What are cupcakes? Premise of my book. Answer to a Jeopardy question. https://twitter.com/sprinkles/status/1041397387623911426

Bakery customers delighted in the Sept. 10 opening of Magnolia Bakery’s first D.C. store. https://www.instagram.com/p/BnbR31lgZHW There was outright glee that looked like this. There was wide-eyed curiosity. Floor-to-ceiling glass physically separated customers from onlookers, but they were visually united in their attraction to the quizzical commotion. What is this? Is it a mirage, an illusion… Continue reading Magnolia Bakery D.C. opens ‘with liberty and cupcakes for all’

When I took a food writing class in July 2017, I wasn’t a baker, just a theoretical cupcakologist. Students were assigned to write a recipe. We had been told that minor changes to another chef’s recipe weren’t copyright violations, so this became my strategic approach. My recipe adapted the Georgetown Cupcake coconut cupcake recipe. I… Continue reading Progress

It was an educational thrill to experiment with sponge cake for today’s National Sponge Cake Day. The batter was fluffy and airy and the cupcakes were beautifully domed while baking. But they deflated unattractively as they cooled. The taste was stellar and the learning opportunity worthwhile. I glazed my experimental sponge cake cupcakes with the… Continue reading Insightfully soaked

My research focuses on three cupcakeries of national consequence. I use the food calendar to push me outside my routine and taste new flavors at these and other bakeries. It sometimes leads me to new stores and neighborhoods, but not today. For the first time, each of my three leading bakeries is serving a cupcake… Continue reading In triplicate

https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1022268771480821760 You told me about Guerrilla Tacos. I left the city of angels after two odd decades. I returned for a visit last June. You spoke to our scholarly assembly. Most of us were outsiders. You dissolved us of notions of high and low. You told us about Guerrilla Tacos. It was fine dining but… Continue reading Golden impression

Thanks to a recent acquisition, I turned today’s National Milk Chocolate Day into a teachable moment. According to The Sprinkles Baking Book, the bakery uses Tcho chocolate, among other brands. I visited that booth at the Fancy Food Show and came away with research material. My independent study is just a nibble today. I’ll use… Continue reading Chocolate education

Along the lines of my tapioca time travel, I’m feeling nostalgic and curious about recent food holidays. For National Ice Cream Sundae Day, my thoughts turned to the classic sundae I remember eating at Friendly’s as a child. It looks just like this: https://www.instagram.com/p/BkA64ZNA9Ee National Coffee Milkshake Day made me think of the frappes my… Continue reading Memorable ice cream

Two national corporations are entering the D.C. cupcake market. Kansas-based Smallcakes is a 200-store chain that opened in July in Arlington, Va. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlHKRC5H_Jj/ Pop-culture phenomenon Magnolia Bakery is opening at Union Station in the coming months. The executive chef points the way. https://www.instagram.com/p/BkdwTkmhn3n The bakery will occupy a high-traffic corner in the country’s second busiest… Continue reading New corporate cupcakes in D.C.

It’s World Emoji Day and activation of the cupcake emoji certainly means the world to me. It’s visible only on Twitter for desktop right now, but cause for celebration nonetheless. https://twitter.com/Cupcakology/status/1019231856699564032

I haven’t blogged recently because I was getting ready for a New York trip to the Fancy Food Show. I’ve been here for five days, overexerting and overeating. And overthinking, as always. Right now, in 2018, an almond butter company is releasing a new flavor: cupcake. https://www.instagram.com/p/BkqUVgFhBbk/ It’s good and tastes like vanilla buttercream. Its… Continue reading Flavor of cupcake

On this National Cheesemakers Day, I give thanks to those who enable cream cheese frosting. I tip my hat to Angela Miller, a top literary agent who is also a cheesemaker. https://www.instagram.com/p/BjiwF7aBpnv While we’re on the subject, I salute the longstanding, independent retailers who make it so enjoyable to buy the cheesemakers’ products.  

The enduring Manhattan conflict – how to attend two or more simultaneous events – unfolded at noon on June 6. Food fashionistas had the option of lining up for the Museum of Ice Cream grand opening or getting a free Carrie cupcake for the Magnolia Bakery celebration of Sex and the City’s 20th anniversary. To… Continue reading One day in the glam game: ice cream defeats cupcakes

Somehow it’s National Gingerbread Day in summer. Since I’m not in charge, I can take it or leave it. I do recall studying these last December as happy, merry, jolly research. https://www.instagram.com/p/BdIaz3slwqU/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BcNZyCcliDN