Frosting on our minds: A Q&A with cupcake blogger Rachel Kramer Bussel

As Camille and I were launching this site, we both spent a lot of time thinking and talking about what we really liked about other food blogs out there. One we couldn’t help but fall for was Cupcakes Take the Cake. Yes, the cupcake in our logo may have given us some predilection, but I’d argue that even if you weren’t a fan of the food, the smart tone and creative posts of the site would easily win you over. In fact, Cupcakes Take the Cake gets an impressive 264,229 unique visits per month (so almost 9,000 cupcake enthusiasts are logging in each day), and it’s been featured everywhere from “The Martha Stewart Show” to The New York Times.

Not too long ago, I saw co-founder Rachel Kramer Bussel do a reading, and I started thinking about what a great example she is of someone who managed to find a sane balance between staying healthy without limiting herself to carrots and celery sticks. With no further rambling from me, here are some of her thoughts about her project, mindset, approach–and, of course, cupcakes.

Where/how did the cupcake interest–and eventually the blog–start?
A bakery opened in 2003 in New York called Sugar Sweet Sunshine and I found myself gravitating toward it; it’s a great place to sit and people watch and enjoy the smell of sugar in the air. The next year, Clare Crespo put out a book that fascinated me called Hey There, Cupcake! which had cupcake igloos and pandas and volcanos and was just so much fun I wanted to eat it (not literally). So my cupcake interest sprang from there and I started the blog on a lark.

Soon, it grew very popular and people were sending submissions and I needed help with it. My friends Allison and Nichelle joined me soon after, and now Nichelle and I run it and our friend Stacie Joy blogs for us and we have an intern and columnist and I would love to expand our offerings. But really what made the blog grow is our passionate readers, who love cupcakes just as much as we do.

How many cupcakes do you eat a week? And when you do, do you always eat a whole? Any meal/time-of-day you tend to gravitate to/incorporate them?
I’d estimate 2-3 per week; when I’m traveling, that can go up to 10 per week (or at least, parts of 10 cupcakes). I rarely go out and buy one cupcake for myself, even when I’m craving them. I’m more likely to bring them to a party or bring some in to my office or share them with someone. For one thing, you eat less by sharing and for another, unless they’re mini cupcakes, most cupcakes are just too large for me.

Plus I think cupcakes are such a social food, it makes sense to eat them with other people. I love seeing how in any given group, one person likes one cupcake over another, or has a different take on what makes a certain one delicious. There are many ways to eat and appreciate cupcakes and I’ve seen lots (though I’d never say all). I’m more of a cupcake observer than simply someone who wants cupcakes all the time. I actually have more of a salty/savory tooth than a sweet tooth, but when I see images or descriptions of certain cupcakes, that often makes me want to have one.

How do you make room for cupcakes in your diet/lifestyle? Any tips/tricks you’ve learned over time?
I find that after a day of tasting cupcakes, I usually need a break from eating them, so my body tends to warn me. There are times, however, when I’m traveling, such as a recent weekend trip to Chicago, when I want to try many cupcakes at once. In that case, I’ll do my best to taste mini cupcakes or just break off a small piece to get a sense of the flavor/frosting. There’s a difference, at times, between eating for pleasure and eating for blog review purposes, though I try to combine the two.

I also like to share cupcakes because you get more of a varied response and then don’t feel guilty for not finishing yours and throwing it away (hi, Jewish guilt!). I also work out with a trainer and try to walk or do other exercise, not in a crazy-making way, but just to stay fit. I think it all balances each other out; I wouldn’t want to eat cupcakes every day, in part because I think I’d get sick of them (the horror!) and in part because I think my body would not be too happy.

I try hard to listen to my body and only eat cupcakes, or sugar, or candy when I’m truly craving it, not just because it’s around. This can be a hazard when I’m presented with cupcakes and want to be polite or try them for the blog, but most of the time, if I’m eating in a healthy way, my body is happy and wants me to keep eating that way. I try to have a base of fruits and vegetables every day so even if I do go crazy with the sugar, I also have some healthy stuff in me too. And I usually eat yogurt every day when I’m home. I’m pretty boring, actually; I’m a creature of habit so most every weekday I get two scrambled eggs on whole wheat bread for breakfast. Lunch and dinner rotate.

What’s your own favorite kind of cupcake? Is it always the same, or has it changed over time?
I used to love a good vanilla/vanilla, and still do, but I’d say any kind of s’mores cupcake or peanut butter/chocolate combination. I’ve also recently become a fan of key lime; I used to think that was too tart for my taste. I feel like you can’t go wrong with marshmallow, and always get excited when I see a s’mores cupcake on the menu. I like seeing what people can do with peanut butter; I was just in San Francisco and had a peanut butter and jelly cupcake at the mini cupcake clash event and it had peanut butter and jelly frosting as well as some of each baked into the cake!

I have to say, though, that even my die-hard favorites tend to get old for me. I’m all about trying new flavors and seeing what’s happening in cupcake land. Sugar Sweet Sunshine, which I mentioned above, does peppermint frosting sometimes during the holidays and it tastes like a York peppermint patty in frosting form. Needless to say, totally delicious!

When you’re not eating cupcakes, what are some of your other food loves?
I love cheese, pretty much any and all cheese. I eat a lot of Greek yogurt. I’ll go through cycles where I crave certain foods; lately it’s been eggplant and scallops (not together). Mexican food, Indian food and Thai food are big ones with me. I don’t cook much so I get takeout a lot and those are my staples. Also spinach, okra and kale; green vegetables do it for me. And no, I am not always super healthy. I’m a former vegan but now I’m an omnivore and sometimes I just want a good burger and fries. Or just the fries. I heart potatoes in pretty much all forms. Especially tater tots.

Vegan cupcakes: Your take?
It depends why you’re doing it. If you’re vegan or have friends/family who are, I’m all for vegan cupcakes. For health purposes, though, I’d say sticking with regular ingredients but seeing where you can cut back on things like butter might be good but probably the best advice I can give is moderation. One cupcake a week isn’t the end of the world and if you are trying to lose weight, you can amp up your exercise. Or there are “diet” cupcake recipes such as Hungry Girl’s that you can use.

There are lots of vegan cupcakes out there; they’re very popular and not just among vegans. I’m all for them but that’s not the only way to be healthy and indulge in cupcakes, but it’s definitely one way. I love poking around on Flickr and seeing what people are doing with vegan and other cupcakes. One thing I like about cupcakes especially is that you can spruce them up with colored sugar or decorations/designs in fun ways, no matter what’s in them.

Any big cupcake trends on the horizon?
I’m seeing lots of gluten-free cupcakes, and also people trying out mail order cupcakes. And just experimentation in general, with flavors, sizes, individualization. And cupcake trucks; those are really booming in lots of cities and seem to be a new trend.