This being 4/20 Day, it’s high time for some word play. Wholesome Hostess sniffs a marketing opportunity. https://twitter.com/Hostess_Snacks/status/1516809176382648320
Author: Andrea Adleman
Reese Witherspoon approved
Today is the 17th birthday of Sprinkles, the darling of Reese Witherspoon and many other celebrities. Witherspoon has a longstanding relationship with the L.A. cupcakery, whose Washington, D.C., store she visited last month. Sprinkles founder Candace Nelson accompanied Witherspoon to D.C. and the pair stopped at the Georgetown Sprinkles for some red velvet cupcake therapy.… Continue reading Reese Witherspoon approved
Microcosm of the delicious metropolis
While coastal trendsetters are fixated on the next big thing, plenty of communities are robustly devoted to cupcakes from neighborhood bakeries. Take Burlington, Vermont. When an 11-year-old cupcakery announced it was closing, the Facebook post generated 218 comments and 675 likes/reactions. Among them: “Legacy never closes or ends. My Little Cupcake will be loved and… Continue reading Microcosm of the delicious metropolis
Women’s history statement cupcakes
Sprinkles, the pioneering cupcakery from the delicious metropolis of Los Angeles, is celebrating Women’s History Month and this is news in L.A. https://www.instagram.com/p/CanIvfrrYId/ The cupcakery was the focus of a TV news segment and other media coverage here and here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1NAnxbrqWA More than 20 years into the modern cupcake moment, people are consuming cupcakes and… Continue reading Women’s history statement cupcakes
Au courant
Let’s take the pulse of trendiness. Who’s identifying with cupcakes nowadays? Here are cupcakes in a picture by the executive chef of Eleven Madison Park. Voted the world’s best restaurant in 2017, it’s considered an ultra fashionable place to see and be seen. https://www.instagram.com/p/CaK4gYEOCtB/ Here’s a recommendation from Food & Wine magazine. https://twitter.com/foodandwine/status/1495178887348826114 These are… Continue reading Au courant
New cupcakeries in the delicious metropolis
In this Year of Cupcakes in the Delicious Metropolis, the cupcakes are indeed populating the metropolis. Of the three cupcakeries I study in depth, two have opened stores this year. We’re now over two decades into the modern cupcake era and new bakeries continue to open in response to consumer demand. Magnolia Bakery opened in… Continue reading New cupcakeries in the delicious metropolis
Bathing the senses in cupcakes
Welcome to 2022, when cupcake-inspired branding continues to sell products. Baked by Melissa, a successful bakery specializing in mini cupcakes, exported its flavors to a line of Native personal care products. https://www.instagram.com/p/CYTzdvGrj9n/ The product line of deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash is sold at Target. While there, I bought the vanilla body wash. As… Continue reading Bathing the senses in cupcakes
Of metropolitan cupcakes
A recent story about cookies began with a noteworthy reference to cupcakes. While cupcakes are still very much alive and well these days, we’ve seen a recent boom in cookies ...— The 9 best cookie delivery services in NYC That tone is a marked departure from the all-too-common media attitude of negativity and cynicism about… Continue reading Of metropolitan cupcakes
Year of Cupcakes in the Delicious Metropolis
My 2022 theme is Year of Cupcakes in the Delicious Metropolis. It’s inspired by the title of a Wayne Thiebaud book, which came to mind when I learned of the artist’s late December death. I foresee a year of things in 2s and pairs. There are a lot of 2s in 2022. My social media… Continue reading Year of Cupcakes in the Delicious Metropolis
Sensing Thiebaud’s ‘Delicious Metropolis’
When news of artist Wayne Thiebaud’s death circulated, I only had to look up to appreciate his work. I have an archival poster of the book The Physiology of Taste, crediting Thiebaud as the illustrator. The poster depicts a 1994 limited edition by Arion Press. After attending a holiday book fair at the Writer’s Center,… Continue reading Sensing Thiebaud’s ‘Delicious Metropolis’
Artistic cupcake canvas
The coolest kids in New York are pro-cupcake. The coolest kids are Carolina Wang and Benny Emeri, the pair behind EATGOODNYC. They’ve created supremely artistic cupcakes for Beyoncé, Gigi Hadid, the Hamilton musical, MTV, pro sports teams, and other clients that are household names. They recently spoke on an entrepreneurship panel, during which Wang addressed… Continue reading Artistic cupcake canvas
Cakes in the biz
Celebrities — they’re just like us when it comes to cake. In honor of today’s National Cake Day, here are some scenes of cakes in the movies. A Magnolia Bakery cake appears in Taylor Swift’s new short film All Too Well. This article helpfully explains how civilians can get a taste for themselves. https://www.facebook.com/PopSugar/posts/3975865869116521 Sex… Continue reading Cakes in the biz
When cupcakes meet technology
Here’s a study in time to mark today’s National Vanilla Cupcake Day. You can buy a pre-packaged Magnolia cupcake at a high-tech Amazon Go store, with its automated gates that you scan to enter and cashierless transactions that know what you’ve purchased. It’s grab-and-go in its most literal form. When the bakery opened in 1996,… Continue reading When cupcakes meet technology
‘Cupcakes keep the lights on’
To baker Don Donneruno, “Cupcakes keep the lights on” is more than a cocktail party quip. In the Before Times, he was a Long Island, N.Y., custom cake designer. When that specialty lost viability, he opened a cupcakery with a decisive mantra. https://twitter.com/Newsday/status/1447864728643117056 This excerpt of the preceding story speaks volumes. “When Donneruno went to… Continue reading ‘Cupcakes keep the lights on’
Pro-cupcake in Illinois and Oklahoma
Here’s an interesting clue drawing my attention to Illinois and Oklahoma. Tallying searches for pumpkin spice foods, Google Trends finds that the cupcake is the most searched item in those two states. Nerdist reported the critical findings in “The Strange Pumpkin Spice Foods Each State Is Searching For.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CT99MJ_Nxa8/ My curiosity is piqued. Further research… Continue reading Pro-cupcake in Illinois and Oklahoma
Bullish
In June, Magnolia Bakery changed ownership. The new owner, RSE Ventures, obviously bought the company to grow it. Weeks later came news that Hickory Farms bought Wicked Good Cupcakes, a Boston company with a Shark Tank claim to fame. When the cupcakery appeared on the show, history was made. Kevin O’Leary says it was his… Continue reading Bullish
Fruitful
Welp. Hot Cake Summer turned out … not so peachy. My only travel was a day trip to New Hope, Pennsylvania, to see the stage show of Is There Still Sex in the City? It was inconvenient to be there without a car and that inhibited field research. I had mapped plans to visit a… Continue reading Fruitful
Carrie cupcakes, 2021 version
The Magnolia Bakery cupcake made famous by Sex and the City is named the Carrie. The pink-frosted vanilla cupcake appeared in a July 2000 episode, a seismic moment that still reverberates. Magnolia is currently observing its 25th birthday and part of the celebration involved Carrie Dragshaw, a.k.a. Dan Clay. The renowned impersonator took pictures with… Continue reading Carrie cupcakes, 2021 version
Ice cream loves cupcakes
Cupcakes are patriotic and ice cream is America’s favorite dessert. The two joined forces this Fourth of July, among other playdates. Best known for its milkshakes loaded with jumbo slices of cake and piles of other garnishes, Black Tap has collaborated with Magnolia Bakery for years. For Valentines Day 2021, the duty fell to red… Continue reading Ice cream loves cupcakes
Classic and modern
Hot Cake Summer begins with … things that aren’t cake. The classic French kouign amann and the contemporary cookie dough concept consumed my fieldwork for Kouign Amann Day and National Cookie Dough Day on June 20 and 21, respectively. Kouign Amann Day is the brainchild of the excellent B. Patisserie in San Francisco. During a… Continue reading Classic and modern
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 