In a recent post, David Tamarakin called for a moratorium on cupcake writing. And then claimed a special exception for himself.
I’m following his lead. And echoing his sentiments. Cupcakes are overexposed. Cupcakes are overwrought. Cupcakes are too much with us. Now let me tell you about the breakfast cupcake I’ve recently come to love.
The place is Honey Bee Bakery, a new spot on the western fringe of my hometown of Oxford, Mississippi. Despite its setting, in a soulless strip mall, Honey Bee is hipster-cute. Lemon curd–yellow walls. Pop art worthy of Lichtenstein. Shelves stacked with pinched and gnarled coffee cups, pulled from a local kiln.
Shannon is the imp of a baker behind the idea. For the longest time, she worked at City Grocery here in Oxford, where she distinguished herself as the waitress most likely to suggest a cheap and good Spanish red instead of up-selling me to an expensive California blockbuster.
I didn’t know Shannon had baking in her blood. But her morning buns, glazed with orange blossom honey and larded with mascarpone and chopped pecans, leave little doubt. Ditto her muffins with blueberry and lime zest.
My favorite is her banana bread cupcake with peanut butter icing. The interior crumb is dense, almost creamy. And it’s shot through with the pleasant flavor of overripe bananas.
Close your eyes and take a bite, and you’ll think you’re eating a wholesome muffin. Except for the icing, troweled on with an appreciation for excess and a disdain for calorie-parsing.
When I ask Shannon how she can, in good conscience, rationalize a breakfast cupcake in Mississippi, the state—according to the CDC—with the highest obesity rate in the nation, she makes a smart and impassioned defense of her creation. “Think of it as wheat bread,” she says, among other things. “Think of the icing as cream cheese on a bagel.” And, bless her soul, she says it all with a straight face.
Honey Bee Bakery 2305 W. Jackson Ave., Suite 202, Oxford, MS (662-236-2490)
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