Fairycakes

I’ve noticed a lot of press about cupcakes lately.  While personally I prefer pie over cake it’s hard not to be charmed by a cupcake.  They are just the perfect size where you don’t feel like you are over indulging or falling off any resolution bandwagon if you eat one and they are just plain cute.  It’s hard to be cranky and eat a cupcake at the same time.  Go ahead – try it.

There also seems to be a ton of bakeries popping up that specialize in cupcakes.  I don’t remember those growing up – but what fun would that be to work in a cupcake bakery?  My very first job was working in a bakery and I can’t remember if we even sold cupcakes or not.   Can’t you just imagine how fun it would be to have little shop on Main St. and how bright and cheerful it would be?   You could have a couple of little bistro tables and cafe curtains in the window.  It would be adorable.

I wonder why the sudden cupcake renaissance.  I hope it isn’t a passing fad like the creperies and fondue restaurants of the 70’s.  It’s hard to find any history on cupcakes but I think they have been around for some time.  Hostess started making them back in 1919 so I’m thinking they are here to stay. 

I use a super top secret recipe to make my own cupcakes.  And normally I would just throw some sprinkles on top if I was going to embellish at all but yesterday I felt like trying my hand at fondant.  So I bought a kit and made some flowers.  It’s kind of like playing with Playdoh only it tastes marginally better.

I have to figure out the proper ratio of cake to frosting.  Lots of frosting looks good but really most people over the age of six prefer less frosting. 

If you want to see some really spectacular cupcakes look here, here and a blog devoted to the art of cupcakes here.