The Rise of Cupcakes

the following is a little cupcake post from friend and colleague, Jonah "CakeSnob" Berger. Jonah is developing a blog site devoted to all things cake which will eventually be located at CakeSnob.com. but until that's up, i offered him a place to post some of his insanity. didn't you know? cupcakes are wonderful smothered in gravy...

All of a sudden, cupcakes are kicking some serious ass in the sweet tooth department. Why? I have no answers or scientific explanation, actually. If you travel through any neighborhood in Chicago these days, you are bound to run into a cupcake place or nine. There is Swirlz Cupcakes, Molly's Cupcakes, a place appropriately titled "Cupcakes," even Cupcakes By Obama and McGillicutty's House O' Cupcakes. OK, I made the last two up, though I wouldn't be surprised to see those shops popping up in a storefront near you one day.

Is there anything wrong with all this cupcake madness? Absolutely not. It is just that the cupcake phenomenon has come out of nowhere to rival cookie stores, ice cream parlors, pretzel shops and places of the like. My take on the matter is during this whole eating healthy craze punched in our guts by lifestyles created by the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Diet Diet and all the other 21st century ways of losing inches, cake has been somewhat pushed to the back burner (cooking pun not intended, honestly) and replaced by a miniature version of itself. Of course, I am a cupcake fan, yet can never seem to feel the way about them as I do about cakes. Why? I don't know, maybe there isn't as much love baked into each cupcake because several are made at a time. Maybe there is too much cake and not enough frosting to take my sugar high where it needs to go. A cake is a baker's sweet baby and isn't just whipped together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Cakes take hours to make and lifetimes to master. They have layers and involve multiple pans; they are meant to feed several; they are highlighted at weddings and parties that celebrate anything, from the loss of virginity to 50 years working at the widget factory. Cupcakes, meanwhile, are more of a finger food or snack you pick up while shopping on a lazy Sunday afternoon. They are easy to eat and somewhat easier on the waistline.

Can these cupcake places last in the long run? Can they take out the mighty cakes that pampered them, raised them, taught them everything they know? My guess is they can't, but stranger things have most definitely happened. My advice to cupcake-only shops out there is to offer more than just the mini guys. The time will come when people won't want cute or trendy, when something small and lighter just won't fit the bill. When that time comes, get those round and square pans ready, those icing vats filled to the brim, those trick candles and special cutters ready.

Fads come and go. Cakes are forever.

-Jonah Berger