Pie is the New Cupcake

I have loved cupcakes since my tiny toddler hands smashed my very first cupcake into my mouth, creating a trail of crumbs and a fantastic frosting mustache. I loved them in elementary school when my classmates had birthdays and their moms made cupcakes for our milk break.

Cupcakes made a serious comeback in 2007, though I never even knew they had gone anywhere. The trend included elaborate cookbooks with unique recipes and amazing photos, and the opening of specialty shops known as “cupcake bakeries” around the country. In New York one cupcake bakery commanded so much attention, it often had customers lining up around the block.

At our wedding in September, my husband and I had five different kinds of cupcakes because we couldn’t narrow down the selections any more than that. It made for an even more blissful day and guests were encouraged to sample more than one of the individual cakes.

Now in our kitchen we have tins for regular sized and miniature cupcakes, cupcake carriers, cupcake cookbooks, cupcake flashcard recipes, as a Christmas present I received a giant cupcake mold to create cakes for all occasions and one of my favorite tin signs reads “Relax and Have a Cupcake.”

Imagine my shock and surprise when SeriousEats.com released its list of the ten most memorable food trends of 2010.

The very first item on the list says, “Pie is the New Cupcake.”

Harsh. Very harsh. Poor cupcakes.

Since mid-2009, bloggers have predicted that America’s love affair with cupcakes would suffer a sugar crash. Could it be? SeriousEats.com says, “Pie has been sitting back, gaining momentum for a while, waiting for cupcakes to get over themselves.”

According to the website, the trend includes regular sized slices, miniature pies, crusts made of graham crackers, pretzels or light and flaky butter crusts, pies in milkshake form and even pie on a stick.

In 2010, many restaurants added pie to their menus. Some are now promoting pie “happy hours” where you can score a slice of pie and a beverage for $3. The trend has been tracked from Marble Falls, Texas to Manhattan. In Brooklyn, a pie shop whips up a double-crusted strawberry balsamic and grapefruit custard.

SeriousEats.com says “…whether they’re age-old recipes or newfangled ones, pie is always a happy-maker. Step off, cupcakes.”

Lucky for me, I also love pie. From mom’s apple pie to enjoying a slice over high school lunch hour at Thompson’s Café, pie has always been a solid choice.

Lucky for you, you live in North Dakota, where a slice of homemade pie and a cup of coffee have always gone together, like peanut butter and jelly – or cupcakes and 2007.

I would like to believe that the fine folks in North Dakota started this trend. If North Dakota didn’t start it, just enjoy it – you now have one of the trendiest desserts in the nation.