National Boston Cream Pie Day was an excuse to hit the books and the oven.
I read some food history books to understand the legacy and compare recipes. Sufficiently educated, I settled on my approach and went to work. Out came a good cake and cupcake.
I instinctively pay attention to Bostonian things because I was born there. I only lived there as a baby, so I don’t actually know the city. Nonetheless, I have personal history there.
And now I have professional history there as well. I’m struck by the Boston Globe headline about the Magnolia Bakery 2018 opening: Magnolia Bakery opens in Faneuil Hall — and customers flock to it like it’s the year 2000.
Right — because cupcakes persist, despite the way the media typically characterizes them. The chattering classes choose to believe cupcakes are unpopular, but this is a psychological construct that’s untrue in the real world. As the story notes, people are perfectly willing to line up for cupcakes. If I chose to go there, I could see it every weekend.
The social relevance is such that a Massachusetts state legislator introduced a bill to make Boston cream pie cupcake the state’s official cupcake.
Lawmakers have introduced such bills since the 2015 legislative session. The current bill was subject to some action in September. I don’t know what its status update actually means, but it’s almost beside the point. This is now the third year that lawmakers have introduced such a bill. The act/action speaks for itself. Through their elected representatives, the people want an official state cupcake. Chew on that.
I’ll always associate Boston cream pie with this image.
It’s worth remembering that the Boston location opened in 2018. Some 20 years after Magnolia’s cupcakes emerged and changed modern history, there’s sufficient demand to open new stores. Don’t tell me the cupcake “trend” is over.
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 