Anyone who knows me can tell you that I’ve never harbored much love for cupcakes.
At best, I’ve regarded them as a symptom of a tragic disease which strikes thousands of American women in their early 30s, causing them to put on yoga pants and congregate in the produce aisles of Whole Foods Markets to discuss their toddlers’ athletic achievements.
I’ve devoted a lot of energy to the avoidance of these insidious pieces of fluff, going so far as to block the word “cupcake” from appearing in my social media streams to protect myself from infection.
But then, at a bourbon-soaked Kentucky Derby party in Brooklyn not so very long ago, I met a young married couple who would cause me to change my attitude towards these hand-held pastries. To look at them, you’d never guess that these two people would have anything to do with cupcakes: he was a great, bearded bear of a man; she, a woman who spoke in four-letter words and owned a purse in the shape of a boom box that played actual music. I liked them. And the fact that the word “cupcake” was not mentioned at all made me like them all the more.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered a short time later that this couple, Matt and Allison Robicelli, were two of the most famous cupcake makers in the universe. And that they wrote a cupcake cookbook. Which was immediately sent to me.
Imagine my shock when I opened the book and realized that it was one of the cleverest, most deeply entertaining cookbooks I’ve read in a very long time.
Robicelli’s: A Love Story, With Cupcakes is exactly that– a love story told in cupcake form. Many of the recipes expand upon Allison’s essays and somehow manage to distill the joy, frustration and tears involved in the building and sustaining of a relationship into well-balanced, edible fare. (“A Love Letter To Compromise” p.191 and the resulting recipe for Buffalo Chicken cupcakes on p. 199 are a prime example.)
The book’s often serious essays carry us from the initial meeting of Allison and Matt, up to the present day (or at least up to the time of printing), but the recipes carry us through some delightful (and sometimes surreal) flights of pop cultural fancy. Some examples include:
* A cannoli-themed cupcake dedicated to Dom Deluise (p. 43)
* A cupcake inspired by an Irish Pub drink which in turn was inspired by a favorite IRA terrorist activity (p. 51)
* A series of desserts created in honor the entire cast of The Golden Girls (p.175-189)
* A cartoon Gallic mime who walks the reader through the technique of making French buttercream.
I could go on, but I don’t want to give everything away.
I found myself so enchanted by this book– the refreshingly frank essays, the ingeniously off-beat recipes, the delightful stream of four-letter words– that I wound up doing what I had previously considered the unthinkable. I broke down and made cupcakes (Pecan-Potato Chip p.145 and pictured above) which I then proceeded to share with my co-workers.
When my Robicelli-inspired handiwork had disappeared, I thought to myself, “I don’t know who the hell I am anymore.” And then I realized that I was oddly fine with that. I didn’t die. I made 12 people happy. And I caused another 12 to be upset that they didn’t get any. In all, it was a very good work day.
When it was over, I thought for a moment about what Allison wrote in her previously-mentioned love letter to compromise:
“[I]t isn’t just ceding ground and giving in. Compromise is pulling yourself out of your comfort zone, seeing something from another perspective, thinking differently. Compromise, as hard as it is, helps you to grow…”
And you know what? Allison was right. Because of this book, I somehow managed to pull myself out of my comfort zone of zero cupcake tolerance, allowed myself to see these once-reviled, calorie-bombs of cute from the perspective of two people who have a deeper understanding of them than I probably ever will, and found myself thinking differently about them. All with a shocking lack of resistance on my part.
And the best thing of all? I finally– finally— found myself able to sit back, relax, and enjoy a fucking cupcake.
i dislike the emergence of ‘too clever’ and the need for chemistry equipment in cooking..i’m more then happy with a humble fucking cupcake made by ordinary people with ordinary ingredients..
Cooking IS chemistry, buddy. Some people just use different ingredients. Not everyone is boring.
Tyler– I have the feeling teawithhazel was referring to molecular gastronomy-like tools when she wrote “chemistry”.
teawithhazel– When I think of ordinary people making cupcakes, I can’t help but think of Mary Tyler Moore baking little morsels of deep mourning for Timothy Hutton, frosting with icy heaps of resentment.
I need to be your coworker. (Cuz making my own cupcakes just wouldn’t be any fun.)
pacalaga– You would have needed to have been my co-worker on that one particular Friday morning, because such an act of cupcake kindness will more than likely ever happen again.
I need this cookbook – Sounds like a must read!
Caity– It’s a highly entertaining read. Worth it for the mime-led French buttercream tutorial alone.
This is actually a cupcake cookbook that I might consider wanting to own….
Irvin– It is the ONLY cupcake cookbook I would own.
I’ve been waiting to find out the story behind your Facebook cupcake post.
I may need to get a copy of the book. Nothing wrong with asking a child to bake grown-up recipes, right?
Amy– Now you know the whole truth behind them.
And I feel there is nothing wrong with asking children to bake grown-up recipes, just as I feel there is nothing wrong with asking a child to fix me a grown-up martini.
As a baker with a bit of a cupcake aversion myself, I can completely relate. And then I had to go and try the cannoli cupcakes from Sugar Bakery, in East Haven, CT and I became a belieber. Oops, I mean believer. Ah youth — inspirer of bad music and tiny, over-frosted baked goods. Both of which, it turns out, can be quite delightful at times.
Thanks for this — I’ll look for the book.
Tammy– They actually have a cannoli-inspired cupcake among their recipes. It’s called “The Dom Deluise”.
Would it have been too hard to just double the recipe? When you start doing that automatically is when we will have to start worrying about you.
Will they be doing a book on cake pops next?
Trevor– Each recipe yields 24 cupcakes. I only bothered to bake 12 of them. I decided it would be a good idea to eat the remaining batter with a small glass of bourbon while watching an old episode of The Amazing Race.
No fucking recipe? WTF?
Just as well. I’d have to make them for Halloween and I already have too much to do. But potato chip pecan sounds awesome.
Annie– No fucking recipe indeed. I had forgotten to ask the publishers for re-print permission. Legal stuff and professional etiquette, you know. I am sorry.
So glad you spoke of this. I’ve seen the cover popping up online and discounted it as just another fucking c-cake (still a nasty word) book. Its circa 2003 craft book font & type treatment said LOOK AWAY to this former craft book designer. But how wrong and snotty I have been. It appears to be something charmingly creative and something unique in the cookbook universe. I’m going order it! Buffalo chicken? Maybe so!
File under: You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover.
Chris– You most definitely can’t judge this book by its cover. It’s a seriously un-cookbook-y cookbook. And a total delight replete with expletives.
If it is any consolation to you, I am often wrong and snotty and find myself continually eating my own words.
When’s the cake pop post?
That is soooo January 2013! It’s been done already Michael’s very inimitable style.
https://foodforthethoughtless.com/2013/01/cake-poops/
Yeah John, please keep up. My cake pop piece is old news. As my friend, I am greatly saddened by the fact that you do not have an encyclopedic knowledge of my complete œuvre.
Well, they’re no cupcakes, but I’m about to go decorate six dozen red velvet cake balls to look like eyeballs. I imagine there will be a fair amount of profanity about the proceedings, too.
Becki– It is my firm belief that baking and profanity go hand in hand.
I bought this book – I’m not sure now whether it was a result of reading your column or discovering it elsewhere.
They had me at at the sentence “Use it like an old French whore!” when referring to the availability of fresh fruit for baking purposes (p.25). Not exactly something one finds in a Thomas Keller cookbook.
Now if I ever actually bake from this book remains to be seen. It’s the filling of the cupcakes that may hold me back. Might have to get over that so I can try that “butterbrew” recipe.
Sad day when they invent the “Betty White” cupcake.
This cupcake book is a must-read. I may have to switch my blog from everything potatoes to everything cupcakes! I love how they made recipes fun and enjoyable. You also make reading about another couple’s book pretty entertaining so that in itself is impressive. Great sense of humour!
Erin– It was one of the best reads of the year, cookbook-wise. I’m glad you liked it as much as I did. And also thank you for the lovely compliment!