In defence of the cupcake-maker

On Radio 4s Woman's Hour today, a piece about the cupcake:

"The Infantilisation of Food. Are these culinary developments frivolous fun, or should we be concerned that food marketed to adult women is beginning to resemble a children’s tea party? Jenni Murray is joined by Nicola Humble, Professor of English Literature at Roehampton University and author of ‘Cake – A Global History’ and the food writer Joanna Blythman."

Blimey. I'm a feminist and I make cupcakes. Maybe I should resign, either from feminism or cupcake-making. Clearly you can't be in both camps. Or can you?

Cupcakes come in for a lot of stick, considering they're just cakes with icing. But today on the radio the critics were particularly vengeful, questioning how anyone who really appreciates cake can enjoy a cupcake (I like most cakes), how pink and girly/babyish cupcakes are (have they never seen the bleeding heart cupcake, complete with fake blackberry blood oozing out?), how women would be shocked at how calorie-laden cupcakes are compared to a fairy cake (I doubt it, we're pretty good at assessing calories in foodstuffs - equally good at ignoring them and eating things anyway), how people are making huge amounts of money selling them for exhorbitant prices (probably came as a surprise to those cake-makers like me who have still to make a profit - and anyway haven't they seen the price of a coffee these days?), how plastic they are (what, even the homebaked, bespoke cupcake made with the freshest ingredients? I'll agree that the supermarket versions leave a lot to be desired). Their premise seemed to be that anyone who buys and eats a cupcake is being conned, which is pretty insulting to our intelligence when you think about it.

A small focus group (Jo's knitting group happened to be meeting this morning) were clear: cupcakes are pure escapism and in the current climate who can blame us?

I felt criticised today (shame, I love listening to Woman's Hour). How much more interesting it might have been to look at the number of women who are turning to baking (and other creative careers) in their own homes as a way of making some kind of a living when part-time jobs that pay enough to cover childcare aren't always in abundance. If you look at most cupcake shops, a lot of these small businesses will have started at a woman's kitchen table. If they're like me, that's because they're able to fit it in when the kids are at school and in bed.

For me, setting up a tiny (so far) baking business from home has been one of the most fun and creative things I've done in a while. OK some of my cakes might be pink but, having left a good career to focus on my family (after working throughout their early childhood) and, with a husband who works away a lot, there aren't a huge number of options available to me. I've created a new business and job for myself and I'm not the only one. And now Nicola and Joanna come along and criticise what we're doing. And what are they doing for a living? Being paid for talking about cupcakes on the Radio. Frankly, I'd rather be baking them or eating them than talking about them.