David Arrick, owner of New York City's Butch Bakery, knows that trendy cupcakes, with their pink frosting and sparkly toppings, are unfairly skewed toward a female demographic. In The Butch Bakery Cookbook, Arrick shares his recipes for guy-friendly cupcakes boasting bold flavors like chile powder, sugar-glazed bacon and a range of alcoholic beverages that would make a bartender proud.
The from-scratch B-52 (a yellow cupcake soaked in Kahlua and frosted with Bailey's Irish Cream buttercream) and the New Yawk Cream Pie (a chocolate-frosted yellow cupcake with a creamy pudding center that gets its start from a cake mix and canned frosting) both received rave reviews in testing. Husbands, boyfriends and one handyman who lucked into participating raved about the results, or at least gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up with one hand while shoving cupcakes into their mouths with the other.
Embrace gender equality. Nab a copy of The Butch Bakery Cookbook for the baker in your life! --Jaclyn Fulwood, graduate assistant, University of Oklahoma Libraries