Today marks National Cupcake Day (like we really need an excuse to eat cupcakes). I’d like to think I jumped on the cupcake wagon before there even was one. There’s just something about their individuality that I love. No need to commit to a single cake flavor and please a crowd—a dozen assorted cupcakes means there’s something for everyone (except maybe those extra picky eaters). And you’re never required to share. Even if you get a monster cupcake from someplace like Crumbs, it’s an unsaid rule—one cupcake feeds one person. It might be the size of three slices of cake, but it’s a “single serving”, so you don’t feel as bad.
Cupcakes like most comfort foods have a way of making you feel better, or worse, or however you’re looking to feel. It might have something to do with the full pound of butter and sugar enough to fill a bath tub, or it could just be that these small individual cakes have the ability to take on their own personalities. So today, (or any day, really) treat yourself to a cupcake that fits how you’re feeling.
I thought long and hard about this, but I will not be making Christmas cupcakes this year. Generally I bring something to my family’s Christmas Eve dinner and really wanted to bring cupcakes, but it’s just going to be too difficult. My dessert making will take place in my mom’s kitchen and while my mom’s a good cook/baker, she’s not a cupcake maker. Meaning I would have to schlep my piping tools, cupcake scoop, liners to her place, along with the rest of our clothes for the next 4 days and presents. And while my mom’s kitchen is FAR MORE exquisite than my shabby Brooklyn rental (that I’m not willing to invest any money I can’t take with me in) kitchen, it lacks one essential appliance.
Brooklyn Locavore 