From an etymological perspective, a cupcake is a cake, but in a cup. A name as commonplace as cupcake, like any word said too many times, loses the emotional connection to its referent, and many have forgotten just how marvelous cupcakes can be.
The cupcake has been steadily gaining popularity ever since Magnolia Bakery in New York City serendipitously started making them from leftover cake batter. What started as a few after-hours cupcake sales in 1996 spawned a cupcake craze that has traveled from New York to L.A. and back again, and is just now making a big splash in the District where cupcakeries abound.
Those jonesin’ for a cake in a cup can go to U Street’s CakeLove, Baked and Wired Bakery off M Street, Georgetown Cupcake on Potomac, or Hello, Cupcake, which opened in Dupont in August. If you find yourself needing a dozen cupcakes delivered to your door, two bakeries, Couture Cupcake and Le Cupcake, can satisfy your take-out dessert craving.
What is it about cupcakes that has led so many bakeries to make gourmet cupcakes and to the singular creation of the cupcakery? The effect is felt not only on the streets of DC but in the cupcake blogosphere as well, where opinions on recipes and stores are as numerous as sprinkles on, well, a cupcake.
“Cupcakes are neither a fad or trend. They are here to stay, and they actually never went away! It is just that more generations of people are loving them,” Nichelle Stephens, one of the creators and writers of the cupcake blog, Cupcakes Take the Cake, wrote in an e-mail message.
Danielle Buckley, who runs DELLEiciousDC, a blog on “all things cupcake in the DC/Metropolitan area,” thinks there’s more to the cupcake craze than a simple trend.
“Their popularity among celebs and coverage in the media definitely contribute to the growing interest,” she wrote in an e-mail message. “But also, they bring people back to their childhood, when their mom made them cupcakes or they’d have them at birthday parties. It just makes you happy.”
Cupcakes are much more versatile than a normal cake for both the baker and the customer. If variety is the spice of life, cupcakes are piquant.
“Cupcakes give me the freedom to experiment with different flavors, and also the ability to use different decorations and designs,” Buckley wrote. “Have you ever seen a 10-tier cupcake tower?”
Often dismissed as another Pinkberry-type food fad, a dozen years after the debut of Magnolia’s magic, cupcakes have proven that they’ve got staying power. The cupcake scene in Georgetown is just getting started: Sprinkles Cupcakes of L.A. fame has plans to move into the neighborhood sometime in 2009.
“We love competition and would love to see more cupcake shops in Washington,” Georgetown Cupcake co-owner Sophie LaMontagne wrote in an e-mail message. “This city has been cupcake deprived for far too long!”
Cupcakeries must keep innovating in order to maintain their competitive edge.
“One recent innovation we’re seeing are cocktail cupcakes, where bakers are infusing liquors into their recipes to try to appeal to the young and party crowds. You’ll see flavors like Cosmo and Lemon Drop, Mojito and Margarita,” Buckley wrote.
The real magic of cupcakes, especially for overworked Hoyas, is that they’re both a sensual and a mental indulgence—a gastronomic delight and a break from real life. A gourmet cupcake, even as a dessert, does not fit into the normal meal rubric—it stands apart as something unexpected.
The cupcake still retains that childhood particularity, evoking the delight of a birthday or special occasion treat, something out-of-the-ordinary and significant.
What’s doubly good, now that you’re older, is that no one can say you can’t have seconds.
If you’re interested in extra-curricular cupcake activities, be sure to sign up for the DC/Metro Cupcake Group at http://dessert.meetup.com/13/
Frost Michael’s cakes at mhk9@georgetown.edu.
