What Is WITH The Cupcake Thing?
I have nothing against a good cupcake. In point of fact, I really have nothing against any baked good, as my friends will hasten to tell you. Croissants, cakes, clafoutis tarts, I like it all. Cupcakes are perfectly nice; they offer a pleasant, handy bit of dessert with a little childlike charm to it. But really, sometimes I wonder about New Yorkers and the ongoing cupcake trend.
I was saddened to see during my last trip to 71 Irving Place that one of my favorite indulgences, their floppy two-layered carrot cake, had mysteriously transformed itself into A CUPCAKE. Come on, 71. I was was with you even back in the days when you were 57 down the street. I have stuck by you as one of my favorite coffee houses even after the guy with whom I used to visit you and I irrevocably parted ways. You have some of the best food offerings available from a regular coffee house. The cupcake more or less tastes the same, and fine, I can probably use the portion control (a piece of the old cake was twice the size of the cupcake), but what’s wrong with a plain old ordinary piece of cake?
The old carrot cake was sold in big rectangular pieces from a sheet cake that were frosted only between the layers and powdered sugared a little on top so it was the perfect thing to carry around in the wax paper bag and take the occasional bite from, unlike the cupcake, which gets smeary if you put it in a bag. The fact that the frosting was on the inside also protected it from the danger of drying out on top. I was very fond of the carrot cake, and I’m not sure if I can be that fond of a follow-the-trend cupcake. Frankly, it smacks of the compulsive. This is not a cupcake joint whose schtick is the cupcake. It’s a coffee house with all kinds of food offerings, and very edible ones at that. Must there be cupcakes here?
I have to admit that as a girl from outside the city who’s been baking since she was about ten, I sometimes wonder if the New York fascination with cupcakes is because so few New Yorkers bake that they have no idea how dead-easy a cupcake is to make. It’s like making brownies from a box. Do these people have any idea how EASY brownies are from scratch?
Look, I get it. Cupcakes are cute. Cupcakes are fun. But not to the exclusion of cake, please? I like a trip to Buttercup Bakery as well as the next girl. But, please, cupcake revolution, leave my other desserts alone.
I agree with you Kai, that the fascination with the cupcake is proportional to the lack of time spent in the kitchen (especially for baking purposes) by most people these days. I was never a big fan of the cupcake, give me a croissant anyday!!