Let Them Eat Cupcakes: Books Keep Coming, But How Much is Too Much?
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 3/16/2009 9:33:00 AM
Cupcakes have long outlived their so-called 15 minutes of fame. Bakeries specializing in the handheld treats continue to open, writers continue to debate which ones are the best, and cupcake books are being published at a rate that would suggest a saturation point has been reached… or has it? This spring brings another deluge of cupcake books, begging the question “how much is too much” when it comes to literature about this simple dessert that has captured America’s sweet tooth.
Brad Parsons, senior books editor at Amazon, agrees the cupcake cookbook trend shows no signs of stopping. “Like any cookbook category, I think there are always worries that a particular field has reached its saturation point, but there always seems to be room for more. The hope is that the quality titles will find their way to the top.” Three that have found their way are The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook (Simon & Schuster), More From Magnolia (S&S) and Magnolia at Home (Wiley), from the Manhattan bakery that’s often credited with kicking off cupcake insanity. But since then, Parsons says last spring’s Hello, Cupcake! (Houghton Mifflin) “really brought a breath of fresh ideas to the topic”; that book spent 13 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and a wall calendar is coming out for 2010.
Chronicle Books has benefited from the cupcake trend and continues to publish in the field. Editor Amy Treadwell tells PW, “In addition to being irresistible and recession-proof, cupcakes have been very kind to Chronicle Books.” Elinor Klivans’s book Cupcakes, which Chronicle published in 2005, has sold more than 100,000 copies. And Chronicle has produced a number of cupcake-related gift items that have been extremely popular, including a cupcake journal, cupcake note cards and a cupcake deck. This month, it’s releasing a Cupcake Kit, which includes 250 baking liners, a reusable pastry bag with assorted piping tips and a recipe book written by Klivans with 14 recipes. Treadwell says Chronicle has plans for more cupcake-themed books and products in the future.
Clarkson Potter is expecting a hit with Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat, which comes out in June. The book is one of Amazon’s top pre-order titles in the cooking, food and wine category, and Parsons thinks it’s shaping up to be just as popular as Martha’s Cookies book from last spring. Yet Potter editorial director Doris Cooper says the publisher is not simply cashing in on a fad. Cupcakes are a classic, she says, pointing out that Potter’s books are “always about quality over trend.” That said, cupcakes continue to be the most frequently searched term on MarthaStewart.com, and “Cupcake Week” on The Martha Stewart Show gets some of the program’s highest ratings.
And the icing on the cake? Some healthy cookbooks that don’t even have cupcakes as their focus are putting cupcakes on their covers. BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery by Erin McKenna (Potter, May) is one that’s been generating a lot of pre-pub buzz. McKenna says she didn’t want cupcakes on the cover of her book because “we’re more than just cupcakes.” If it were up to her, cookie sandwiches would’ve graced the cover. But she understands her publisher’s decision. “You never get over the dazzle of a table full of cupcakes. It’s just like, ‘Oh!’ And you just want to grab one. They’re like babies. They’re cute and you can’t hate them.” Even a diet book—Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook by Liz Vaccariello (Rodale, August)—has a cupcake on its cover. It’s certainly beyond us why the publisher chose to feature a cupcake instead of a rice cake.
