Cupcake Heaven

By Millicent K. Brody

I am in awe over the cupcake frenzy. Growing up, I dearly remember going to the neighborhood bakery with my grandmother. She’d let me select a cupcake to have with my glass of milk. We’d do this every Saturday; it was a ritual.

I also remember the 3 delicious chocolate cupcakes that came in a cellophane wrapper. They were called Yankee Doodles. You’d unwrap the cellophane and select the largest of the three, (of course, they were always the same size, but one always looked a tad larger). Then you’d carefully peel off the fluted paper and open your mouth... wide. Naturally, chocolate crumbs would scatter all over your face and shirt, but they were always delicious crumbs.

Today, cupcakes are a major trend. They’re not just chocolate and vanilla with matching frosting. No! You can purchase Easter-egg yellow-frosted cupcakes with numbers written on them in various colors. You can get vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting, or chocolate cupcakes with swirls of vanilla and chocolate frosting. I suppose if you were planning a birthday party, you could color coordinate the cupcakes to suit your table decor.

But now, I’ve noticed something new and different. Crumbs, the fashionable, trendy cupcake bakery that exists on New York’s upper Westside has arrived in Westfield. And wow!

Frankly, I could not believe it. I’d first heard of Crumbs when friends chose them to bake their wedding cake. I absolutely could not envision a wedding cake filled with tiers of chocolate and vanilla cup cakes topped with a bride and groom draped in corresponding swirls of frosting. But, it happened!

And as I entered the store today, there was a case filled with all sorts of occasion cakes. But that’s not what captured my fancy. I headed straight for their signature chocolate/chocolate frosted cupcakes with sprinkles cupcakes ($2.95 each). Then I asked the salesperson to fill a box with their red velvet cupcake, a German chocolate cupcake, and a brownie cupcake, (all $3.75 each). In addition to all of the cupcakes singing to me, I added a big, soft and chewy, chocolate-dipped chocolate chip cookie ($2.75 each).

I know what you’re thinking. “Do this every day, and you’ll surely become the newest, fattest, cupcake/cookie monster. But hey, I wasn’t the only one standing at the counter trying desperately not to buy one thing. A gaggle of kids wandered in, and they were busy making all kinds of decisions. Filling a box, then a bag, then a napkin so they could wander out on to East Broad Street in Downtown Westfield and munch their cookie as they thought of the caramel chewy cupcake they were going to devour after dinner.

Crumbs Bake Shop, 130 East Broad Street, Westfield. crumbs.com