In the article "Cupcake Obsession: In Search of Eternal Childhood," Newsweek not only gave us and Johnny Cupcakes a shoutout but also covered the ongoing cultural cupcake obsession, which is a slightly different angle than simply talking about the state of the cupcake bakery business. This is on the heels of Daniel Gross's Newsweek article "The Cupcake Bubble," which in my opinion jumped the gun in calling what's going on a bubble. Mind you, I'm no economist, but I see the cupcake business and cupcake merchandise business growing...and growing. Cupcakes really are everywhere - even in Gwyneth Paltrow's latest GOOP newsletter, where gluten-free cupcake purveyor Erin McKenna of BabyCakes NYC is interviewed and reveals that a second cookbook is in the works, the very-long-awaited Los Angeles BabyCakes will indeed be opening and she's in talks to open another NYC bakery in 2010. Click the GOOP link for McKenna's chocolate cupcake recipe as well as her vanilla frosting rrecipe, among others.
From Newsweek:
At the Johnny Cupcakes stores in Los Angeles, Boston, and Hull, England, you can buy cupcake-emblazoned T shirts. You can buy MAKE CUPCAKES NOT WAR stickers. You can buy skull-and-crossbones-style earrings, with cupcakes instead of skulls. What you can't buy are cupcakes. Johnny Cupcakes is selling the idea of cupcakes—cupcakes as hip postmodern signifier. You might say it's selling cupcakism.
To be a cupcakist is to put your faith in the church of cute and sweet, to believe that childhood is a magical land accessible via a palm-size serving of sugar and fat (and the occasional sprinkle). Blogs like Cupcakes Take the Cake and Everything Cupcakes feature cupcake art, such as a group of the cakes smooshed together and iced to resemble Van Gogh's Starry Night. The suggestion is clear: anything worth doing can be done with cupcakes.
Well, later the piece goes on to say:
Much anti-cupcakist wrath is justified. Margarita mix has no business in a dessert. Baked goods are food, not postimpressionist paintings, and belong on a plate, not a wall. Still, you have to wonder if the cupcake haters aren't guilty of the same misplaced fanaticism as their sugar-happy foes. Yes, dry, overfrosted cupcakes are terrible, but so is dry, overfrosted cake, and you don't see any anti-cake graffiti.
From GOOP:
GOOP: What are your must-have ingredients? And where do you get them?
Erin McKenna: My top 3 must have ingredients are coconut oil (it’s really high in lauric acid, stimulates the thyroid and gives almost identical flavor of butter when used properly), agave nectar (I prefer Organic Nectars – it’s low on the glycemic index, non-toxic and tastes just like sugar without the aftertaste) and Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose baking mix (my whole baking empire would collapse if he went out of business! His product is so incredible). You can get these at health food stores or Whole Foods but if there isn’t one near you, they’re all available online (check out www.nutiva.com, www.organicnectars.com, www.bobsredmill.com)
From Newsweek:
At the Johnny Cupcakes stores in Los Angeles, Boston, and Hull, England, you can buy cupcake-emblazoned T shirts. You can buy MAKE CUPCAKES NOT WAR stickers. You can buy skull-and-crossbones-style earrings, with cupcakes instead of skulls. What you can't buy are cupcakes. Johnny Cupcakes is selling the idea of cupcakes—cupcakes as hip postmodern signifier. You might say it's selling cupcakism.
To be a cupcakist is to put your faith in the church of cute and sweet, to believe that childhood is a magical land accessible via a palm-size serving of sugar and fat (and the occasional sprinkle). Blogs like Cupcakes Take the Cake and Everything Cupcakes feature cupcake art, such as a group of the cakes smooshed together and iced to resemble Van Gogh's Starry Night. The suggestion is clear: anything worth doing can be done with cupcakes.
Well, later the piece goes on to say:
Much anti-cupcakist wrath is justified. Margarita mix has no business in a dessert. Baked goods are food, not postimpressionist paintings, and belong on a plate, not a wall. Still, you have to wonder if the cupcake haters aren't guilty of the same misplaced fanaticism as their sugar-happy foes. Yes, dry, overfrosted cupcakes are terrible, but so is dry, overfrosted cake, and you don't see any anti-cake graffiti.
From GOOP:
GOOP: What are your must-have ingredients? And where do you get them?
Erin McKenna: My top 3 must have ingredients are coconut oil (it’s really high in lauric acid, stimulates the thyroid and gives almost identical flavor of butter when used properly), agave nectar (I prefer Organic Nectars – it’s low on the glycemic index, non-toxic and tastes just like sugar without the aftertaste) and Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose baking mix (my whole baking empire would collapse if he went out of business! His product is so incredible). You can get these at health food stores or Whole Foods but if there isn’t one near you, they’re all available online (check out www.nutiva.com, www.organicnectars.com, www.bobsredmill.com)
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