Why Cupcakes?
June 21, 2008 By: almostgotit Category: food, marketing, cupcakes
Creative Commons image by bookgrl |
We have a new cupcake shop in our neighborhood.
I am no cave-dweller: I understand that shops selling cupcakes are the new thing, very trendy and urban-chic, which seems to have started in New York at least six years ago. But why CUPCAKES? I liked them at birthday parties as a kid, sure, but the things have basically three ingredients: white sugar, white flour, and white shortening. Have you ever seen a recipe for professional buttercream frosting? Crisco and sugar, I kid you not. Plus lots and lots of air.
Many years ago, when my husband was in graduate school in Toronto, we discovered that Canadians love donuts. There was a donut and coffee shop on every corner, and on the corners where there wasn’t a donut shop, there was one that sold over-sized muffins. For poor kids like us, muffins were a terrific and fairly cheap treat, and if we bought them “take out” we avoided the 15% sales tax, too. We could make a whole dinner out of a muffin.
My husband and decided to investigate the new shop today. Mostly it seemed to be candles and cards and other cutesies, but eventually we saw a small assortment of cupcakes to choose from, too. They all looked like… cupcakes. There were no prices, so I bought four, one for each of us, and it cost me over thirteen dollars. We brought them home and ate them. They tasted like cupcakes too, pretty much just as Betty Crocker invented them.
I don’t get it.
Muffins are infinitely variable, and they’re so good they don’t need sugar and shortening glopped on top of them to make them edible. They can be light and fluffy or spicy and dense. You can feel them in your mouth as you eat them. They linger on your tongue and on your tastebuds. Muffins have a personality. For that matter, so do cinnamon rolls, croissants, and danish. Scones slay me. Cheesecake is amazing. I also like pie, crullers, and cookies. Bakeries that sell these things, especially if they also have good bread and maybe serve lunch on the side, these are among my favorite of things.
But cupcakes? Someone, please explain this to me.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Sure.
F.R.O.S.T.I.N.G.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Yep, it’s the frosting. I really DID NOT need to hear the ingredients to my favorite part of a cupcake.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 am
Haha I google cupcakes sometimes too!
I don’t understand the whole cupcake craze either. I don’t like them for the taste; I just have fun decorating them… but I have just as much fun decorating cookies or regular cake, so I don’t know what’s so special about cupcakes!
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 am
You maybe have not yet visited the competitor, just across the street and down about a block and a half, in the new, shi-shi shopping center; their product is superior, their pricing competitive, and their store delightful. You can dine in and sip a cup of tea while consuming Crisco and sugar that is at least configured in a more creative way. Husband does not get it, either, though.
The teenager, on the other hand, has always loved things in miniature, and the cupcake is no exception. The two stores opened in the same week, and I visited each of them to compare. I brought home three from each place; the ones from the store you mention hung around for a couple of days and the remains were tossed; the consensus was that they compare favorably to what you get in the Kroger deli when you need to buy two dozen cupcakes for your child’s class party. The others, though, were gone within moments of crossing our threshold. In our house we call this “voting by mouth.”
I have decided to stay away from these little shops, for the same reasons I’ve generally avoided the Really Good Ice Cream places in the ‘hood. I would be interested in your take on the competitor….
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
So nice to “see” you again, Felicia. You crack me up, as usual.
And sorry I burst your bubble, Marsquat! Someone had to do it, though. A baker once told me that the reason it’s CRISCO is that it gets much fluffier (and is more stable) than butter. So - sin now with thine eyes wide open’d…
I’m glad for the reciprocal Google, ChocolateCoveredVegan (and what a sexy handle you’ve got there, by the way –:) –)and like I said, I’m glad I’m not alone.
So happy your blog is back up and running, Deb. Glad to know my tastebuds aren’t entirely crazy, then, as I certainly agree about the “Kroger deli” quality assessment. Darn that I can’t be entirely dismissive of the cupcake store concept, though. I’ll have to think before checking out the competitor. Now — The Really Good Ice Cream places, THOSE are worth occasionally feeling calorie guilt over, I think!!
June 22nd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Right on, sister! Let me know if you want to start an anti-cupcake crusade. I hate the frosting, the price, and the twee. But you have to admit, they are easy to make at home and can get one points with one’s boss if they’re brought in to work.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Cookworm! I’m with you on reserving cupcakes for boss-bribing material, and otherwise volunteer to make the picket signs.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
How do the well-dressed, fashion-conscious women (who appear to be the intended consumers) eat the damn things? I get crumbs all over myself, frosting on my nose, and sticky fingers. Since I’m pretty much a slob, this doesn’t matter, but for the tres chic with expensively done nails, this has gotta be a problem. I’d kind of like to hang around one of these joints and see how they do it.
And another thing: I’m a great big lummox of a guy and when I walk into these dainty little shops with their bows and flowers and little teacups I feel like I’m gonna break something.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Great word, “Lummox.” And I sense the beginnings of a trendy new apothegm here: “Like a lummox in a cupcake shop”
(apothegm being another great word.)
June 25th, 2008 at 12:13 am
[…] our disappointing venture to Local Cupcake Shop No. 1 earlier in the week, my 12 yr. old daughter and I decided to pursue Deb’s suggestion and […]
June 26th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I tried a cupcake from “Local Shop No. 1″ but found it to be delicious. Then again, I am easily amused. Now I’m super excited about this superior Shop No. 2! They even serve tea?!
June 26th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Cassandra! You have a lovely blog — go check it out, everyone.
Yes, The Cupcakery (There. I’ve named it.) serves tea and coffee and have two or three tables in front of the cupcake display case for their patrons to sit and enjoy.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
[…] your job prospects (though it is) but because it’s good for you. So, Honey? Put down those sad old cupcakes , go gas up that Harley, and get yourself out there to have some […]
June 28th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I’m also a muffin type of girl (specifically: blueberry), but I’ve experienced a really good cupcake before - my friend’s mum made Spanish Lemon-flavoured ones which apparently contains olive oil instead of butter, so it’s a lot lighter. And somehow, the buttercream goes perfectly with the zesty citrus flavour.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
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