Trendy treats

Both a comfort food and a chic dessert, cupcakes are in vogue

By Ashley Gurbal, agurbal@altoonamirror.com
If the tumultuous economy, mud-slinging political campaigns and record-high gas prices are getting you down, you might want to eat a cupcake.

“People are looking for comfort foods, even from a baking standpoint,” said William Garlick, culinary and pastry arts instructor at Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center.

Besides comfort, the cupcake also offers flexibility, which is why, Garlick said, the desserts are popular for everything from kids’ birthday parties to bridal showers.

“It’s due to them being so versatile,” he said. “You can take any scratch recipe, any box mix, and make cupcakes. The cupcake is back in vogue right now.”

Rick Conway, owner of Taddei’s Cookies in Gallitzin, said he’s done cupcakes for four or five bridal showers in the past year. He said the grab ‘n’ go nature of the dessert, along with its ease of customization, make it popular.

“Most of them want them done in the colors of the wedding cake,” Conway said.

For adult affairs, traditional flavors can be replaced by liquers. Garlick suggested amaretto flavored cupcakes with ganache topping.

“You can really get creative,” he said.

Cupcakes lend themselves to fillings, especially those with lots of moisture, such as apples and cinnamon or pineapple, Garlick said.

The creativity doesn’t stop when the cupcakes are for kids. The petite treats can be shaped into anything from a kitty face to Cookie Monster — with a little practice.

‘‘It’s like anything else — you have to practice. Start with a basic cake decorating kit and practice,’’ he said. ‘‘Appearance is everything, because they’re so small.’’

Cupcakes are a creative outlet for Joy Shannon and her daughter, Becky Ritchey. Shannon operates Cakes by Joy out of her Hollidaysburg home; Ritchey is her assistant.

‘‘Whatever the mind can think of, you can do,’’ Ritchey said.

Their cupcakes are often ordered for children’s parties, but they’re also a kid-pleaser on a personal level.

Ritchey said her children love to make cupcakes.

‘‘The kids have so much fun,’’ she said. ‘‘Give them some icing, and they’ll play for hours.’’

Most of their designs — ladybugs, bumblebees, lions and caterpillars, to name a few — are simple strokes that are quick and easy to design. To make the fur on animal-faced cupcakes, Shannon said she uses a grass-tip for her frosting tubes, which dispenses frosting in small strokes. Different frosting tips, she said, can be purchased at craft stores for $2 to $3 each.

But each frosted face begins as batter.

Shannon starts with a box mix and adds fresh ingredients.

‘‘I put in more eggs than the recipe calls for, and I put in sour cream,’’ she said. ‘‘It makes it more like a pound cake.’’

To dispense the batter evenly into paper cups, Shannon sprays a 1/4 cup measuring cup with cooking spray and fills it for each cake. The batter slides right out.

‘‘It’s exact, and they’re all the same size,’’ she said.

Almost any frosting will work, Shannon said, from whipped to sugared to flavored.

Some may add vanilla or almond extract to store bought frostings, but like cupcakes themselves, topping options are endless.

“It’s what each individual wants,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.