DailyDirt: Cupcakes With a Twist

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Aug 10th 2012 5:00pm — Joyce Hung

An amazing number of cupcake stores have been popping up everywhere over the last few years, in what's been called the "Cupcake Bubble". (Just check out CRMB on NASDAQ for one public company dedicated to cupcake bakeries -- or the reality show about cupcakes, Cupcake Wars.) These tasty treats are not only easy to make cheaply, but scaling up also doesn't require too much effort. As a result, there are tons of different cupcake choices out there, and stores are distinguishing themselves by offering cupcakes with a twist. Here are just a few examples.

How about an ATM that takes your cash and dispenses cupcakes? Sprinkles, the "pioneer" of cupcake bakeries, has set up a 24-Hour Sprinkles cupcake ATM that is restocked day and night with a variety of freshly baked cupcakes. The machine also dispenses cupcake mixes, apparel, and... cupcakes for dogs(!) [url]
The world's most expensive cupcake -- The Golden Phoenix -- costs over $1,000. The cupcake is made by Bloomsbury's Cupcakes in Dubai, and it's made from the finest chocolate and covered in 23 carats of edible gold sheets. [url]
The Meatloaf Bakery in Chicago sells savory meat cupcakes. Each cupcake is a self-contained meal, and there are eight different varieties. For example, the "Wing and a Prayer Loaf" features ground chicken and celery topped with hot wing sauce and a blue cheese crust. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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Filed Under: bakery, cupcake wars, cupcakes, dispensers, expensive, food, meat
Companies: crmb, sprinkles

10 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2012 @ 5:26pm

Meat cupcakes? Who owns that place, Sweeney Todd?
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2012 @ 6:04pm

"How about an ATM that takes your cash and dispenses cupcakes?"

*GASP* How unheard of! A machine that dispenses food/items for cash, you say? I do wonder why they'd call this dispenser an 'automatic teller machine', though. More like an 'automated vendor machine'.

EUREKA!!! Let's call it a VENDING MACHINE!!!

Gotta call those folks right now!
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Michael Ho (profile), 10 Aug 2012 @ 6:12pm

Re:
Considering that plenty of vending machines dispense Twinkies and other cupcake-like desserts, I assume they wanted to make their vending machine distinct from any existing cupcake vending machines.

I wonder how freshly-baked these cupcake ATMs really are...
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2012 @ 6:40pm

Re: Re:
Well, yeah, I do kinda get that. :) I just think it should be the quality of the products offered that should be the mark of distinction, not trying to rename the age-old concept of a vending machine and try to look like you introduced a revolutionary concept to sell food. Also, it's a bit of a misnomer. Tellers don't work in bakeries and do not (usually) hand out cupcakes.

I want to stress that I'm not bothered or worked-up or anything about the points above per se.

What the (mild) snark was directed at was that they felt they needed to act as if they did something incredibly new and previously unheard of to get people interested.

Let your cupcakes speak for themselves! Tell people where your vending machines are, hype up your products qualities but please - call a vending machine a vending machine. We're not that stupid. I hope.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2012 @ 6:47pm

Re: Re: Re:
Seem to have blamed the wrong people... It seems it's just the laist.com people who call it an ATM, not the Sprinkles people themselves.

Consider my brain null and void.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2012 @ 8:16pm

Maybe it's an ABM
You know, Automated Bakery Machine.
But seriously, I agree that it's silly to put any emphasis on such an old-school delivery model and treat it like it's something new.
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Josh (profile), 10 Aug 2012 @ 8:41pm

Re: Re: Re:
Sadly, and at times amusingly, we totally are that stupid.
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Pixelation, 10 Aug 2012 @ 9:28pm

This reminds me of a friend of mine. His son wouldn't listen to him so when it was time for everyone to have a cupcake, everyone had one except his son. His son aptly named him "Stupid With a Cupcake".
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JeroenW, 11 Aug 2012 @ 12:00pm

cornish pasty
"Each cupcake is a self-contained meal"

So.. a bit like a cupcake version of the cornish pasty then?
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Manfred Manfriend, 11 Aug 2012 @ 12:10pm

Gold Sheets?
Isn't gold sheets something you do *after* digesting The Golden Phoenix? ;P
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