Comments on: The cupcake craze

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:15:12 +0000

Hi Nona, thanks for the insightful point. You’re completely right, of course. In Israel of all places, it’s very expensive to be a small producer. The market here isn’t very large, so you don’t have the potential pool of customers you have in, say, the United States.

But this leads to market failure problems — it isn’t profitable for the bakers to sell for less, but people buy less than they would otherwise because in absolute terms, it’s not a cheap product. You, as someone who worked in the industry, realize how much effort goes into every cupcake. The ultimate question is whether enough other people do, too, and think that it’s worth the cost.

By: Nona

Nona — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:05:52 +0000

Hi Liz. When a person pays 15 shekel for a cupcake 2.4 goes for vat. Probably another 2.5 goes for products (you want cream cheese frosting right?). And still the pastry chef needs to be paid, rent for the place, electricity, water etc (all of those things that you won’t consider when baking at home). And I assume that all these bakeries that you mentioned throw what was left at the end of the day. So what the value for a single cupcake before taxes? 4 shekels top? (which is 2 after taxes). And, yes, the lines are not like at Magnolia, so how many do they sell a day? 100? 200? Wow if they are really lucky they are making 400 shekels a day!!! They are ripping us off!!! Now seriously; as a cupcake lover I’m happy to pay 15 shekels each and 90 for half a dozen, since I used to owe a bakery and I know how much little they make at the end of the day.
Btw, they are all delicious!!!

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:42:13 +0000

Hi Anna, thanks for your comment. Interesting to know that this is a Tel Aviv-based trend for now. Indeed, I wonder if they’ll go farther …

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:32:47 +0000

Thank you! I thought that the cupcake-crazy tended to be expats. I’ve always enjoyed baking them, decorating them and just peering at them in shop-windows. Thank you for this post. I wonder if they’ll ever reach Haifa…

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:45:43 +0000

Hi Chaya, thanks for stopping by. Yes, possibly — I’m wondering whether they’re even big right now, beyond the media hype. Unlike the United States, people here didn’t grow up with cupcakes, so there’s less of a foundation for a trend to take hold … that’s my thought on the matter. We’ll see, I guess.

By: Toddler cold + packing = no blogging « In our small garden

Toddler cold + packing = no blogging « In our small garden — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:55:14 +0000

[...] of cake – Cafe Liz has a post up about the Tel Aviv cupcake scene (I probably enjoyed typing “cupcake scene” a little too much just now) and a recipe for [...]

By: Chaya

Chaya — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:11:30 +0000

My instincts tell me that cupcakes will be big for a while and then diminish in quantity. Everyone is baking cupcakes in the U.S. so why not in Israel?

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:18:38 +0000

Cara, you barely would have seen them here six months ago!
You’re definitely onto something regarding the sweetness. Many of the places here have altered the traditional American frosting recipes and replaced the with ganache, as Sarah mentioned, so they’d be less sweet.

Anyway, maybe you’re due for another trip?

By: Cara

Cara — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:52:53 +0000

Very interesting, I don’t recall seeing any cupcakes in Israel when I visited but that was a long time ago… gosh, 10 years I think?!

Anyway, though I do love a good cupcake, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just a fad and doesn’t catch on. From my (still limited) travels to Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries, I notice that the dessert palette is quite different than here in America. I have encountered many non-Americans who find American desserts “too sweet”, and although I have never been a “too sweet” kind of person, I am definitely growing to appreciate some less-sweet desserts with greater depth of flavor – which I think you probably have many of!

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:40:21 +0000

A-Man, I completely agree! I think that unfortunately, for those of us living in small markets, high prices for decent quality will always be a problem.