NEWS worthy Clips (2/2)

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Pretty Treats Take the Cake

Food maven Ruth Reichl thinks the current cupcake fling is fleeting. “I don’t think we’ll be talking about it in 10 years,” she says. But others think the cupcake’s —it’s the perfect personalized treat in an age of individualization—will keep it from going stale.

“I have as much fun thinking about cupcakes as I do eating them,” says Rachel Kramer Bussel, creator of the blog, Cupcakes Take the Cake. “alone cannot explain the success of the cupcake. It’s much more about a dessert that reflects your own personality.”

Bussel says she receives an email a week from someone opening a new cupcake-only store and estimates about 75 such shops nationwide. “I keep waiting for this to die down, and instead it keeps mushrooming.”

At Kara’s Cupcakes in San Francisco, the crowd inside is manageable, just a few moms with strollers perusing a menu and two twentysomethings eyeing a chocolate velvet cupcake.

But this is the calm both before and after the storm. The has yet to start.In her cramped but clean store kitchen, the cooking never stops, especially now that Kara’s has opened a second location.

“Some people might say this is a fad, but I just can’t imagine our business slowing down,” says Michael.

Across the counter from him, the two women order their chocolate cupcake, which they split down the middle.

“Why do I like cupcakes? Wow, a million reasons,” says Yoli Anyon, 29. “There’s less guilt about eating them because they’re small. They’re also kind of gourmet. And it just feels much more special than eating a candy bar.”

Her friend, Jen Krasner, 26, , her mouth muffled by dense chocolate cake.

Finally, Krasner swallows and smiles: “It tastes like childhood.”

Vocabulary Focus

die down (phr. v) ---to become reduced in strength

mushrooming (v) ---to grow quickly

the calm before the storm (idiom) ---a peaceful and quiet period before a period of activity or trouble

Specialized terms

maven (n) ---（某领域的）权威或专家a person with good knowledge or understanding of a subject

twentysomething (n) ---二十几岁的人someone aged between 20 and 29