#robicellis

[blackhatsaredrycleanonly]

Help those affected by Hurricane Sandy

Someone in the Tumblr family is helping as many people as she can that are still being affected by the damage of Hurricane Sandy.   You can find her at robicellis.tumblr.com or on twitter @robicellis.  Since day one she's been organizing and getting food and supplies to everyone.  She's cooking hot meals to keep everyone fed and warm. 

If you can give anything, please do.   She's not a big organization, she's just a person on the front lines who is doing more than saying she cares. 

Her paypal account is [email protected], let her know we're glad she's doing something. 

[cupcakesarenotagame-blog]

Cupcake Gangstas Take Manhattan (and Brooklyn)!

I recently went back home to New Jersey for the holidays so of course I had to go and visit my fellow Cupcake Gangster Raffeal in NYC during my visit.  We finally had our very first cupcake excursion!  If you’ve been reading this blog long enough you know he is a Robicelli’s enthusiast so of course we had to hit them up.

They were so good! I had a difficult time choosing what to get but Raf, a regular, chose his cupcakes in no time. I’m so glad that I finally got to visit. Robicelli’s is definitely worth the hype.

On my final day there my friend Dre took me to Crumbs Bake Shop and I must say, this is where dreams come true. 

I have never struggled to select a cupcake in my life! Everything looked so scrumptious! Finally I settled on an apple crumb cupcake. 

All I remember is picking up the fork and then a few minutes later looking to see that there was no more cupcake to be had. It was that good!

So glad to have had some cupcake adventures in NYC!!! Hopefully there will be more soon.

[cupcakesarenotagame-blog]

The Hot Josh (Buffalo Chicken) Cupcake by Robicelli's! I will have to take part in this ministry today! Wow, a buffalo chicken cupcake?! Robicelli's always find ways to slay me!!!!! I'm walking down to the Dekalb Market and swooping one of these up NOW!!!! DON'T JUDGE ME!!!!

Check out the what's in it:

Celery root & carrot cake with Point Reyes blue cheese buttercream and citrus tinged Buffalo chicken. 

[bklynography-blog]

Robicelli's @ DeKalb Market: All In

"If you're gonna eat a dessert, and you're gonna eat 5 billion calories, you need to be all in. You need to be 100% present and remember what the hell you're doing."

- Allison Robicelli

Let me tell you a little bit about Robicelli's.

It all started earlier this year when I had my first Robicelli's cupcake. Even before I bought the cupcake, and I stood before the four flavors to be chosen from at Crespella, I knew this would be different. There were no vanilla cupcakes! No chocolate! And certainly no sprinkles! And thank goodness, because fuck that.

Cupcakes are great and all, but vanilla is vanilla and chocolate is chocolate and I'm 24 years old. I've had enough chocolate and vanilla, goddammit! These are cupcakes for grown-ups who want something new and interesting but still in that familiar, comforting, handheld package that is so gloriously American and nostalgic.

That's Robicelli's. They offer different flavors every day and they are all exceptional. Even if you come across one that you don't like, you have to appreciate the creativity, thought, and love that goes into these complex little creations. No plain chocolate. No plain vanilla. Not even Red Velvet. There are no easy flavors, there are no artificial ingredients, and there are no cut corners. These are $12 desserts packed into $3 cupcakes.

Robicelli's employs quality, seasonal ingredients for their cupcakes, the flavors of which change several times a week. There will be no Strawberry Rhubarb cupcake in Winter, and there will be no Sweet Potato Pie cupcake in Spring. And if you want a Mint Julep cupcake, you best plan ahead, because it only comes out once a year for the Kentucky Derby.

The constantly changing line-up of Robicelli's flavors is hugely appealing, to me at least, and reminds me of those times when you were a little kid and just had to get to McDonald's on a certain day because it was the only time to get the Happy Meal toy you just couldn't live without. Robicelli's doesn't just provide cupcakes - they provide the exciting experience of discovering something new, something "limited-edition" and special, that has earned them fans, and not just customers.

Did I mention how pretty they are? And yes, that is a piece of fried chicken atop that cupcake.

And excuse me, what's this???

Butterbeer cupcakes!?! As a brand new Harry Potter devotee, this nearly brought tears into my Hedwig-loving eyes. I mean, there's gold dust on them!! Flavors aren't just delicious and gourmet, they're fun and interesting too, perfectly encapsulating the experience that a cupcake should provide.

But as good as a product ever was, it's only as good as the people behind it, and I can tell you firsthand that the Robicellis are great people. Warm, welcoming, and sharply funny, Matt & Allison, both originally from Brooklyn, might even be more interesting and engaging than their baked goods.

I got to know them a little bit when I made a video to support their IndieGoGo fundraising campaign, and after spending a night with them baking in their commercial kitchen in Sunset Park, they sent me home with nearly a dozen cupcakes for my "hard work." My "hard work" involved tasting "prototypes," peering over the shoulders of their interns as they frosted and decorated, and soaking in their stories of life in the food industry.

They are tirelessly hard workers, devoted parents, talented chefs, and just all around awesome, cool people. If there is an off-the-beaten-path event in Brooklyn, there's a good chance the Robicelli's will be there. They are active within their community and supportive of other small businesses (Liddabit Sweets and The Good Batch to name a couple), bloggers (theskint.com), and customers alike, often taking to Twitter to publicize community endeavors or ask for flavor recommendations.

And, on Sunday, their storefront at DeKalb Market finally opened!

Hooray! They finally have a long-term home for their goods, which have now expanded beyond cupcakes and into the world of brownies and whoopie pies.

The Robicelli's shop has a cute, homemade feeling, no doubt owing to some expert decorating advice coming from their young sons.

In addition to their own goods, Robicelli's offers marshmallow treats made by Kitty Lee Thomas, which have even reformed self-proclaimed marshmallow-hater Matt.

They've got drinks too, including chocolate milk from Battenkill Valley.

Wow! Mexican Coke for only $2! David Chang charges $5 for it and he's a millionaire!

While the Robicellis now have a solid home base for their goods, they will still be available at select outlets around Brooklyn, my personal favorites of which are Crespella (crepes & coffee) and Blue Apron Foods in Park Slope, for those occasions when you need that cupcake fix and can't make it to DeKalb Market.

So, congratulations, Matt and Allison, on hard work well-done and a wonderful new shop! Now, where do I sign up for the frequent buyer's program?

Robicelli's Cupcakes @ DeKalb Market 332 Flatbush Ave Ext

For more information on the shop straight from the Robicellis, click here.

[lot18]

Wine Cupcakes? Wine Not!

Laura Turner Garrison, Editor, Lot18

Little did I know my recent foray into making Merlot ice cream would turn me onto a whole new world of alternative uses for wine. While drinking it is most likely still its best function, wine is capable of such a dynamic variety of flavors that the possibilities seem almost endless. This is why I decided to remain in the safe bosom of tasty treats for my second experiment, and when it comes to delicious desserts, my happy place is cupcakes. Don’t believe me? Ask my waistline. I’m only kidding – my waistline can’t talk. 

Terrible jokes aside, as much as I like a good old-fashioned yellow cake with buttercream icing, I especially love me a creative cupcake. But the sheer trendiness of cupcakes sometimes undercuts the artistry and science that goes into baking. Though I’m certainly not a master pastry chef, I do know that the chemistry of baking matters as much as which ingredients you choose. Too much sugar, a slight imbalance of flavor proportions, over-beating a batter – and it’s good night nurse. But when all of the measurements and processes come out right, it’s simply bellissimo!

With the pressure of perfection in mind, I knew I might be getting in a little over my head adding a fine wine into the mix. But when I got my hands on a 2007 Carina Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, I couldn’t help myself. Why have wine and cupcakes when you can have wine IN cupcakes?  

With Cabernet in hand – and, of course, with some in a glass for sipping -- I decided to use the wine as the centerpiece to my cupcake design and build the rest around it. This is where tasting notes come in handy. Just like in a normal wine tasting, you will want to try the wine and use the flavors you taste to inform what flavors would pair well with it. For example, Cabernets tend to have dark berry notes and sometimes hints of cocoa – so chocolate and/or berries might be a good starting point. These, conveniently, are what I decided to use for my wine cupcakes. 

My first stop was consulting the master cupcake chefs at Robicelli’s for tips when baking with wine. Allison reiterated the importance of sticking to the recipe proportions to a T, as well as using the tasting notes from the wine to help you select other flavors. For the novice baker, she suggested making a fruit compote and swapping the wine in for water and then using the compote as either a filling or a topping. Robicelli’s often uses wine in their recipes and I recommend checking them out for inspiration, or for eating, or for both!

After scouring the internet for some D.I.Wine (I’ll stop with the puns) inspiration, I found a simply di-wine (last time, seriously) recipe from the Adventures in Cupcakes blog perfect for my first Cabernet cupcake. Although I remained faithful to the gist, I decided to modify it a little and throw a homemade raspberry Cabernet glaze on top for good measure. Now that you have the back story, here’s the recipe:

Cocoa Cabernet Cupcakes with Rasbernet Glaze 

Raspbernet is the last portmanteau pun, I promise. Here’s the best part – the recipe is relatively simple, but the final outcome is richly rewarding. 

First things first, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I always find the oven heats faster than I mix, but if I don’t do it first thing I end up waiting around for the oven to heat up with a whole lot of batter on my hands – because I’m eating it with my fingers.

While the oven heated, I mixed the dry ingredients. Though not 100% necessary, I recommend you sift all of the ingredients through a sieve if you have one readily available. I sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon first. Before adding the essential powder, I threw in a few pinches of nutmeg and a few pinches of cayenne pepper. Lastly, I added, sans sieve, ½ a cup of organic, Dutch-pressed cocoa powder. 

After mixing the ingredients by hand, I put the bowl in its complementary standing mixer. Now as much as I love my standing mixer, mixing by hand is still a safe option. You may get a few drops of sweat in your batter, but you’ll get a sick bicep muscle -- more importantly, your cupcakes still have a fighting chance. 

Once the bowl was securely locked down in the mixer, I attached the flat beater and started adding in the “wet stuff” on low. First two eggs, next some canola oil and then vanilla. After beating those into a chocolatey batter, I added the wine. Just ¾ a cup of Cabernet is enough to take your cupcake to the next level. You don’t need to boil it either, just pour it straight into the mix – simple, I told you! Lastly, I threw in ¼ a cup of Mast Brothers organic chocolate nibs for texture and an extra punch of flavor. Then, I turned the mixer on high speed for a few minutes until the batter looked irresistibly creamy.

This particular recipe will yield you up to 18 cupcakes, but I only had a 12-cup baking sheet. So, naturally I disposed of the leftover batter. In my stomach.

After pouring each cup about halfway full – I popped the cupcakes in the oven for 20 minutes. In the meantime, I set out to make a raspberry and Cabernet glaze for the top. I stuck ½ cup of Cabernet on the stovetop to boil, and gathered confectioners’ sugar, salted butter, salt, vanilla and fresh raspberries. After the wine boiled for about 10 minutes, I combined it with vanilla, half a stick of melted butter and ½ cup of the raspberries. After it was a thick, pink soup, I added the powdered sugar bit by bit until combined.

Luckily, this almost perfectly coincided with the cupcakes. After letting the cupcakes cool only a bit, I drizzled the raspberry glaze all over the hot cupcakes. The raspberry seeds might bother some, but I loved the texture they added to the overall cupcake experience. 

I’m not even a huge fan of chocolate cupcakes, but tasting a warm, glazed cocoa Cabernet cupcake made me exclaim “holy moly!” And in the words of Martha Stewart, it’s a good thing. 

Ingredient List: Cocoa Cabernet Cupcakes with Raspbernet Glaze  (adapted from Adventures in Cupcakes)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon pinch of cayenne pinch of nutmeg ½ cup of Dutch-pressed cocoa powder ½ cup canola oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs ¾ cup of Cabernet Sauvignon (Make sure it’s one you would drink on its own!) ¼ cup of Cocoa Nibs

GLAZE

1 cup of Confectioner’s sugar ¼ cup of Cabernet Sauvignon (use your judgment – I used more) ½ stick of salted butter ½ cup of fresh raspberries 1/8 tsp of salt ½ tsp of vanilla extract

[nichefood]

Food isn’t just about eating. It shouldn’t be about mass production, or trends, or haifaluitin bullshit. It’s about making you feel like you’re at home, and that someone loves you.

Allison of Robicelli's

[amycao]

Saying "I Do" To Valentine's Day

Two Valentine's Days ago I found myself at an Australian bar, the Sunburnt Cow, in the East Village. They have this awesome "Anti-Valentine's" tradition where they offer an open bar for $20 on February 14th. There's alcohol; there's an ice luge. Oh, and a bathroom with a door that gets stuck when you're on the inside. I was dating a struggling comedian (aren't they all...) at the time. He was in Virginia for some sort of comedian convention, which worked out great because there's nothing more awkward than wondering if you're supposed to hang out on Valentine's Day when you're only hooking up. But, I digress.

Whether you celebrate or are seeking ways to make the day pass quickly, you must admit there are few holidays that elicit stronger emotions than Valentine's Day. It's just Monday, right? No. So, I say we may as well treat ourselves to something great. Robicelli's "Strawberry Champagne" cupcake did the trick today. After all, how can you say no to champagne cake and strawberry champagne buttercream with edible gold dust on it? I don't.

Sunburnt Cow, 137 Avenue C, New York [phone]

Lily O’Brien’s at Bryant Park, 36 West 40th Street, [phone] / The Robicellis deliver cupcakes here on Monday and Friday.