The Anthony Bourdain thread

"i dunno, i'm not impressed by the guy who makes nothing but cupcakes. even if they're really good ones."

I'm impressed by anyone who makes anything tasty.

"and that causes hell on dudes like me who like cupcakes and have facial hair"

Shave or carry wet naps.

Cupcakes are for children's birthday parties and moments when whimsy matters more than taste or texture, because they're basically all exterior from a baking standpoint and are nearly impossible to keep from drying out.

This is the most OTM thing ever said about cupcakes. They're kind of ok, maybe sometimes, but as far as sweet delicious baked goods go, they're somewhere in the bottom third. I don't "fucking hate" cupcakes -- I don't wish they were never born, or blame them for all my problems, or anything like that. But at their very very best, they are efficient frosting-delivery vehicles, and nothing more.

too many of these cupcakes i'm having lately are pretty weak too. i had some the other night from a place in long beach that were purportedly EPIC but they tasted like something you'd pick up for $3.99 for a half dozen at ralph's instead of $5 apiece.

i have had all kinds of fancy-ass OTT cupcakes around chicago but these are still my favorites:

http://www.chicagomag.com/images/2005/12%20December%202005/0512Arena_Cupcake9.jpg

Shave or carry wet naps.

fuck that noise, imo

wet naps are for babies and gurls and I am neither, I am a MAN

a MAN who eats CUPCAKES

http://www.southportgrocery.com/imgs/photogallery/Cupcakes-on-White.jpg

Some of you anti-cupcakists are clearly having inferior cupcakes.

there are way too many fucking cupcakes in seattle.

i like cupcake from time to time but gosh ppl, make something more interesting once in a while!

Some of you anti-cupcakists are clearly having inferior cupcakes.

well that was kind of the root of the argument, wasn't it? ie, cupcakes are harder to do than people think they are, so a bunch of them end up being kind of shitty and overpriced...?

the little bakery by my house does a great hostess cupcake imitation that is so good.

i hate the idea that a good cupcake is some kind of artful masterpiece. i will eat a good cupcake but it's not like the be all end all.

yes, tza

n/a's cupcake has perfect frosting to cake ratio

ie, cupcakes are harder to do than people think they are, so a bunch of them end up being kind of shitty and overpriced...?

What is this NOT true of, though? Trying to think of anything that is amazing 90% of the time and drawing a blank.

Where are those from, n/a?

too many of these cupcakes i'm having lately are pretty weak too. i had some the other night from a place in long beach that were purportedly EPIC but they tasted like something you'd pick up for $3.99 for a half dozen at ralph's instead of $5 apiece.

― omar little, Monday, October 12, 2009 2:47 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

$5 apiece! should have been one gd hell of a cupcake for that.

oh btw I was wrong about that upper-right cupcake, that's essentially molten chocolate cake with ganache stuck in it

The existence of cupcakes at all is slightly questionable, though not offensive. Why do people need to eat pure sugar and flour in this form, in a world where actual cake exists? If you think you need a big sugar rush on-the-go, you are wrong about that.

http://www.kickasscupcakes.com/include/Menu_2009_09.pdf

here's the menu for Kickass Cupcakes, some of them are really ludicrous

(also on the website they have a pic of their s'more cupcake which is pretty much the most lolsome thing ever)

cupcakes are mini-cakes. people like mini-cakes when they don't want to eat (or buy) a whole cake.

i bet i just recognized southport bakery cupcakes on sight

xxxp uhhh maybe i don't want an entire cake?

maybe i like variety and can buy several different cupcakes, cut them up, and share them?

maybe i only feel like cake or a cupcake very rarely and am happy to just buy a cupcake and get on w/my life?

maybe there needs to be a cupcake thread?

i bet i just recognized southport bakery cupcakes on sight

― A B C, Monday, October 12, 2009 1:54 PM (28 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm

okay the mojito cupcake is dumb, but WS all over a S'mores cupcake

cupcake bakery hate is definitely, 100% sublimated desire to physically harm women in colored tights

i've had the mojito cupcake, it's good!

maybe i like variety and can buy several different cupcakes, cut them up, and share them?

But none of them will be anywhere near as good as an actual cake, for the reasons Laurel mentions. It's not an optimal way to bake cake. Muffin pans are for muffins. I don't fully understand it, but there is chemistry involved.

I'm impressed by anyone who makes anything tasty.

Easily impressed. Give a monkey some combination of sugar, cream, butter, chocolate and you will be in awe.

btw i am kind of glad the bourdain thread is getting cluttered with cupcake talk. i am imagining him and david chang reading it and being all like "what a bunch of STUPID motherfuckers!!'

women in colored tights

What, mods?

But none of them will be anywhere near as good as an actual cake, for the reasons Laurel mentions. It's not an optimal way to bake cake.

i mean if this had any relation to what i have experienced in my life i'd be totally on board.

it's 2009, there are no mods only hipsters

from the message board that brought you 700-post threads about tacos and 1500-post threads about pizza comes...

cupcakes: u r all gay

I'm with Laurel on cupcake craze = meh. Cupcakes USED to be this kind of oddity, where once a year some person would randomly bring in a bunch of homemade cupcakes...or some whimsical person would go on a 'childhood' flight of fancy. I was okay with them in that context. Now there are ROVING VANS of cupcakes, and bakeries of cupcakes, and there are cupcake wedding cakes and cupcake birthday cakes and they're really not that big of a deal. There's too many of them. Period. Cake pwns cupcake. End of story.

no maybe you are gay, gay max

yeah remember when cupcakes were edgy?

Now there are ROVING VANS of cupcakes

TERRIFYING!

if i had been running into cupcakes as often as some of u people apparently do maybe i'd feel the same way.

it's 2009, there are no mods only hipsters

There is no Dana, only Zul.

there are no mods only hipsters

Not for this thread but you are so wrong.

pizza cupcake

imge #2 for "edgy cupcake":

http://www.wakinglifephoto.com/images/stories/blog/Cullens-Wedding-Reception-04.jpg

i kinda want the martha stewart cupcake book but that's more about martha than cupcakes and probably moot anyway since i steer away from wheat as much as possible these days.

we've been posting about cupcakes on the anthony bourdain thread, i think a digression into mods vs. hipsters is not only appropriate but also necessary

from the newest local cupcakery's site:

Now serving deluxe cupcakes daily--including the favorite "Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chocolate" every day, and a constantly rotating selection of flavors like "Caramel-Infused Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Frosting and Caramel Drizzle" and "Chocolate-Coconut Cake with Coconut Creme Filling and Chocolate Ganache Frosting Rimmed in Toasted Coconut."

Cupcakes sold since May 18, 2009: 32,624

i wonder what contenderizer and nabisco might have to say about cupcakes

there is this cupcake place in the village that does wine pairings w/ its cupcakes