Sugar... Aw, Honey, Honey.

I dream about cupcakes. Really. I'm not kidding.

The other night, I fell asleep after watching "Cupcake Wars" on TLC, and all I remembered from a dream were cupcakes. It's weird. I don't have to ask the rhetorical blog question of readers whose answers I won't actually hear. I know it's strange. Who dreams about cupcakes?

I mean, I guess it's more than just cupcakes. It's cake too. Over the ten weeks I have been out of work, I have watched every sort of cake/baking show imaginable. It never fails that when an episode of "Amazing Wedding Cakes" or "Ace of Cakes" is over, I feel the need to eat some variation of this baked goodness. If you're from the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area, you'll understand why my cake of choice is ShopRite birthday cake. Always has been, always will be. It beats even the fanciest cakes created by Buddy at Carlo's Bakery (which, I have heard, don't taste so great anyway).

I, like so many others, have been completely sucked into this whole cupcake craze. But, really, it's dumb. The other day I thought to myself that cupcakes were so much more fun when they were a special treat because some kid in class was having a birthday and had to provide a special afternoon dessert to the whole class. I always preferred them over Munchkins. And don't you think it's a little weird that the kid with the birthday had to provide the snacks? Shouldn't the class have been bringing them in for the one with the birthday? Just a thought. Anyway, after living in Los Angeles, I can name a whole bunch of cupcake places very quickly. I admit, I have waited in a line outside Sprinkles just to see what the big deal was about. I can't lie; they're pretty incredible. But, I've wondered why all of a sudden everyone thinks he/she can make the best cupcakes on the block and charge somewhere near $4 dollars for a little piece of cake (when you can totally get a whole ShopRite birthday cake for a more reasonable price). And why does everyone that makes these cakes get a reality TV show? What if I started cranking out cupcakes in my kitchen and wanted to pitch a show about that? Would it work? I'm sure someone at TLC would think there was semi-scripted genius in that.

Honestly, cupcakes will always be appealing. If you like cake and frosting, you like the mini version. I just think this whole thing needs to go away. I guess we can go back many years and blame "Sex and the City" and Magnolia Bakery for starting it all in NYC. I am guilty of owning the Magnolia cookbooks and replicating their famous red velvet on occasion (but they make the massive mistake of using vanilla frosting... not cream cheese), but I couldn't see standing in their crowded store on a hot day just to say I bought one for myself. Please, just get them off the TV screen. I don't need to want them every day, and I'd like to stop dreaming about cupcakes.

"Like the summer sunshine, pour your sweetness over me."