Cupcakes

I have been meaning to blog about this for awhile, especially since Margaret, Dana and I shared some spirited emails about the topic. For those of you who know Dana, you know she LOVES cupcakes. For those of you who do not know Dana, she REALLY LOVES cupcakes.

Margaret sent the article below out to both of us to look at with a suggestion for Dana's entrepreneurial wish to open a cupcake shop. You should check out the article because it is actually pretty neat. Not enough time? That's okay. Keep reading because I am going to make fun of it!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/man-up-gender-equality-for-the-cupcake-crowd-856468/

I read the article and thought it was pretty funny. It begs the question, "are cupcakes too cute for men to enjoy?" Butch's Bakery in NY thinks cupcakes in their current state are just that, but they are taking measures to make their "mancakes" an acceptable dessert for manly men. To quote the article, "Our objective is simple. We're men. Men who like cupcakes. Not the filly pink-frosted sprinkles-and-unicorns kind of cupcakes. We make manly cupcakes. For manly men." What's wrong with a pink cupcake. In my opinion, cupcakes are pretty girlie any way you slice it, but who cares? Frosting is frosting. The taste is what matters! Don't get me wrong, I looked at those cupcakes and frosting and immediately thought "get in my belly," but I do that with any cupcake. I have never considered myself a big cupcake connoisseur, but I do have a Pavlovian response to these delectable treats. Don't get a big head though cupcakes, I pretty much respond to any food that way.

Cupcakes for manly men. Is it just me or is that sort of a contradiction in terms? Do many men eat cupcakes? Of course they do. Is that what makes them manly? Of course not. Does a manly man feel less manly eating a pink cupcake? Maybe. Will that make them stop eating pink cupcakes? Definitely not. For that matter, baking has never been considered very manly. Have you thought about that Butch's Bakery? In keeping with the manly "Meat. Beer. Fire." attitude towards cooking, you would think these cupcakes would come off the grill with a nice bark and smoke ring, just like a good brisket. I'm not saying baking is girlie. I like to bake. But let's call a spade a spade and admit that baking does not top the list of manly ways to cook.

I would venture to say the biggest customer at Butch's Bakery will be women. Maybe they will be buying them for men, but perhaps the novelty of the cupcake will be the biggest draw. I went to Sprinkles cupcakes in Dallas with Dana last fall and bought some cupcakes to take home with me. They did not make it past the Oklahoma state line, but my intentions were good. Most of the people buying cupcakes were women, but it's not like men were not in line. I didn't feel emasculated in line. I wouldn't have even if I had been the only man in line. My focus was on the task at hand, namely, cupcakes. I bet that was the focus of everyone in line.

Mancakes? Seriously? Does that sound like a dirty word to anyone else? I file this word with other words that sound dirty regardless of whether they actually are. Need some examples? Fetish. Titillate. Rectory. Stimulate. Mancakes. Uranus. See, it fits right in! All of the words on this list sound dirty to me in any context and will probably illicit an inappropriate junior high laugh or at least a crooked smile.

What do you think? Do manly cupcakes make it more acceptable for a man to eat a cupcake, or do you think it even matters? They do have some great sounding cupcake flavors that I would love to try. Beer Run, Rum and Coke, Jackhammer and B-52 are just a few.

One last note. This bakery does not have a brick and mortar store. They are available by mail order only. How many men do you think will order confections to have delivered to their doorstep? I don't think I would. I would rather just go down the street for a pink cupcake. I hope they have some with unicorns on them..........