Cupcake craze

With the cupcake craze in full effect, I decided to take the plunge and try a few places out, Sweet Honeybee, Sweet Mandy B's, Molly's, etc, and although they were all great, I'm still at a loss to figure out what the big deal is. I enjoy a cupcake as much as the next person but paying in some cases, 4.00 per cupcake is ridiculous! Where did this craze originate from and do you think it will last or die off like the krispy cremes phase? What are they putting in these reciepies that make these cupcakes superior to something you could make at home? Is it all about the various creamy icings that accompany the cupcake that draw people in? Anyhow just wondered what others on here thought about this. Btw the cupcakes at Fox and Obel bakery section are larger than any of these boutique establishments, just as moist and at 2.99, a better deal imho.

I think the "craze" has passed and its more of a lingering trend now. As far as what makes a cupcake good, it's cake and icing, so however good those two components are will determine the overall quality. Sweet Mandy B's uses natural, high quality ingredients, and whoever's in charge of the baking must really understand pastry work. The place has great cupcakes!

bnowell724 wrote:I think the "craze" has passed and its more of a lingering trend now.

I agree and thank goodness. I really dislike cupcakes. Just eat cake.

FoodSnob77 wrote:I enjoy a cupcake as much as the next person but paying in some cases, 4.00 per cupcake is ridiculous!

FWIW, I had a cupcake from Luscious Layers in Bucktown a few months ago, made I think in the same vein as other fancy cupcakes around town. The most surprising thing about it (besides maybe the strawberries baked in the cake) was the price--I want to say it was about $2, possibly less. So, if you're a cupcake person and looking for more value, Luscious Layers might be worth a visit.

Luscious Layers
2315 N Damen
Chicago IL 60647
773-661-1335
http://www.lusciouslayers.com/

The craze started due to the Magnolia Bakery in NYC. The place had lines out the door and they made a fortune.

I still can't understand why cupcake shops bother people. Better than a vacant storefront or a Subway. I bought one for my boy at Swirlz in Lincoln Park (he was stuck in the hospital across the street). He appreciated it very much. Bought another one at Cupcake Counter downtown for my assistant who has been struggling with IT problems. Seemed to brighten her day.

Where did this craze originate from and do you think it will last or die off like the krispy cremes phase? What are they putting in these reciepies that make these cupcakes superior to something you could make at home? Is it all about the various creamy icings that accompany the cupcake that draw people in? Anyhow just wondered what others on here thought about this.

My thoery on the cupcake craze is that people want the combination of cake and icing, but don't want to buy a cake, either because they are single or part of a couple and won't finish it, or feel guilty if they do buy a cake. A cupcake is a portion controlled cake.

Why people don't make them at home is a combination of not knowing how to bake, or if they do, it's pretty difficult to make just a couple of cupcakes. You end up with a lot, which is contrary to the whole rationale for buying cupcakes in the first place.

rickster wrote:

Where did this craze originate from and do you think it will last or die off like the krispy cremes phase? What are they putting in these reciepies that make these cupcakes superior to something you could make at home? Is it all about the various creamy icings that accompany the cupcake that draw people in? Anyhow just wondered what others on here thought about this.

My thoery on the cupcake craze is that people want the combination of cake and icing, but don't want to buy a cake, either because they are single or part of a couple and won't finish it, or feel guilty if they do buy a cake. A cupcake is a portion controlled cake.

Why people don't make them at home is a combination of not knowing how to bake, or if they do, it's pretty difficult to make just a couple of cupcakes. You end up with a lot, which is contrary to the whole rationale for buying cupcakes in the first place.

Exactly. Also, the inherent cuteness of them. And the fact that when you make a cake, you pretty much have to do the same frosting/toppings on the whole thing and with cupcakes, you can have different toppings on each one. I guess you could do half and half or whatever, but it wouldn't look as good as a dozen unique cupcakes.

~An unabashed cupcake lover

I've done a mini Tour de Cupcake around town before. This was more than a year ago, and the winner, Chicago Cupcakes, has since closed. However, I deeply enjoyed Molly's and Swirlz, for different reasons. But when I get a cupcake craving and a drive into the city won't do I tend to hit up Butterfinger's Bakery right here in Highland. In my opinion they serve fantastic cupcakes - the cake is moist but not dense, the frosting is whipped and light as air. Cupcakes aren't their main business, and they tend only to have one flavor a day, but the best are their coconut and their lemon. The lemon in particular is absolutely out of this world.

Butterfinger's Bakery
2552 45th Ave.
Highland, IN 46322
219-924-6464

rickster wrote:

Why people don't make them at home is a combination of not knowing how to bake, or if they do, it's pretty difficult to make just a couple of cupcakes. You end up with a lot, which is contrary to the whole rationale for buying cupcakes in the first place.

Two and a half minute from scratch chocolate cake I've had to ban this recipe from my kitchen, but it makes the equivalent of a couple cupcakes.

While I'm no big cupcake fanboy/aficionado, another advantage is that they are good on-the-go food and do not require fork (as opposed to a regular slice of cake).

Anyone tried this?

http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2009/09/t ... ake_i.html

"From the twisted minds at More Cupcakes comes a wallet-baiting creation on par with a thousand-dollar pizza or $165 martini: the $75 white truffle cupcake. The savory creation is built on a base of white truffle-infused cake, topped with bacon frosting (of course) and crowned with a thorough snow of shaved fresh white truffles. If you set aside a mere five bucks a day, you'll have enough socked away by its debut in early October, at the start of white truffle season."

rickster wrote:

Why people don't make them at home is a combination of not knowing how to bake, or if they do, it's pretty difficult to make just a couple of cupcakes. You end up with a lot, which is contrary to the whole rationale for buying cupcakes in the first place.

Cupcakes are pretty easy to make at home, and I make them frequently . . . for myself, and I bring the overflow into the office for co-workers (and each time am the hero of the day). Though I sometimes use the cake mix and make frosting for them I find using the Krusteaz brand products easy to use and the finished products are ones I enjoy eating (cranberry/orange with pecans or walnuts or other things I toss-in during the mixing process). The only cupcakes I purchase out of the house are from Hostess - to which I could become easily addicted for all the wrong reasons.

For what it's worth, cupcakes freeze very well, frosting and all, in the cupcake size of those disposable food containers from gladware, etc. (As long as your cupcake doesn't have a huge mound of frosting on the top.) When you're ready to eat one, just take it out of the freezer, take the lid off, and a half hour or so later you're good to go.

Matt wrote:While I'm no big cupcake fanboy/aficionado, another advantage is that they are good on-the-go food and do not require fork (as opposed to a regular slice of cake).

Not on subject, but I always laugh when I see the Seinfeld episode where they are using a knife and fork on a candy bar. So it may not be out of the realm that some do use flatware to eat them.

I can kind of fall on either side of this argument. On one hand, more is one of my favorite places PERIOD... not just cupcake bakeries. Maybe it's because they do savory cupcakes so damn well that they just don't compare to the others around town; they're in a whole 'nother leage. The foie gras-sauternes is one of the greatest foods I have ever eaten! Then on the sweet side, I swoon for the salted caramel (I like to refrigerate it over night, let the caramel and frosting firm up, then cut into the dense UBER-rich cake with knife and fork Mmmmmm)

Then on the other hand, i roll my eyes and am SICK to death of all the new cupcakeries. Enough already! All I need is more. Leave it at that. Sugar Bliss, Swirlz and Molly's are the ones I've tried and I am not a fan. Not a fan at all. And the frosting on the Southport Grocery Cafe cupcakes tastes like nothing but whipped confectioner's sugar.

On a slightly different note, I am still waiting patiently for doughnuts to become "trendy" and get their due time in the spotlight. I would patronize a doughnut bakery in a hot second.

-M@

I have to post on this -- my wife and I were there at the very beginning of the cupcake craze, and on a trip up and down the east coast we made a point of trying the cupcakes at a variety of bakeries in D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. We've also tried all the usual places in Chicago. Our favorite cupcake anywhere is served at Sweet Mandy B's. The cooked buttercream frostings used by places like CakeLove and Swirlz are, to my mind, just inappropriate for a cupcake, which should be rich and decadent. All you need is simplicity and high quality ingredients, and to my mind nothing beats a traditional american buttercream.

My thoery on the cupcake craze is that people want the combination of cake and icing, but don't want to buy a cake, either because they are single or part of a couple and won't finish it, or feel guilty if they do buy a cake. A cupcake is a portion controlled cake.

Why people don't make them at home is a combination of not knowing how to bake, or if they do, it's pretty difficult to make just a couple of cupcakes. You end up with a lot, which is contrary to the whole rationale for buying cupcakes in the first place.

Yes, as a single girl, who enjoys sugar, it's perfect for me. I can get my fix in a few bites and not feel guilty about a cake lingering around my apartment calling my name. I do bake, a lot, but again I have 12 cupcakes staring at me when sometimes all I want is one.


Edited - quotes didn't come over the first time.

I have not heard Bleeding Heart Organic Bakery mentioned, but they have some pretty legit cupcakes (check out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebleedingheartbakery/sets/72157604060000661/) in a wide range of cool flavors... Also, on Mondays, it's 2 for 1 on anything there. Y'all should check it out if you haven't already. 1955 W. Belmont.

Shaggywillis wrote:Yes, as a single girl, who enjoys sugar, it's perfect for me. I can get my fix in a few bites and not feel guilty about a cake lingering around my apartment calling my name. I do bake, a lot, but again I have 12 cupcakes staring at me when sometimes all I want is one.

I get that. As a guy who lives by myself, I know that if I have an entire cake in the fridge I will consume nothing but cake until the whole thing is gone and then return to real food.

That said, why a cupcake? Why not a slice of cake? I regularly go to A Taste of Heaven for a delicious slice of cake. Convenient, portion-controlled, and not in an inferior format (warning: anti-cupcake rant).

-Dan

I find it so much more satisfying to get a slice of cake, when I'm looking for a sweet confection. I'm partial to the thick wedges of tres leches (or the almighty chocoflan) at Kristoffer's Cafe in Pilsen. Hard to beat it!

~M@

My thoery on the cupcake craze is that people want the combination of cake and icing

Me, I just want the icing. I consider the cake, whatever size it is, merely a construction platform.

Katie wrote:

My thoery on the cupcake craze is that people want the combination of cake and icing

Me, I just want the icing. I consider the cake, whatever size it is, merely a construction platform.

You'd love the frosting shots a lot of these cupcake-only places sell, then...

The cupcake craze has gone international - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/dinin ... ref=dining

Dave148 wrote:The cupcake craze has gone international - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/dinin ... ref=dining

Sacrilege! Infidel! Better than knafa?

Habibi wrote:

Dave148 wrote:The cupcake craze has gone international - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/dinin ... ref=dining

Sacrilege! Infidel! Better than knafa?

Wait until all of the hamburger joints start popping up.

For those of you who are wont to avoid the mess that a cupcake sometimes results in, I encourage you to rip the bottom off (just like you might with muffin to isolate the muffintop), turn the bottom part over and put it on top of the icing: voila - cupcake sandwich.

It certainly reduces the icing mess on your face and fingers (and perhaps that's something you're interested in so disregard this post). I also think it results in a better overall taste experience as it normalizes the cake to icing distribution.

uvasabri wrote:For those of you who are wont to avoid the mess that a cupcake sometimes results in, I encourage you to rip the bottom off (just like you might with muffin to isolate the muffintop), turn the bottom part over and put it on top of the icing: voila - cupcake sandwich.

It certainly reduces the icing mess on your face and fingers (and perhaps that's something you're interested in so disregard this post). I also think it results in a better overall taste experience as it normalizes the cake to icing distribution.

Ahem.

I knew I should have written "patent pending" on my original post

Khaopaat wrote:Ahem.

I knew I should have written "patent pending" on my original post

Umm... perhaps you should read downthread a bit - afterall, a Cupcake Sammie is really just a whoopie pie, ehh?

-Dan

What is this world coming to?! If we're going to eat cupcake sandwiches, we might as well have cheeseburger cupcakes.

Sharon "learning how to be snarky" Stomach

happy_stomach wrote:What is this world coming to?! If we're going to eat cupcake sandwiches, we might as well have cheeseburger cupcakes.

And meat cupcakes

-Dan

I think cupcakes are the perfect hand food, but in the past I would just make my own for my son or myself if I had a craving. I have to admit that I totally got caught up when I visited NYC this summer and ended up standing in line at Magnolia Bakery (yeah, I know).....I realize that I can't seem to find a commerical cupcake better that Sweet Mandy B's right here in the Chicago. I dream about these from time to time! They are the best in my opinion, but I have yet to try the ones from MORE.