The one in the back…that one! That’s my sweet tooth.

Well,it’s 2:00 and I’m thinking about cupcakes.  See those cupcakes up there?  See that look of sneaky joy on my face?  This picture was staged for the cupcakes that we had for Drew’s graduation–it’s hard to tell from here, but they are powdered with edible glitter, and embellished with sugared flowers.  You also might not be able to tell that they’re pound cake cupcakes with homemade chocolate and vanilla butter cream frosting from here, but they are (were) and I miss them.  I would love to take credit for such pictures of perfection, but these came from a spot near my office called Cappellino’s Crazy Crakes (he makes cakes with edible hinges among other things!) and it’s 2:00 and I’m thinking, “man, I could really go for a cupcake right about now”.

Oddly, for me, looking at pictures of deserts is almost as satisfying as making them, or hopefully eating them.  I really don’t care for the grocery (please let me express for the 1000th time my extreme gratitude to Drew for largely being the one to navigate those foreboding aisles!) but when I do go, I always have to walk by the bakery counter and just look at everything.  Of course I would love to be looking at beautifully constructed and creative confections with fresh flowers and glossy chocolate ganache, but I’m not going to lie, those cakes with the race cars and unicorns airbrushed on top are a fine substitute.  People talk about endorphins being released from exercise etc, but I think I have a similar experience when I looked at well-crafted food.  Tiny torte shells!  saturated raspberries dancing on butter cream!  Delirious swirls sweeping across the face of a cheesecake!  Cheesecake!  A bakery is, for me, a lot like a museum.  It’s an emotive experience where I can see professional creations that I not only enjoy looking at, but on some level aspire towards creating one day myself.  Ok, well I don’t think I will ever sculpt or paint, but just maybe I’ll make that wedding cake.  It’s weird, but I honestly love it.  So, my point in all of this is: It’s 2:00, I want a cupcake, but the indulgence of the last month is suggesting that I go for something a little more, ahem, healthy and so I am satiating myself by looking at a desert that I really really enjoyed.  Some might call it crazy, I call it…well, crazy.  And there’s nothing wrong with that!