The morning began innocently enough. I posted a chocolate hazelnut cupcake for today’s National Hazelnut Cake Day. Then I scanned the news with eyes only half open. Wait, what? https://twitter.com/CharlesPassy/status/1399736093025738753 This is an earthquake. There are pieces to gather and questions to investigate.

Bakers crafted cookies and cakes for the Friends reunion that aired this week. North of the border, Toronto bakery creates epic Central Perk cake in honour of the Friends reunion special. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPYBzvapVc8/ Let there be friendly cupcakes. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPWmAA0JI24/ Revealed: the Toulouse cookie recipe. https://twitter.com/bakemag/status/1395771378469593088 Years earlier, Sprinkles commemorated the show’s 25th anniversary. https://twitter.com/bakemag/status/1177961291501248512

Following their trendsetting quarantine cakes, Butter& has updated the message accordingly. https://www.instagram.com/p/CNazknhpK93/ As pictured in this story, a Singaporean bakery has created vaccine-themed cupcakes and layer cakes. In this year of their 25th anniversary, Magnolia Bakery opened a new store near Central Park. https://twitter.com/magnoliabakery/status/1382687916481245188 And another in the train station. https://www.instagram.com/p/CP_O6Tvp7uu/ The Biden administration is… Continue reading Spring 2021 cupcake news

That’s the rhetorical question Sprinkles asked to market its new line of chocolate bars, released in early April. In flavor and appearance, the bars are modeled after cupcakes. Shaped like a round of frosting bearing Sprinkles’ trademarked modern dot, the four flavors are red velvet, sprinkle, dark chocolate, and black and white. A black and… Continue reading ‘Why stop at cupcakes?’

Once again, cake becomes the medium to deliver a poignant and timely activist message. Bakers developed these statements in response to the most recent case of deadly injustice. https://www.instagram.com/p/CMSQQFwHphw/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CM0Myr2Fg5M/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMkgBBzBNXS/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMiIhRulzI7/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMztrzJBCtS/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMnjuC-n23j/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMkKJK-Ffbs/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CMpCWGwBtpQ/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CL7lXBkpwzk/

Makers have developed countless products and lifestyle experiences inspired by cupcakes. The offerings last decade include cupcake camp, a cupcake cruise, and every imaginable piece of apparel, textiles, jewelry, fashion accessories, and home décor. A spectacularly successful t-shirt company bases its brand on cupcakes and designs its shops to resemble bakeries. Among the cupcake-flavored foods… Continue reading Inspired by cupcakes

A pair of entrepreneurs developed a single-serving , handheld pizza snack they call the pizza cupcake. Let’s sit with that for a moment. They could have called it a pizza muffin, bite, bomb, or puff. They chose cupcake for a reason. Their pizzas are cupcake-sized, but the obvious similarity ends there. They saw value in… Continue reading Shark bites pizza cupcake

Because imitation is flattery, I converted an Ice Cream Jubilee idea into cupcakes. The ice creamery created a flavor honoring Madam VP-elect Kamala Harris. It contains cardamom — an ingredient in Indian ice cream, kulfi — and Amaretto, representing California almonds. This inspired me to bake cardamom almond cupcakes for the occasion. Here are other… Continue reading Cupcakes for Kamala

2020 and the first week of 2021 proved that everything popularly known or assumed can crumble — including daily routines, one’s sense of socio-economic security, and democracy. Now comes the task of rebuilding and reformulating. The script needs to be rewritten. The recipe needs to be redeveloped. Cakes and societies only rise if they contain… Continue reading Year of Cupcakes and Recipe Redevelopment

Bakeries are using cake and cupcakes as the media for New Year’s messages. The cakes are cynical, inflammatory, vulgar, and emotionally honest expressions of the year that was. Deploying cake-based commentary, consensus says it is “time to flush 2020.” Cake and photo by Oakmont Bakery in the Pittsburgh area. Here is another offering from Oakmont Bakery, which… Continue reading ‘Time to flush 2020’

I named 2020 the Year of Optimal Vision and Cupcakes of Gold. Amidst the turbulence, I optimized my vision and made an essential move to achieve enrichment. Not surprisingly, I found a cupcake to symbolize the concept. This Sprinkles collaboration with Skrewball peanut butter whiskey bears the tagline “Skrew 2020, cheers 2021.” Its base of… Continue reading Optimization

Two leading cupcake bakers are filling their ovens with pies nowadays. Gigi Butler left the cupcake business entirely and opened Pies by Gigi in her home state of Tennessee this year. Butler founded Gigi’s Cupcakes in Nashville in 2008. Once operating more than 100 stores, it was the largest cupcake chain in the country for a time.… Continue reading Cupcakes into pieholes

I’m giving myself a caffeine buzz on this National Coffee Day. With coffee as my version of liquid courage, I hereby claim the title of ‘influencer.’ You see, I think my retweet caused a newspaper to follow suit. The day it was published, I bookmarked a story about coffee cupcakes, mindful today’s dedicated holiday was… Continue reading #Influencer

Consume this cookie commentary with thoughts on 2020. https://twitter.com/bakemag/status/1301611012399996930 Earlier, cupcakes were the canvas for a racial-justice statement. https://twitter.com/ClydesCupcakes/status/1270038660445089794 Years ago, this Sprinkles message proved controversial. https://twitter.com/sprinkles/status/912061801260515328 When the 2020 coronavirus impact first hit in March, bakeries immediately responded by putting public-health messages on cupcakes. Others created chocolate cakes resembling 💩 and toilet paper.

Bill Gates baked a cake for Warren Buffet’s birthday. https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1300110509455282176 It was cake. Cake. Not cookies, not pie, not brownies, not an ice cream sundae. Cake. Cake is the device that represents emotion. Cake evokes layers of meaning with diverse textures. Given the characters here, I’m classifying this post within my Optimal Vision and Cupcakes… Continue reading Bill bakes Buffet

America’s hunger for justice is palpable. When professional pastry chefs are the ones to satisfy the hunger, it’s also righteously palatable. Baked goods were the fundraising mechanism behind Bakers Against Racism, an international bake sale to benefit racial-justice organizations. The brainchild of three Washington, D.C., chefs, the bake sale included both professionals and amateur home… Continue reading Cupcakes against racism

Teenagers and younger children opened cupcake bakeries during the coronavirus pandemic.

Johnny Cupcakes is a t-shirt brand based on a symbolic cupcake. This Tweet shows founder Johnny Earle wearing the company logo of a cupcake and crossbones. https://twitter.com/SpeakersDotCa/status/1161271203270709249 Here’s the company’s first bakery-inspired store, located in Boston. https://twitter.com/JohnnyCupcakes/status/861665894665203712 The stores look and smell like a cupcakery, but no cupcakes are sold. Except when they are, for purposes… Continue reading When a cupcake is not a cupcake

Consumers have set their sights on Hostess cupcakes for more than 100 years. https://twitter.com/Hostess_Snacks/status/1245030878583099394 Pandemic or not, Hostess CEO Andy Callahan told Yahoo news that the cupcake persists as the undisputed sales leader. “Our No. 1 product and the No. 1-selling cupcake in America is our cupcake,” Callahan said in the Yahoo interview. The executive… Continue reading Time tested