Cupcakes

I unleashed my argument on why cupcakes are perhaps the best celebratory dessert this week in our neighborhood pub. This proved to be quite an inappropriate place to really prove my point as Rihanna’s Rude Boy blared and the collective conscious was set on finding the nearest fried chicken place. Still committed to preaching the benefits of the cupcake; I shall place my argument here, with delicious pictures.

FYI, I got on this topic after our friend Cat’s mother had a bakery in Leeds deliver her a dozen glittery and colorful cupcakes for her 21st “birtday”. The cupcake I chose (chocolate with chocolate frosting) really provided me a great deal of inspiration…and a sugar high.

1. Cupcakes are delicious and make you feel GREAT. This may seem obvious but you can’t exactly say the same for banana cream pie.

2. The ratio of cake to frosting is truly perfect. How many times do you get a slice of cake with the slightest slip of icing between layers and a thin amount on top (which all ends up sticking to the plate since the cake is laid sideways)? Cupcakes give you an almost equal proportion of cake to frosting, giving diversity to texture and flavor.

3. Cupcakes are the perfect portion of dessert. With cake you receive a slice and know there is more to be had. Cupcakes provide you with a sense of entirety and finality.

4. There is a greater flavor range in cupcakes because of their small size. Strawberry with lime frosting, Chai with cream cheese frosting, Pumpkin with almond frosting, Hazelnut coffee with a chocolate mousse frosting. Some bakers wouldn’t risk creating entire cakes out of these specific flavor combinations.

5. They are easy and fun to decorate. Really, a food for all ages.




6. They last longer than normal cake. So little of the cake is actually exposed to the drying elements of outside air so it can stay fresher for longer!

7. There are so many ways to eat them! Daintily with a fork? Frosting first? Cake first? Two bites? One humungous bite? The possibilities are endless!!

8. Cupcakes are mentioned in the Bible at least 15 times.*
*This is not true. Had Jesus known the divinity of cupcakes I’m sure he would have asked for it at his last dinner.

While my argument doesn’t exactly have the logical finesse of say Locke or Rousseau I think it pretty well sums up why cupcakes are ideal for celebratory occasions. To be fair cupcakes do have some downsides:

a. Cupcakes are not cheesecake. Cheesecake rocks.
b. Cupcakes are trendy and therefore expensive.

Now go eat a cupcake!




See down below for some amazing cupcake recipes from some chick named Ming!

Finals Frenzy?

I've never had so much time to study for finals in my life. I realize I probably shouldn't be complaining about this, but sometimes having an excess of free time leads to extreme abuses of time management. I've watched every single episode of Glee in one week. I've gone through 32 episodes of How I Met Your Mother in maybe 12 days? I've logged countless hours on StumbleUpon, seen every movie trailer released in the past two months, and could probably write an embarassing amount on the deeper psychological and political messages of Lady Gaga's Telephone music video. And I really have been studying everyday. I have three finals in the course of three weeks, plus a reading week (which I am in the middle of now). At Wisconsin and most public schools across the country, we have a reading day and one week to take at much as five finals. I'm used to tight study schedules where all you do is eat, breath, and think your study material. You cannot get into that groove for three weeks straight.

I'm flying home in exactly three weeks which I'm sure will fly by. Honestly, I'm pretty traveled out (and broke) so I doubt I'll be going on any great excursions again. I'm considering seeing the Lake District though...and I'd love to go back to Edinburgh. Never expected I'd connect with that city. I'm actually making it a goal of mine to never see London. The hussle and bussle doesn't interest me at all. And after seeing European cities like Rome, Florence, and Barcelona could it really even compare? Part of my avoidance is spite too. Everyone always asks me, "How's London?" so when I get back I'm sure it will be, "How was London?". I'd love to reply, "Actually I went to LEEDS and have never even been to London. There is a lot more to England than London". Anticipated response, "What's a Leeds?"

First meal wanted when I get back: cornbread drenched in maple syrup, brats grilled on the back deck, real non gag-inducing caesar salad and peach iced tea.