Cupcake Madness

Food trends come and go, but will that be the case of the cupcake?

I never thought it would come to this, but I think I have grown tired of them.

I have, since childhood, regarded the cupcake as the Holy Grail of baked goods. Set in its very own little paper or foil cup, the cupcake is an individual cake, that when topped with just the right amount of frosting, brings together cake and icing in perfect balance. Everything about a great cupcake is simple. They are never too much, nor too little. They are non-committal and leave me feeling regret-free. Sure they're a little girly and probably best for kids. But, really, who can resist? Not me. Up until this afternoon.

As I tried to kill a little time before my last guest segment on Martha Stewart Radio, I popped into a certain famous seller of cupcakes on 6th Avenue. I ordered a banana cupcake with chocolate frosting. The cake was leaden and dry. The frosting was cloyingly sweet and also dry. It took me 30 minutes to navigate through the many lines and clusters of confused customers. And when it was all said and done, I was out $2.75. While that's not a ton of cash, it certainly wasn't cheap. Do the math and a dozen-and-a-half cupcakes there would cost me at least $30 more than it would to have purchased a box of cake mix, a tub of frosting and made them myself. Sure it would have taken me more than a half hour to whip them up, but it also would have saved me a headache.

And it's not just these guys dishing out half-baked goods. Sub-par selections are being sold from storefronts across the nation and beyond, from pushcarts and food trucks, at flea markets and farmer's markets! They're invading the wonderful world of sweets! Last night I saw a cupcake from another "gourmet" bakery that had so much food coloring in its batter that I was afraid it might be poisonous. It looked like a Grateful Dead t-shirt gone very wrong. All it needed was sprinkles in the shape of little bears. It's just too much!

I will always consider myself a lover of all small treats. If you put the words miniature and sugar together, it doesn't take much to sweeten the deal to sell me. However, I am really sick of cupcakes. So, fellow Americans, who are always so good about setting the next trend, can we please just move on to something else?

 

Comments

[tablesedge]

06:04 PM on 08/27/2010

I made the mistake of saying I hate cup cakes on my thesidetre­k blog. Oh boy, it set off a firestorm.

[Jamie Schler]

11:32 AM on 08/18/2010

I thought that they said that macarons were the new cupcake?

[violettefemme]

02:03 PM on 08/17/2010

Sick of cupcakes?

Never!

Sick of the corporate greed that is leading to icky cupcakes? Definitely­.

I personally just want a well made cupcake, it doesn't have to be the "be all and end all" cupcake of my life! It just has to be good. It does not have to recreate the experience of another dessert, and it does not have to incorporat­e espresso, or cigars, or whiskey.

Just be a d@mn good cupcake, is that too much to ask?

[McHale Ann Haiman]

05:16 AM on 08/16/2010

I enjoy cupcakes because they seem to have a better cake to frosting ratio than regular cake and I can't seem to find a cake that does not have too much frosting. Also cupcakes tend to have stiffer frosting, which is also nice. But I can buy cupcakes, this overwhelmi­ng need to have everything­, including television programs, about cupcakes is starting to take its tole. However, before I insist on cupcakes taking their final bow, I want bacon to step down. I don't under stand this need to make everything fattier and fattier by the second. Bacon is just salty grease flavor. It is a completely unnecessar­y meat product due to the fact that it has no meat content to it, it is simply salty, fan fried fat.

[mbecktel]

12:54 AM on 08/16/2010

Oh please don't let the next trend be cake balls!

[Ceci A]

11:22 PM on 08/18/2010

lol cake balls? I've never heard of such thing, I will have to google that

[Ric NYC]

12:37 PM on 08/12/2010

"Yes... Thank you, Cupcakes!

Don't let the door hit you on the way out... SLAM!!!"

[WarriorLemming]

10:46 PM on 08/11/2010

QUOTE:
"Last night I saw a cupcake from another "gourmet" bakery that had so much food coloring in its batter that I was afraid it might be poisonous.­"

Stop! You're making me hungry, man! ;D

[Yalegirl03]

05:59 PM on 08/11/2010

I hope not. I am just getting into cupcakes. I love filled ones. I've made chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes with macerated strawberry centers and a cooked chocolate flour based frosting topped with a fresh strawberry­. It was the best thing ever. Tomorrow I am making lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling and later coconut milk cupcakes for my dad's birthday. Cupcakes are fun and come in friendly portion sizes. I don't think they are a fad but a staple. But, I do find it silly that people wait hours in line for fancy cupcakes at trendy shops.

[sonoffestus]

02:45 PM on 08/11/2010

I'm tired of $3.00 cookies as well.

[KarenM]

11:37 AM on 08/11/2010

Perhaps you'd like blueberry corn muffins better? Don't forget to sprinkle some sugar on top.

[Tibibosh]

08:31 AM on 08/11/2010

Nothing like a good chocolate-­covered cake donut and a cup of black coffee.

[Tommygun264]

08:07 AM on 08/11/2010

If you love food - real food, not just fancy stuff - I recently discovered a free podcast called "The Sporkfull"­. Two guys talking about a different type of food every week. On one episode where they were discussing different types of desserts, one of the hosts referred to cupcakes as "a highly efficient icing delivery system". In most cases, I have to agree - most cupcakes are all about the icing. Only once in a great while do you come across a cupcake that is moist and delicious in its own right, where the icing is more of a compliment to the cake portion. They devoted two whole episodes to peanut butter & jelly sandwiches alone. But be warned - in the three weeks since I started going through "The Sporkfull" episode archives, I've gained five pounds.

[evagorman]

04:54 AM on 08/11/2010

I agree. And I say it's time for the Petit Fours to come to the forefront!­!!

[Dave Cox]

01:09 AM on 08/11/2010

Cupcakes are/were a trend? I need to get out more, I guess. Whatever. But at $2.75 apiece, the cupcake should come with a cup of coffee.

[henrypapillon]

10:59 PM on 08/10/2010

America is full of stupid fads. Young and moderns can't wait to go to the gym and workout---­for better health---a­nd then go get REAL ICE CREAM made with REAL CREAM in it and then go get a cupcake with REAL SHORTENING and REAL FROSTING mad with more REAL SHORTENING­.

[Tommygun264]

07:57 AM on 08/11/2010

All things in moderation­. Have you ever been to France? Heavy creamed sauces, buttery breads and cakes. In Naples I had a magnificen­t creamy custard tart with a layer of dark chocolate lining the flakey, buttery shell, and topped with wild strawberri­es the size of the tip of my pinkie finger down to the first knuckle. Real cream, real butter, real sugar and real fresh fruits - that's why we call them "treats". I'd rather have one decadent treat once every one or two weeks than a bland, synthetic low-calore imitation ever day.

[Tommygun264]

08:09 AM on 08/11/2010

I should note that while I praise the heavy French foods, Naples - where I had the heavenly wild strawberry tart - is a port city in Italy, another country with lots of great food with REAL ingredient­s.

[violettefemme]

02:06 PM on 08/17/2010

"Real" shortening­?

Henry Henry Henry!

BUTTER my friend, real butter!

[henrypapillon]

10:01 PM on 08/17/2010

Fanned. I am so sorry! Julia Child must have done a double spin when I said that! Butter, of course, what was I thinking? Shortening is so lower class. I sha'n't forget again.