Trends

We’re Really Doing a Disservice to Pie by Constantly Comparing It to Cupcakes

Not anything like a cupcake!
Not anything like a cupcake! Photo: Roxanne Behr/New York Magazine

This weekend, the editors at the L.A. Times decided to run their pies-are-the-new-cupcakes story. It’s called “Forget cupcakes — pies are hot.” Of course, this story runs a few months after the New York Times made a similar declaration (“Pie to Cupcake: Time’s Up“), two weeks after NPR chimed in on the subject (“Cupcakes Are Dead. Long Live The Pie!“), and about a month after we ourselves discussed the issue in relation to another trend, pork (“Pies Are the New Cupcakes Are the New Bacon?“). So it’s pretty obvious that “pie” isn’t the trend here. “The popularity of pies, as compared to that of cupcakes” is. And that’s sort of too bad for pie!

Because pie is good. Really good. And it’s been really good for a long time. So good, in fact, that it shouldn’t have to live in the shadow of the cupcake. It should be able to stand on its own! By claiming pie is the new cupcake, it’s saying that pie is poised to have this huge surge in popularity, marked not just by growing demand, but also by growing prominence in pop culture. (Because, let’s be honest: Where would the cupcake trend really be were it not for Magnolia Bakery’s appearance on Sex and the City?) But where did pie ever go? Hasn’t pie been here for a while? We think it has! We don’t know about you, but we haven’t really ever stopped eating it!

If anything, we should talk about pie reclaiming its rightful place as America’s most-loved bakery item, not it displacing something else. “The Return of Pie” seems like a more epic peg for a story anyway, right?

And besides, cupcakes aren’t going anywhere.


Forget cupcakes — pies are hot
[LAT]

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