leave this Lent a stronger person, but also poppin’ and lockin’ as I go forth.

Head on over to our Facebook page to share what you’re giving up if you’re on board with the whole Lent thing.  Now onto today’s cupcake flavors- King Cake is back, but since it’s not colored for Mardi Gras, it’s going by it’s French name of “Pithivier”. Still delicious!

Clockwise from front: Rue McClanahan, Pithivier, Southern Belle, Tiramisu

NEW! Pithivier (King Cake): Almond cake, almond pastry cream, almond custard buttercream, feuillitine

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, brown sugar peach compote

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

___________________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

Hom: Third Avenue and 88th Street, Bay Ridge

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

Battery Place Market: 77 Battery Place, Battery Park City

Joe Columbia University: W. 120th Street 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

It’s Mardi Gras, it’s President’s Day weekend- it’s just madness over here! Yesterday, we drove from Brooklyn out to Patchogue to visit our only Long Island outpost, Queen City Cupcakes (GORGEOUS!!! A must visit if you’re out east).  After Patchogue, we drove out to East Hampton to see my aunt, then to Maidstone, then back to East Hampton, then to Bridgehampton, then Southampton, the Quogue to give our class at the Quogue Library (also gorgeous! Seriously- Bay Ridge looks like crap after this weekend!), then back to Brooklyn to get the kids, then to Staten Island, and now finally to Monroe Township in Central New Jersey.

I. Am. Exhausted. So I get to blame all typos, poor segways, and idiotic sentence structure on that today. It’s nice to finally have a real excuse for it, in contrast to all the other days the blog is comprised mostly of that stuff anyway.  Those times it solely because I’m lazy and/or writing the blog while simultaneously screaming at “Days of Our Lives” on SoapNet.

Here’s some random stuff I have to talk about that has really nothing to do with each other. I really tried hard to find a thread to tie it all together, but the magic is just not happening today. I must admit, I’m half tempted to make some crack like “the magic’s not happening - except in my pants!”, which can only mean I have spent entirely way too much time hanging out with my husband this weekend.

1. A big THANK YOU to all the people who sold out our master class in Quogue. We are both so floored that you all took the time out of your busy schedules to come and spend an afternoon listening to us ramble on and on and on and on……

Also a big thank you to Ann Marie Borghese of Borghese Vineyards who provided us with the merlot we will now be using in our Chocolate Merlot brownies. You can catch her at the Union Square & Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket on select days- we heavily suggest the Merlot, which in our eyes is a great basic table red.  And as for those merlot brownies- expect to be able to find them regularly at our DeKalb shop starting on 4/6, and potentially out east soon…..

2. …..speaking of out east - the last time we were at my aunt’s house out east was seven whole years ago. Now most of you, rightfully, are probably wondering what the hell is wrong with us, since anyone who has an open invitation to stay out in the Hamptons any time they’d like should probably go three times a week. And I will tell you what was wrong with us: we had kids. Then the kids weren’t enough so we threw a small business on top of that! 

Within five minutes of being back on Route 27, I instantly remembered all the days I had spent as a child catching blue crabs and digging for clams like they were yesterday. The weekends spent fishing off the back of my aunt’s kayak, bringing a bag of porgys back to my aunt’s one room cottage and spending the night cooking and eating in our bathing suits.  It made me realize that one quick overnight stopover during a business trip after a seven year absence was not remotely enough.

Now the kids are old enough to take out east, but we still have that little problem of us being entrepreneurs, meaning that it is next to impossible for Matt and I to turn “off” and justify being off from work for more than two days. So if anyone out there can come up with any way to rationalize an extended stay in the Hamptons, let us know. You know a shop we can run a week-long pop-up in? Have a wedding you want us to cater? Want us to give private baking classes?  Give a lecture for your organization? Bake pies for charity? Want Matt to clean your pool?  

We just need leads, because that place is totally unrecognizable from when I was a kid. Seriously, my old toy store is a Juicy Couture now, and my favorite candy shop is now home to the Corcoran Group. I DO, however, still know the best spot to go to catch frogs, so don’t think this would be a one-sided information exchange!

3: LOGO SEARCH 2012: Current results- #1 and #3 are TIED, each with 40% of the vote, and #2 has 20%. So I’m going to give this a few more days.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FIRST DRAFT OF OUR NEW LOGO. Note that I put “First Draft” in bold. These are not close to final- we’re picking a design to use as a starting point, hoping to get a final in a few weeks. I had a lot of people say they hated #3, but voted for it because it said “Brooklyn”. We can put Brooklyn on any of the logos- we probably will. We’re also changing the colors. Those will all be future polls- we promise. Right now, we’re going straight for gut reaction.

What is your gut telling us to do? Because mine is telling me to take a 5 minute writing break in order to eat some ice cream sandwiches. 

Yes, sandwiches. I meant that to be plural.

4: MAAAARRRRDDDDDIIIIIII GRRRRAAAAASSSSSS!!!!

This is a very special cupcake day, because we’ve got a bunch of N’Awlins inspired flavors on the menu, including two brand spanking new ones: Pecan Praline & King Cake!

When researching King cakes, we found about 1,000 recipes, all of them radically different. Then we learned that we’ve been making the original King cake for years, except in our house, we called it by the name we learned from our French training: Pithivier. Not only delicious, but really really really fun to say out loud. Almost as fun as saying “Me montrer votre belle poitrine” (WOOOO MARDI GRAS!).

Pithivier is a very simple cake, made with frangipange (aka almond cream) sandwiched between two disks of puff pastry, then baked until puffed and golden.  If you buy the puff pastry (we recommend Dufour all-butter puff), it’s an amazingly easy dessert to try and make on your own. Here’s a link to Jacques Torres’ recipe, which is the first one I ever made when I was 16 years old, and the basis of the recipe I use til this day.

Our “King Cupcake” is an almond cake filled with almond pastry cream, topped with an almond custard buttercream, then rolled in feuillitine (aka crispy puff pastry). And since it’s a special occasion, we’ve airbrushed the cupcakes the traditional colors of purple (for justice), green (for faith), and gold (for power).

I know, I know - we don’t use food coloring! But all the cajuns we talked to stressed how important the colors were, and coincidentally we were just introduced to 100% natural line of non-chemical food coloring! It’s a Mardi Gras miracle!

So we’ve got the King Cake, Pecan Praline & Bananas Foster cupcakes to celebrate, but there’s always a 4th cupcake. What else could we be celebrating?

5: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUE McCLANAHAN!!!!

Happy 78th birthday in heaven, beautiful. We still love you down here.

Now let’s go make Fat Tuesday live up to it’s name!

Clockwise from front: King Cake, Pecan Praline, Rue McClanahan, Bananas Foster

NEW! King Cake: Almond cake, almond custard filling, almond custard buttercream, feuillitine

NEW! Pecan Praline: Pecan cake, vanilla buttercream, homemade pecan pralines

Bananas Foster: Banana cake, rum-salted caramel buttercream and drizzle

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, brown sugar & peach compote

______________________________

Cupcakes Available at:

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

Aloha Grinds: 77th 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

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

By Brooklyn: 261 Smith Street

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:

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

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

Of all the people I have loved in my life, one of the greatest was my Aunt Marie. She was not my biological aunt, but rather my Aunt Rosemarie’s partner of over 20 years.  

Growing up, I knew Aunt Ro & Aunt Marie lived together, but I was not allowed to know that they were gay.  My family accepted the relationship, but being the devout Catholics we were, homosexuality was still something sinful that needed to be hidden, especially from the children. Still, without knowing the exact nature of their relationship, I absolutely adored them both.  There was very little as wonderful to me as the possibility of getting to see them, having them take me to the zoo or aquarium or for a walk around Park Slope (back in the 80s when it was, well, really different than it is now).

Eventually I figured out they were gay, and I didn’t care at all.  They had been gay the whole time, and my knowing didn’t suddenly change anything.  They may not have been married in the eyes of the church or the law, but Aunt Marie WAS my aunt, and I loved her madly.  My whole family did, until the day she died from cancer nearly ten years ago.  And there has not been a day of my life where I don’t think about her, or talk to her up in heaven or wherever all the good souls go.

When the first rumblings happened a few months ago that gay marriage in New York might be a possibility, we were asked by an activist friend if we could leverage our social network and business contacts into supporting the cause.  I want to say it was something we jumped at, but it wasn’t.  Matt and I worried that coming out for what we believed in would end up hurting business, in just the same way it hurt when our bigoted state senator proposed anti-gay legislation a few weeks ago and customers vocally complained to us knowing that we were a Bay Ridge based business.  As strong as we felt about our convictions, we thought it might be best to stay out of the whole situation.

Then I started to think about my Aunt Marie a lot.  I thought about her kindness and generosity, how her heart was so big to forgive so much, and how much she loved not just my Aunt Ro, but my grandmother and my aunts and all of us.  I thought about her parents, the cutest little Italian immigrants you’d ever meet, and how they were present at every single one of my birthday parties and holidays.  I thought how even though my family disapproved of them being gay and felt the need to shelter me from it, there was never a single thing about my family that ever felt wrong.  

I will never think my Aunt Marie was “wrong”.  In my eyes, Aunt Marie was just about as perfect as a human being will ever be.  Yet her entire life, she wasn’t good enough to be counted with everyone else, just because was in love with my Aunt Ro, and loved all the nutjobs that came along with her.  And that will never, ever sit right with me.

Matt and I finally decided we were brave enough to come out publicly for marriage equality, and tried to rally our supporters.  We asked people to call their senators and to help us spread the word that equality was becoming less and less of a dream, even though so many said not to get our hopes up.  We DID lose followers, but it was still worth it to us. I know in my heart that if Aunt Marie was still alive she’d would have been fighting to see this happen- and if she couldn’t be here to do it, I would so no one would ever forget how amazing she really was, and no one like her would ever be treated as less than human again.

Atticus and I at the rally against Senator Marty Golden, who tried to not only ban gay marriage in NYS, but also attempted to strip the LGBT community of civil rights they already have. He’s up for reelection next year, everyone.  Remember that.

I know what we did was microscopic in the grand scheme of the whole process, especially when you remember that there are brave men and women who have made this legislation their entire lives work.  But aside from being a victory for New York, this was a victory for this little Italian-American family down here in South Brooklyn.  I don’t want my Aunt Ro to have to hide herself from my children for any reason.  She is my aunt, and I will always love her for EVERYTHING she is.  My kids adore her and her new wife, Sara.  They are as married as Matt and I are, and this new generation of children will be taught that being gay is nothing to be ashamed of.  Ro and Sara might not be normal (and that has nothing to do with being gay), but to us they are our family, and they’re perfect.  

To all our LGBT friends, family and neighbors- we love you, and will always support you no matter what.  

We promised that when the first gay couple marries in NY, we’d do their wedding cupcakes for free.  Well, that offer still stands (and coincidentally, I believe the first day where weddings can take place is Estelle Getty’s birthday, aka Robicelli’s first ever Golden Girls Day).

AND if you’re a gay or lesbian couple getting married before October, we’ll take 10% off your entire wedding cupcake order, plus donate an additional 10% to the Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBT youth. That sound like a good way to celebrate making history to you? :)

Aunt Marie, I wish you could have been here to see this.  I love and miss you so much.

Now onto flavors- what better way to celebrate than with a cupcake?  I’ve been told on good authority it’s the gayest of all the desserts- WAY gayer than pie!

Clockwise from front: Apricot Chardonnay, S’Mores, Rue McClanahan, The Bluth

Apricot Chardonnay: Apricot chardonnay cake and buttercream, chardonnay poached Turkish apricot

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

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

Available at:

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

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

It’s Chicken n’Waffles time!  We don’t have this scheduled to come back til at least PARKED way down in July, or possibly even at DeKalb Market in late summer.  So it you want it, get down to 82 Mercer tomorrow between 11 and 8!

MENU

Chicken n’Waffles:  Vanilla “waffle” cake, vanilla buttercream, buttermilk soaked fried chicken dunked in pure Vermont maple syrup

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

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

Rue McClanahan: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, spiced peach compote

El Guapo: Sweet corn cake, cilantro lime buttercream

Iona:  Pear olive oil cake, blue cheese buttercream, port wine reduction, candied walnuts

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

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

Peach Ghost Chili: Peach ghost chili cake, buttercream and compote

We will have plenty of boxes and take-out containers for you to stock up, but please, bring your own reusable bags!

BUST CRAFTACULAR

ONE DAY ONLY! SATURDAY, MAY 21st

82 Mercer Street btwn Broome and Spring

11am-8pm

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

So how you guys feeling? :D

We carried over a few of our St. Patty’s Day flavors to today, in the event some of you were responsible and are saving all your hard partying for a night where you don’t have work the next day. Or in the event you want a Car Bomb cupcake for breakfast today to soothe your hangover.  Whatever floats your boat.

Also, today is the LAST APPEARANCE of the Soda Bread cupcake for an entire year, so get on that!  It’s delicious!

Since I’ve been pimping out three projects hardcore for the better part of the past week, let’s just take a look at them in an efficient numbered list, because EVERYONE loves lists! It makes reading the same crap I’ve been talking about over and over and over look brand spankin’ new.  Also, if anyone can help me out with some Venn diagrams of these things for next week so I can keep things relevant and cutting-edge, that would be super sweet.

#1: INDIEGOGO: We are over 25% closer to our goal in our first week, so a HUGE thanks to everyone who contributed! And I really can’t emphasize this enough- the sooner we reach our goal, the sooner I’ll shut the hell up about IndieGoGo.  So if you want me to stop talking about it and get back to rambling about important stuff like why everything you think you know about the inevitable zombie apocalypse is TOTALLY WRONG and almost nothing about actual cupcakes, then get over there and throw us a couple of bucks! We have sweet prizes to boot!

#2: FACEBOOK: If you actually want to talk about cupcakes, then you need to hit up our Facebook page.  I’m taking peoples questions about baking, soliciting the FB community to help us design new cupcakes, and all that good stuff.  I’m trying my best to keep the discussion about zombies to at least under 35-40% over there. Place bets now on how long that’s going to last.

#3: ORDERS FOR JAPAN: Next week, 25% of all private orders for delivery will be donated to Doctors Without Borders to aid Japan. So if you’re having an office birthday, want to surprise a client with a gift, or throwing a party, next week is a DAMN good week to be ordering cupcakes.  Click on the “Private Orders” and “Cupcake Schedule” tabs up top for more info and to see what’s good for next week.

Now onto flavors!  Hope you all had the opportunity to check out our newest location in Midtown- JOE in Grand Central Terminal! And if you haven’t, then what are you waiting for?

Clockwise from front: Car Bomb, Rue McClanahan, Chocolate Turtle, Soda Bread

FLAVORS:

CAR BOMB: Chocolate Guinness stout cake, Bailey’s buttercream, Jameson whiskey ganache

RUE McCLANAHAN:  Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

CHOCOLATE TURTLE:  Chocolate cake, salted caramel buttercream, candied pecans, ganache & caramel drizzle

SODA BREAD:  Soda bread cake, clotted cream buttercream, Drambuie soaked golden raisins

Available at:

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

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

RADISH- Bedford Ave off N8th, Williamsburg

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND: 284 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook AND The Brooklyn Flea at One Hanson Place *Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler cupcakes only*

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

JOE: CHELSEA- W. 23rd btwn 9th and 10th Avenue

JOE: GRAND CENTRAL-  44 Grand Central Terminal by the Greybar Passage

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

*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.

I’ve felt a little lost for the past few days, since the plan had been to take our new Facebook page and our IndieGoGo campaign (17.222% there!), and just completely plug the crap out of them until you guys contributed money just to shut me the hell up.  And trust me, we WILL reach that point, so the sooner we reach the goal the less painful and awkward this is going to get for everyone.

Then the other night, right after I had finished the Tumblr post and all my social media-ing waaaay past my bedtime, the earthquake hit.  And I don’t want to be cliched and dramatic and say that nothing seemed to matter anymore, because that would be a total lie- my goals and the things in my life are still important.  But suddenly you do feel this horrible, horrible event hanging over everything, even if it’s a world away. 

As someone who lives a semi-public life as a business owner, you really don’t know whether to address it or not. I remember around my 16th birthday there was a terrible plane crash off the coast of Long Island that had no survivors. The first few days there was round the clock coverage on the news and everyone was glued to their sets.  And then as the week went on, you couldn’t go anywhere without having to deal with that plane crash, and people started to get really horribly sick of it.  All those poor people dead, and the media had run the story to the point where it created nothing but disdain and apathy.  Mind you, this is 1996 we’re talking about.  This is the days of AOL dial-up and 46 cable channels, 6 of which were two Jamaican guys screaming about Jesus on BCAT.  And even then we couldn’t escape information.  Now with my Blackberry, my laptop, any my iPad, I’m addicted to it like cocaine. 

So I see two scenarios: one is to ignore it and just go along with business as usual, which actually makes everything more emotionally awkward knowing that I seem like a callous bitch.  Plus, I’m incapable of doing this as we all know I’m a mom, which means that my heart is 1000x too big.  That doesn’t sound like a problem until you find yourself unable to sleep at night because of a sad story you read in the paper, or you can’t hear the sound of a child crying without your heart breaking a little, even though when my kids are crying at the top of their lungs like a bunch of uncivilized wildebeests in Duane Reade because I won’t buy them a box of Entemann’s doughnuts I feel like putting them into a cannon and shooting them straight into the sun.

The second option is to address it and risk the chance of sounding like the thousands of people on Twitter saying things like “Everything that everyone has ever talked about is stupid and shallow when there are REAL problems happening in Japan”.  I mean, you can say that about anything, can’t you?  “All your dreams and everything you do is pointless because of Darfur/Bahrain/the rainforest/global warming/etc”.  That’s just impossible.  I cannot feel guilty for living my life or proceeding with my goals because there is tragedy in the world.  I can only hope that tragedy inspires me to become more generous and understanding, because otherwise the knowledge that it’s there just eats me alive.

So I decided to make a third option, which was to get up on this site and tell you that I have no idea how to properly react to this.  And I bet you don’t either, and that’s ok. We weren’t raised to have to make a public statement for the record on Facebook or Twitter every day, and we’re all still figuring this out.  As long as we’re feeling and sympathizing, we’re good.

Even though I’m not so good at the reacting, I’m pretty good at action.  Matt and I have decided that 25% of all private orders placed for delivery next week will be donated to Doctors Without Borders to help with the relief efforts in Japan.  We don’t have a pile of money in the bank we can send over, but we have four hands between us that can work hard, and maybe do a little bit of good.  Click HERE for details on private orders- we deliver to offices & corporations in Manhattan all the time.

Now back to “trivial” stuff- St. Patrick’s Day! WOOOOO!!! I love doing holiday flavors, because they seem so precious and special before they are all gobbled up and go back to the vault for another year.  This year’s limited St. Patty’s flavor is Irish Soda Bread with a clotted cream buttercream & Drambuie soaked raisins. I HATE raisins and I love this cake.  It’ll be back on Friday if you miss it the next two days, then back into the vault for next year……

Also if you’re looking to get wasted AND eat cupcakes during your festivities this year, there is only one spot to do that- THE DOUBLE WINDSOR in Windsor Terrace!  They’re getting lots of Car Bombs, and I was told they’re bringing in a whole boatload of special Irish beers for the tap that I’ve never heard of.

And Midtown, it is REALLY REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT YOU PAY ATTENTION RIGHT NOW!  Beginning this afternoon, we are in JOE IN GRAND CENTRAL STATION! They have the Irish Coffee and the Car Bombs- which are perfect for a work break because they create the illusion you’re getting hammered at 2pm, when really you need to behave so you don’t flash your boss.  We bake them because we care.

Clockwise from bottom right: Irish Coffee, Soda Bread, Car Bomb, Rue McClanahan

NEW LIMITED EDITION!!!! SODA BREAD: Soda bread cake, clotted cream buttercream, Drambuie soaked golden raisins

IRISH COFFEE: Bailey’s-espresso cake & buttercream, ganache, crushed white chocolate

CAR BOMB: Chocolate Guinness stout cake, Bailey’s buttercream, Jameson whiskey ganache

RUE MCCLANAHAN: Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

Available at:

HOM- Third Avenue & 88th Street, Bay Ridge

TAZZA CAFES- Clark St off Henry AND Henry St off Atlantic, Brooklyn Heights

CRESPELLA-7th Ave off 9th St, Park Slope

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

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

JOE: GRAND CENTRAL STATION-  I don’t really know how to describe where it is- is there a map in there like they have at the mall? It’s near the Greybar passage if you can find that.  Maybe just ask somebody- I’m obviously useless.

        *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.

Rue has come back from the vault!!!  As you may have noticed, I love the Golden Girls to the point where I truly have no words to describe it.  And even thought it’s a new flavor week, I’m leading with Rue so I could put a picture of her up at the top of the page.  My GOD she is just phenomenally stunning- I should be so lucky to be that gorgeous as I grow older.  Our Bea Arthur is one of our oldest and most popular cupcakes, but I feel we really haven’t brought the Rue out enough to give it the love it deserves- odd since Blanche is my hero.  I hope Matt lives to be a million, but if by chance I do one day find myself a widow, after a proper length of mourning I hope to be banging as many hot, wealthy cardiologists as I possibly can.

And yes- it’s a NEW FLAVOR WEEK!!!  Introducing the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel: our moist chocolate cake topped with velvety peanut butter buttercream, rolled in a mixture of crushed up pretzels and peanuts.  We sneak-previewed this one at Park Here a few weekends ago and sold out in a matter of hours, with some people coming back for boxes of them to take home.  This ones a winner, folks.  Hope you all enjoy it.  :)

Clockwise from front: Wild Maine Blueberry Cobbler, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel, Hazelnut Kiss, Rue McClanahan

FLAVORS:

NEW!!!! CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER PRETZEL:  Chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream, crushed pretzels and peanuts

RUE MCCLANAHAN:  Peach cake, cheesecake buttercream, peach compote

WILD MAINE BLUEBERRY COBBLER:  Vanilla cake, blueberry syrup, vanilla buttercream, wild Maine blueberries, cobbler crumbs

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

______________________________

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

FARMACY- Corner of Henry & Sackett Streets, Carroll Gardens

FLYING SAUCER CAFE- Atlantic Ave btwn 3rd Ave & Nevins St, Boerum Hill

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