Rejected cupcakes for Jon Friedman's Rejected book party

My good friend, comedian, producer, writer and generally funny guy Jon Friedman (who I interviewed way back in 2005 in what I called "our funniest cupcake interview yet" - which I think still stands) runs a comedy show called The Rejection Show and just edited a book called Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped, and Canceled. His cousin Melissa Schack (also a Cupcakes Take the Cake interviewee) is just as into cupcakes as we are and blogs at Life in a Peanut Shell. She made cupcakes for last night's book party, which were sadly gone by the time I arrived very late (we seem destined not to meet).

Here's what she said about her cupcakes:

Tonight is the 'Rejected' book release party and what's a party without cupcakes? I offered my services to supply rejected cupcakes for tonight's festivities. I made hundreds of mini red velvets with chocolate and vanilla buttercream topped with red 'X's which I made from red candy melts. The idea for the X's came when I thought about the show Family Feud. Whenever a contestant got an answer wrong they would flash a huge red X! So, in my mind...X's denote rejection! I also made.......


"NO" cupcakes! These cuppies were vanilla cake using piped vanilla buttercream. I figured I could pretty much pipe anything negative on these cupcakes to represent the idea of rejection and "no" definitely qualifies as the #1 indication of rejection

I also must recommend this book, which, to my knowledge, doesn't have anything directly about cupcakes, but is extremely funny and inspiring if you've ever been rejected, from anything. There are relationship rejections as well as rejections from Saturday Night Live Weekend Update and The New Yorker and more. And for the record, I say that even though I myself got rejected from Rejected. But I forgive Jon cause he's one of the nicest people I know, and also very cute.

I'm sure there's a cupcake rejection story or 100 to be told as well...sometimes I bring cupcakes to parties and people decline, and I always wonder why. Not that they have to like cupcakes, but when people categorically say, "I don't like cupcakes," I am never quite sure how to respond. Usually it's with a mental, "More for me."