the mofo with the info.

La Cupcake Disputà

Cupcakes have become an integral part of Manhattan cuisine, growing quickly from “Sex and the City” fad pastry to a staple for a growing number of bakeries, following the success arcs of other such specific dishes as Lobster Rolls and the ubiquitous Corn. New York Metro has a great story on the original Magnolia bakery and the resulting schism between founders Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey , although their version is a little secular for my tastes.

Any real New Yorker knows the true story of La Cupcake Disputà, as immortalized by Raphael Santi in his famous Stanza Della Segnatura frescoes now displayed in the Vatican, and as documented by Milton in his “Aesthetics on Frosting”. Torey, of course, was a strict believer of cupcake-transubstantiation, and that the eucharistic cake and frosting actually became infused with the Real Presence of Jesus’ body and blood at the point of sale; Appel believed that Christ’s body and blood do not come down to inhabit the elements, but that “the Spirit truly unites things separated in space”. The resulting fraction led to the great Cupcake Reformation, by which Appel spun off the Buttercup bakery in midtown and the rest, as they say, is history.

In Raphael’s La Cupcake Disputà (pictured right), the The viewer’s eye is instantly drawn to the neon, almost-photoshopped colors of the cupcake, which is framed on both sides by Appel and Torey’s factions. Raphael also creates a stark visual distinction between the earthly and heavenly realms that is then mimicked in the depiction of the cupcake by the separation between the geometrically shaped cake and the fluffy, cloudlike frosting. The cherry, of course, is the New Testament’s reiteration of the Apple of Eden and the formal rejection of the low-carb dietary restrictions of the Torah.

Unfortunately, the best cupcakes are now at Billy’s, so the debate is pretty much moot. You can also get a recipe for cupcakes here, but that’s missing the whole point.