People may think of creativity when they think of cupcakes, but it sounds like there are two other words that are very popular in the cupcake world; vanilla and chocolate. These two flavors appear to be the staple of the cupcake industry, as many people will go with either chocolate or vanilla cupcakes when they purchase them at the store. Even bakers who love getting creative in the kitchen will often start with the vanilla or chocolate base as they build on the recipe from there.
Boring choice?
But why are these cupcakes so popular? Compared to what you can get in bakeries and even at the grocery store these days, it seems like vanilla might be a boring choice.
Given you can get anything from champagne flavored cupcakes to even cookie dough and chocolate crunch flavors, this flavor just seems plain, boring, and even common.
But perhaps this is what makes this flavor so great for people. It is predictable so they know what they're going to get. For people who don't like to take chances at the bakery, choosing a vanilla flavored cupcake ensures that they're never disappointed. Perhaps it is the joy of knowing what they are getting that has them picking the same flavor every time.
In addition, it can be really great if you use quality ingredients. If you make your cupcakes and just use extract, you may not be able to get that beautiful flavor you would get if you used a real vanilla bean to add flavor to your buttercream.
In addition, it serves as a great Blank Canvas for people to get creative.
Goes with almost anything
Because this flavor can be somewhat dull, other ingredients may take over the flavor once you start getting creative with your batter. For example, if you were to add orange juice to the batter, the orange flavor may completely overpower the vanilla and thus create a great base for something cool to happen.
You can also use a vanilla batter to experiment with flavors you didn't think were possible in a cupcake, such as a basil buttercream or perhaps a licorice-flavored cake.
The idea here is that this flavor will go with almost anything. The flavor gives you a sweet base to work with, so you can add sour, bitter, savory, and other flavors to vanilla to see if it will work.
Adding more sweet flavors to a vanilla cupcake may just suit the person with a sweet tooth.
What do you think about vanilla cupcakes being some of the most popular for people to buy? Are you surprised that people are playing it safe by choosing vanilla over some more sophisticated flavors?
