that's cupcake daaaaahlin'

Last time I made cupcakes they flopped. It was for Marie's wedding shower, last April or May, so almost a year ago. They were red velvet with cream cheese icing. The batter was suspiciously brown. After baking they were even browner and tasted like yick. I ate a bite. Ian ate a whole one. Like Mikey, he'll eat anything. I forgot that whole idea, ran to Food City, and ordered a sheet cake. Apparently it was such a traumatic experience that I failed to blog about it. I've discussed this failure with others and it seems that the recipe I had did not include explicit instructions about how and when to add certain ingredients. In the meantime, I gleaned another recipe, an old family recipe, from a friend. Hope to try it sometime when I'm not dieting (when will that be?)

Another thing: Cupcake mania never made it to East Tennessee. I follow trends in food and other cultural manifestations. You could say I am in the know about a select few things. Should cupcake mania ever come to ET, it will take at least ten years. Sushi came after twenty years and frozen yoghurt sometime in the mid-eighties. I read about frozen youghurt in a Norma Klein novel. Can't recall which one, but I'm sure it was published in the mid-seventies. I was clueless about frozen yoghurt. I had no context for understanding these things. First bagel I had was when I was thriteen. It wasn't from a bakery; no bakeries around here carried bagels as far as I know. And the only reason I got one was because my Jewish friend offered one to snack on while we watched Guiding Light after school.

Since I've not experienced this Cupcake mania personally I tend to regard the trend as other. One of those urban trends that have nothing to do with me. I found an endearing site about cupcakes. It's Cup Cake Bake Shop by chockylit. She is Cheryl Porro a chemical engineer. And she posts her recipes on her blog. The one that makes my mouth water is samoas cupcake. Yum.

SF Chronicle features something about cupcakes and Cheryl Porro. Oh, this explains the trend:

That is, until a couple of years ago. Many of us watched, in mouth-watering envy, as Carrie Bradshaw devoured the perfect little cake on "Sex and the City."  There she was, clad in her designer duds, licking the fluffy pink frosting off her upper lip as she gossiped about her latest conquest.

In an instant, cupcakes became the new Manolo Blahniks.

Those who inhabited Manhattan could get instant gratification, heading to the illustrious Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich Village for one of its pastel-topped treats  --  it took a little longer for the cupcake craze to take hold out West.  

Comments

[McAuliflower]

Oh, how sad... failed cupcakes and lack of cupcake mania. As an eater, I like them because they mean you don't have to share! :) That little cupcake is all yours. As a baker, I love how each cupcake is its own canvas, just ripe to be decorated.

Lovely cupcake books you have in your post there!

[rebecca]

i love how sweet they look & agree with you that they offer a perfect area for delicate decoration. someday soon i'll try another batch....

[LLA]

I remember when Frozen Yogurt came to KPT - we got a TCBY. Everyone thought that it stood for TriCities Best Yogurt. No one could believe that it was "This can't Be Yogurt" - a national chain.....

[bekka]

sad how long it takes things to come here. i got an email about contra dancing in jonesborough coming up on the 29th. i think they've been doing it now for two years or so? can't be sure.

anyhow. when i lived in Greensboro, NC back in 1995--Eleven Years Ago--contra dancing was all the rage.

i tell ya, it takes a decade for stuff to get here. to filter through the fog or something.