photo courtesy Grace’s Sweet Life – I can practically taste this Strawberry Meringue Buttercream, can’t you?
This morning I thought about writing about a couple of politically charged topics involving last week’s governmental and social events, and, as an outgrowth of “The Pollinators” post, an expansion of the Colony Collapse Disorder issue and comment about why the government seems to be lagging in their efforts to help quickly in this regard. But, let’s save the latter for another day and, well, I just don’t feel like aggravating myself thinking about government disfunction this morning. And, after last weeks’ events in this Country, Boston and Washington, particularly, I think we all need some fun and folly, if only for a little, right??? (BTW, that post will be entitled, “Hanging Behind the Curve – When Government Loves to Lag” and Why It’s So Much More Costly). So, let’s move on to another controversial, if not politically charged subject – why everyone loves to predict the demise of the cupcake craze!
I often wonder why people are so hell-bent on predicting the fall of the cupcake. I will admit here that it is not easy to make a really great cupcake and for those who have “franchised” the little gems, or showcase them in their repertoire, it is VERY difficult to maintain high quality, ingenuity in flavor and design and, most importantly, freshness! (I do note here that I am not a fan of any tv shows which diminish the “art” of baking – like those featuring people running around in a panic state and slopping batter into pans and in a pressurized environment, trying to merge the most unappealing of ingredients and flavors.) Ok, so cupcakes do not offer that pinacle of ingenious opportunity for range and degree of skill for the most creative and talented of pastry chefs – this is no genre for the Pierre Hermés of the world, but they do offer a great deal of creative opportunity. (Speaking of Pierre Hermé, you can, however, use his formidable flavor combinations as inspiration here – and, may I say, any lover of apricots, as he is, is a favorite of mine! I read his “Desserts”, written by one of my favs, Dorie Greenspan, yesterday, cover to cover). I, for one, find the prognosticators and the naysayers sadly in error.
I’ll tell you a little bit about why I think they are wrong:
- Cupcakes possess all the benefits of a single serving item – And, they present an opportunity for embellishment and decoration on an individual basis. They look better when served than a slice of layer cake. They form a singular presence of appeal.
- They adapt well as a special-occasion item, popular for showers, parties, and just about any function or theme; they often offer choice at an event when a single cake would not, and flavor “sampling”, too! – confirming that old adage, “two cupcakes are always better than one” (oh, that’s not an old adage?)
- They are capable of evoking an emotional response unlike that of a slice of layer cake – walk into a shop and select a particularly appealing cupcake and you get a feeling, bordering on the giddy, like ooooo, I just got something really cool, fun, and potentially delectable (as does a single serve -tart, but, I digress) – an emotional response that a slice of cake does not provide. (I’m not crazy, am I?)
- Practically speaking, when decorating, if you mess one up, it’s not a tragedy, if you mess up a whole cake, well, you have problems…… and, they tend to be easier to work with in general, than large layers
- They can be wrapped decoratively – with specialty papers or other wrappers, some of which actually protect their structure
- They transport well – better than a slice of cake – in a little paper bag, better than a massive sheet or specialty cake as they can be divided in mass quantities in protective cover (transport scenes from Charm City Cakes haunt me)
- They can be more visibly appealing on a grand scale too – a great quantity of cupcakes displayed well can be more appealing than one cake – but this is arguable, depending on the particular cake.
- They are a great vehicle for the buttercream-piper, the gum-paste-flower-artist, the marzipan -molder, the sugared-flower-aficionado
- No fork needed.
- Brownies have not dropped off in popularity – and they are a single serving of a larger quantity of the baked mass.
- We Americans, and lots of others, love “convenience foods” and the grab-and-go concept works for us in our busy lifestyles
- Chefs the world over live to and love to invent, and the cupcake provides a great vehicle for their energies, even if it is within a relatively narrow genre.
- Muffins, another single serve item, remain as popular as ever.
- (4/23: my yoga teacher commented today that cupcakes are built-in portion control. Good point! – I agree, however I didn’t get that gene!)
Ok, so well, I have probably over-thought this topic and clearly have some kind of wayward-thought-syndrome (you already know that). But, I actually think the creativity element is most important here – the vehicle is essentially limitless and appeals to the most creative of minds.
Granted, whole businesses have not necessarily popped up in grand quantities featuring brownies and muffins, though some have, and copious numbers of books have been written just about them, but the cupcake, as an icon, seems to be under something of a siege, and why, I ask?
Anyway, if the “Feeds on Food” items I see every day are any indication, cupcakes continue to go strong and the iterations just keep on coming. I for one, love this.
There are potentially as many different cupcakes as there are flavors, colors, embellishments, fillings, and on and on. You can “hybridize” as creatively as you’d like – sometimes straddling the savory-sweet and indulging in the best of sweet-salty combos. And so, I say, keep it coming, creativity is good for the soul, good for the mind, good for the heart, and the eating ain’t bad either……
I am not going to overload you with cupcake images here – I’ll just show you a couple of “inspiring” ones I’ve seen lately:
The Strawberry Meringue Cupcake as shown above from Grace’s Sweet Life
Nutella cupcakes – Courtesy My Baking Addiction
For Licorice-lovers: Vanilla, Almond and Anise Cupcakes – Photo courtesy Sweetapolita
and two iterations of the Blackberry-Lemon phenom – a combo I happen to love:
Blackberry-Lemon Cupcakes courtesy TylerNicoleBlogspot.com
Blackberry-Lemon courtesy GoodLifeEats
And, Alton Brown, whom I admire, has done an Avocado Buttercream, as many have done – take a look online. I have not tried this out yet, but plan to. Somehow, I think a little mascarpone is in order, plus some complementary flavor, but I haven’t flushed this out as yet……….
And, somehow, I am thinking of a Pineapple Chutney cupcake – one with yummy pineapple, cilantro and little tiny bits of fresh red bell pepper, the cilantro and pepper playing off the sweet buttercream and pineapple…… hmmm, I’m going to think about this.
So, see the following, too and have some fun, fancy, folly……..
And, lest you think cupcakes are insignificant, an article in National Geographic:
http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/valentines-day/cupcakes-text
and, you know, I love Ina Garten’s Coconut Cupcakes – great, easy but don’t forget to toast the coconut for the top!
So, make someone happy today and bake them some cupcakes – a food for the soul! And, I bet you are happy I didn’t go to the political posts today, aren’t you?
Meanwhile:
last year’s waiting for this year’s:
wild violets and candytuft:
last Fall’s colors stage a comeback:
