It’s a cupcake thing

I’ve bought some really disappointing cupcakes lately. (Posts to come later.) But the principal idea behind cupcakes still makes me cheerfully happy inside: a serving of cake for one with tons of frosting. Sharing is optional.

So when I heard of Johnny Cupcakes in Los Angeles, I knew I had to visit and check it out for myself.

Johnny Cupcakes is not a traditional cupcake store in that they don’t sell baked goods. They sell apparel featuring cupcakes. And often cupcakes with crossbones (their logo) are featured on many of their t-shirt designs. I likened it many of the designs for the emo, indie, rocker crowd. Or someone who has a dark side and likes cupcakes like I do.

Johnny Cupcakes has three stores, two in Massachusetts and a third in Los Angeles on Melrose Avenue. So I knew that on my next trip to Los Angeles that I had to visit the store especially since it was highly praised for its coolness factor by geek goddess, Sarah Kuhn.

From the outside, Johnny Cupcakes looks like a bakery with a industrial-size mixer and other cooking supplies in the window. They take it a step further inside, placing their t-shirts in what looked like refrigerated displays throughout the store.

I didn’t find the shirt I saw online but I did walk away with a bumper sticker for my car. And it was the trademark cupcake and crossbones.

All of the t-shirts are limited designs and made in the United States. You can either go to one of the three stores or order the merchandise online.

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I haven’t made baked a batch of cupcakes for quite a while. Mostly because of the heat. Usually because I’m watching what I’m eating. And I’m quite certain that I’ve burned myself out on some really bad ones. But when I found out that it was my co-workers birthday AND I found out that he liked eating cupcakes followed by spaghetti and meatballs, I knew I had to make these cupcakes.

These faux spaghetti and meatball cupcakes were incredibly simple to make. Ferro-Rocher chocolates were the “meatball,” white frosting was piped to look like spaghetti noodles and strawberry jam was the sauce. I neglected to shave white chocolate on top of the cupcakes to look like grated cheese. But oh well, it still impressed a lot of people.

Some co-workers actually thought it was a real meatball when they saw it. Crazy people. Meatballs AND cupcakes together. Now that’s insane.