Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Eating a Cupcake: Lesson from the "She Said" School

Thanks to a generous colleague, a few vessels of grocery store bakery mini-cupcakes arrived just after lunch. After eating a mini-whoopie pie to counteract my greek salad, I opted for the Golden Cupcake variety as a chaser. At that point I engaged in a frosty debate with my fellow food bloggist, Brian. We documented our individual approaches... mine is here.

When you eat a cupcake, no matter the size (mini or regular), there is usually a 2/3 cake and a 1/3 frosting ratio. As most cupcakes are tall, I find myself trying to unhinge my jaw like a python to get the frosting under and past my front teeth (usually unsuccessfully), meanwhile attempting to get the cupcake body in over top of my bottom teeth without changing the angle of the bite. Usually the frosting starts to scrape off while trying to stuff it in my mouth, which sends the following cake into an overcorrected wrong angle (i.e. all frosting followed by cake, eaten tipped towards you at 90 degrees rather than right side up). Forget the fact that many cupcakes have add-ons, which cascade down your shirt and onto every surface within a 3 foot radius. To combat this awkward looking and messy display, I learned a little trick which I'll share.

I split the cupcake portion in half (laterally), and invert the top half (cake and frosting), placing the frosting against the bottom half. This allows you to enjoy the following:
a) frosting is in the middle, no unsightly scraping on teeth - cake will bend or flake effortlessly on top and bottom, or can be compressed by holding it (no mess!)
b) the taste of evenly divided cupcake, 1/3 cake 1/3 frosting 1/3 cake. The frosting is the surprise in the center, my preference.
c) any sprinkles, jimmies, or other items barely stuck to the frosting are now locked in place, not a one scrap lost to the carpet.

Next time YOU have cupcakes, try it! Or heck, use it as an excuse to eat one. Don't forget to comment here on your method of choice, Brian and I are interested in whose approach you all prefer, like, or are opposed to.

2 comments:

Marli said...

See, I don't buy this 1/3 frosting 2/3 cupcake ratio. I have always cut half the bottom off, EATEN that portion, and then enjoyed the rest in a 50-50 ratio.

On to Brian's section, to see what he says...

Jake DiMare said...

All I can think is that it would make most sense to go ahead and frost the top again...but then it would make sense to put another half cupcake on top of that...cupcake club sandwich!