Saturday, June 9, 2012

Cupcakes

No one seems to know why, but cupcakes have made their way on to the current list of best-loved foods.  They're everywhere....even put together on cake stands to be used as wedding cakes!
(That seems to me to be 'sacreligious'. Wedding cakes should be tall, multi-layered, mountainous things with beautiful decorations,icing pearls and sugar flowers! I don't think that a hand-held cake, no matter how pretty, is fit...or formal...enough for a fancy wedding. )

I have no problem with cupcakes in a brown bag lunch, or a picnic, or a church supper. They travel very well, and are fairly easy to eat without creating a mess, unless they're chocolate or a preschool child!
Old-fashioned cupcakes are really quite convenient for birthday parties. They're about the right size for most people, not too big, not too small. Now-a-days, with the current rage over these treats, they seem to come in all sizes.  I've seen pans for making them, and some of them are huge!  Others are about the size of a half-dollar.  I prefer the routine cupcake size, thank you.

These cakes are causing a good deal of competition among bakers.  Let's see who can, not only make the tastiest of all, but the most uniquely decorated as well.  During the week prior to Superbowl Sunday, someone in (I believe it was) New York came up with the idea of a cornmeal cupcake, with a spicy sauce in the icing and a chicken wing on top!  That, in my opinion, is a bit obsessive..... but, that bakery made a lot of money on those things for Superbown, so obviously I'm dancing to a different band.  

All that being said, my daughter is hosting a birthday party today for her friend's one year old. She was present at his birth, and he's special to her. She created these cakes for the guests.... and I think THOSE are pretty cute!  I guess everything has it's place, and since the house of the hostess this afternoon will sound much like a zoon, these will be perfect!