No. 14 || Great EGGspectations . . . In This Economy?!
Eggciting changes - we're chopping things up! Appetizers & Main Course only in today's send out with the other sections coming later on this week. Trying not to put all my eggs in one basket I guess.
Dear Readers & Cake Eaters,
There’s no doubt about the fact that we could all use a good laugh these days. In fact, we’re desperate for someone to crack us up if it means escaping reality for 1.7 seconds. A few of you have written to me over the last few months telling me how much you giggle or even cackle upon reading which you have to know, makes my damn week! I may be hidden behind the wall of my newsletter but at the end of the day, know that it makes my whole WORLD when you reach out. It reminds me that someone other than my Aunty and friends who I’m telling to open my email to boost stats (lolz) is actually reading. So please, always feel free to reach out! I’m not opposed to collaborations either :)
A couple of eggciting announcements here today:
As of this NL, I am going to experiment with splitting The Cakewalk’s core NLs into 2 parts - the first part featuring Appetizers & Main Course, and the second sent a few days later featuring À La Carte, Desserts, & Digestifs. I know that we are all busy people and as much as we may want to, sometimes it’s just not feasible to properly digest the full contents of an entire long ass NL, especially mine. Some of you may even be discovering for the first time that my NL surpasses the body of the email lolz. (Hi Mom!)
My good friend
who also writes and I have decided to team up and host an event during PFW at IFM aka aka Paris’ best fashion school (says public opinion) aka my alma mater lolz.
Together, Laurent and I will be moderating an illustrious panel of talents featuring
of , of , and of . Our goal is to just have some real talk about this rapidly growing and evolving platform that we’ve found so much community on. If you’re in Paris, we’d love for you to join us on March 5th from 6-9pm, you can RSVP HERE.The Paywall IS coming down. I simply put too much love and hard work into writing these newsletters to make the content exclusive to all of 12 people (who I love and appreciate so much for believing in me to the point of supporting me with your money). The Caketalk (my interview series) is still alive and well and you’ll be seeing more of it soon but that is also something I’d like to make available to all of you for now. So, if you weren’t able to before, you can check out my previous Caketalk Interview with the great Hilde Soliani now free of the paywall.
WITH THAT SAID, to my beloved *paid subscribers* - my appreciation for you knows no limits and you will be getting some exclusive city guides coming from me in the future. And for the rest of you just as beloved cake eaters, you’re already supporting me simply by reading and sharing my work, so thank you. And should you ever feel like *buying me a slice of cake*, you can do that by upgrading as a paid subscriber. :)
Now that y’all must be eggxasperated by my TLDR intro, let’s DEGG IN. xoxo
THE CAKEWALK - WEEKLY SPECIALS MENU
Wednesday, Feb 26th, 2025
Appetizers
Pepperoni Pizza Soda by Perfy - try saying that 5 times fast. Performative? Maybe. “Perfect?” Yikes, idk. Does it actually exist tho? YES. The fact that this is *Lightly Sparkling* absolutely sends me lolz. Also that there’s no added sugar. . . because yeah, that’s the first reason why I’d buy peppeoni pizza flavored soda lolz. And yet, not gonna lie, I make up that small percentage of weirdos that would definitely try it at least once. Is this the year that pizza flavored everything becomes a thing? We had Cinnamon Toast Crunch release their limited cereal collab with Totino’s Pizza just recently (which I’m still mad about because I never saw the link to the giveaway). Now this. . . I mean, not like I need an excuse for a pizza themed issue. While this flavor sounds straight up gross to me (a sentiment mirrored by this man reviewing the soda here), I will say that I can see it being a fantastic staple for a savory cocktail - any takers? The GREAT NEWS (maybe) is that for those of you who dare, you can still order it HERE and get 12 cans for $35.99. And if you do get a 12 pack, plz send me one? :)
courtesy of The Independent (left) and Verge Magazine (right) Sinead Gorey makes the runway “Finger Lickin’ Good” à la KFC style (with an official KFC partnership) during London Fashion Week. In an interview with Verge Magazine by Naomi de Moura, the designer says:
“The collection is about redefining the ‘walk of shame’ as a moment of confidence, power, and accidental elegance. That feeling you have the morning after the night before often can be met with anxiety and I wanted to shift that narrative, as we shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for having a good time. For me, KFC is synoptic with my mornings (and my late nights), when you need that craving to hit the spot so you can keep going!” - Sinead Gorey
I’m such a fan of KFC merch that KFC taking this long to get a runway debut is actually wild to me. I’m still hoping for a pair of the KFC x Crocs Platforms in a size 39 to show up for me one day tho . . . (my birthday is coming up . . .)
Also fresh out of London Fashion Week, Japanese Fashion Journalist & Influencer Yu Masui gives us a glimpse of Stephen Jones Millinery AW25 Choco Hat . . . it’s giving Willy Wonka. Food x Fashion is as strong as ever my friends. Will be interesting to see what rears its head this upcoming PFW (Paris Fashion Week).
I’ll Be Home For National Margarita Day - said no one ever . . . ok, actually I’m almost positive someone has said this before lolz. Well regardless, it didn’t stop Lifetime from teaming up with Chili’s to bless us with a 15 min short film starring Maria Menounos and Taye Diggs that was released as of Feb 19th. LOLZ. About the movie straight from Lifetime’s website - “Presented by Chili’s: Celebrating National Margarita Day at the local Chili’s is the highlight of the year, but when a big-city developer threatens a town holiday tradition, exes Liz (Maria Menounos) and Sam (Taye Diggs) must team up to stop him.” I’m maybe more stoked about this existing than I should be but what can I say, I’m ALL FOR the way brands fully commit to marketing strategies these days whether it be the whackiest product, collab, or . . . Lifetime Movie. Watch it HERE.
News Flash - bag charms are in. The Labubu craze is as wild as ever, fashion girlies love decking their bags out with as many “bag charms” and keychains as possible, and we’re quickly entering the “will it bag charm” phase of this trend meaning, if we can attach it to a clip and we can clip it to our bags, we will. (Not unsimilar to creators running with the “will it purse” concept.) And in an age where we find happiness and comfort in overly accessorizing, drinking our silly little drinks (alcoholic or non), or just from straight up cannabis (lolz), why wouldn’t you just combine all of the above and have a bag charm that also doubles as your THC/CBD fill for the day (or hour, you do you).
WELL, Cann and Ian Charms have entered the chat because they teamed up to bring that concept to life with a little collab featuring the Roadie Charm to accompany your lil Roadie tonics. Coming from a bag lady like me, I’m honestly obsessed with this trend. In middle school, they used to make fun of me and call me the janitor because I had the biggest collection of keys & keychains that I had attached to my hip at all times, announcing my arrival. At 31 not much has changed lolz. While admittedly I’m not an avid cannabis consumer (because Karen from Dolores Park’s edibles that I once consumed have traumatized me - true story), I love how embedded it is in our culture now and how many different versions of it there are. I’m also down to try again at some point. Anyways, shop the limited collab HERE w/options like the charm itself, a sampler, or a starter pack. And while we’re on bag charms, stay tuned because The Cake Shoppe also has something up its sleeve. :)
THIS IS NOT A DRILL. As seen on @greenonionbun’s page, 99 Ranch Market now has mini totes in 2 different colors!!! Don’t get me wrong, I still get stupid excited about Trader Joe’s bag drops as much as the next person but this one just hits different - maybe it’s cause I’m Asian and grew up in this store? Plz send me pics if you snag some. Also, I’m not indifferent to the fact that I am one of those people who hates tote bags with a passion and firmly believes that the world doesn’t need another one . . . but something about these simple grocery store ones that are inherently practical makes them just so. . . COVETABLE.
Summer of 2024 brought us the Paris Olympics as well as scratch n sniff Baguette stamps in France. Well, fast forward to 2025 and the French have realized that the public’s desire for a novelty, scratch n sniff stamps is insatiable, leading them to partner up with famous French pastry chef, Pierre Hermé for an entire “olfactive” stamp collection. The collection is designed to smell like Hermé’s signature Ispahan macaron, which has notes of rose, litchi, and raspberry and also happens to be the 25th edition of La Poste’s limited edition heart-shaped stamps series which is (if I’m not mistaken) released every year in time for Valentine’s. As far as I can tell, nothing has sold out as of yet and you can attempt to check them out on the French website HERE or send a traveling/expat friend out to fetch you some.
ICYMI - Papa Johns Garlic Bath Bomb was released on Feb 11th with the intention of “showing extra love” to their fans in time for Valentine’s Day. HOT TAKE - I’m not a garlic girly and NOT SO HOT TAKE, this is absolutely appalling to me but, I think that might be the same for most people unless you’re currently dealing with a vampire infestation - in which case, by all means.
As mentioned earlier, brands are really COMMITTING TO THE BIT these days in terms of marketing & advertising and I’m so here for it. If you haven’t come across Nutter Butter’s socials recently, I suggest you check it out. It’s one of the strangest directions yet and I still haven’t made time to fully follow the plot (if there is one) but I applaud them for the commitment. One of the latest incredibly relevant examples? Brawny (Paper Towels) teaming up with The Bachelor alum and freshly single, Rachael Kirkconnell to advertise and take digs at her ex, (Matt James -The Bachelor Season 25; blindsighted her by announcing their breakup on social media) all in one swift go - much like cleaning up messes with Brawny Paper Towels - see what I did there?? JK they’re not paying me, I’m not endorsing them for free lolz. Anyways, as consumers are only getting smarter (or perhaps less ignorant), clever collabs, cameos and references are much appreciated.
I used to have major FOMO when seeing various events happen without my knowing or when that pesky invitation somehow skips my inbox. These days, my FOMO revolves entirely around missed eating opportunities and this most recent one really hurts. In fact, it’s going to take me a while still to get over it - La Conciergerie in Paris (aka where Marie Antoinette spent her final days before execution aka where THIS performance during the Olympics took place) threw a 10-course royal banquet à la Charles V in 1378 style on February 11th. And silly little me knew nothing of it until now. For this seemingly once in a lifetime experience, tickets went for simply 60 EUR per person (around the same amount I pay for a night out at a wine bar w/small plates) and was limited to 90 guests - and to think I could have been one of them *le sigh*. Each course was brought to life with in-depth scientific research from historians specializing in The Middle Ages and I think if I have to relive my FOMO by looking up another detail for you, I might cry. Lolz. So I shall leave you with,
Trisha Paytas’ new “McGriddle” Music Video - I’ll admit, I know nothing about this woman and while the internet makes it fairly easy these days, I still haven’t had any desire to investigate further. However, anyone who loves a McGriddle let alone to the point of making a whole song and full fledged music video for it, has my attention. Like it or not, “McGriddle” is pretty Cakewalk coded - in the video she’s got a bedazzled McDonald’s hashbrown & coffee cup as well as a big ole bag of Skittles peaking out of her Birkin . . . but you really only need to see the first 36 seconds. Bon appétit!
Main Course
F O O D F O R T H O U G H T
Unless you’re unhinged or perhaps, unhatched in this case, you’re aware that America is currently in an egg-ceptional state. . . (and I don’t just mean the egg thing in case you didn’t catch that, but not going down that rabbit hole). And just a reminder, the egg crisis is an America-only problem - we’re fine in other countries (at least for now) but even I forget sometimes with how quickly this phenomenon has become embedded in everyday culture. The Trump Administration is apparently working on re-hiring the USDA Officials (as in, because he JUST fired them. . .) who were actually working on how to address the bird flu to begin with. Look, on the bright side, if it’s one thing we have when everything is going to shit and there’s no end in sight, it’s jokes right? And Tik Tok. Yeah, I guess you could call us #blessed.
*UPDATE, I’ve been informed that Australia is also currently going through an egg shortage but not as crazy as in the U.S. Anywhere else I’m not aware of?
Egg alternatives are not new and perhaps this is as good a time as ever for us as a society to seriously consider viable replacements that aren’t so much more expensive than the original - substitutes that aren’t just jacked up in price because of health claims or associated with trendiness or because they’re sitting on an Erewhon shelf. Perhaps things would be different if we simply looked at alternatives as just that, alternatives. Back in the day, what happened when the school cafeteria ran out of pizza for lunch? The lunch lady subbed in some chicken nuggets and you all called it a day. (Simpler times, simpler example, but you get what I mean.)
In today’s age, the business of food alternatives as well as really anything labeled as health conscious, is absolutely booming. For some of those that buy into it, it’s a flex - one that shows off wealth, privilege, and knowledge for being able to afford things that are “good for you” (and who can already afford healthcare to begin with) while simultaneously showing that you’re “in the know” because #health and #mybodyisatemple. But for others, it’s not - allergies, intolerances, dietary restrictions are all very real things but in the circus that is the food landscape of today, it’s sometimes hard to remember that.
The landscape of food is changing more rapidly than it ever has. There are as many brands trying to “yassify” (as Snaxshot calls it) and innovate ingredients as much as there are brands trying to simplify and uncomplicate them. Some are still trying to catapult us into the “future” while others are convincing us to go back to Nonna’s era where things were unfussy, sloppy even, but good.
Let me be clear - I’m by no means saying that using alternatives is bad in fact, sometimes its the contrary, and sometimes you have no choice. I just mean that the health and wellness zealots combined with food trend hype beasts can really make it both unappealing and unattainable sometimes, which brings me to a core issue - a substitute or replacement for something shouldn’t be double, triple, quadruple the price of the original thing just because of claims that it’s “better for your health”.
More importantly, this “Egg-fluenza” should be a wake up call for all of us in that our planet is going through a lot and life as we’ve known it, isn’t gonna keep the status quo. We’ve gone through mad cow disease outbreaks before, drought seasons that affect crop yields, other periods of bird flu, etc. etc. and made it out alive but what happens when these things start happening more and Americans who could barely afford simple products before, definitely can’t afford their flashier, more expensive counterparts now?
In an age where we are more capable than ever of identifying and creating food alternatives, why are we not finding a way to make them more accessible rather than focusing on making them as exclusive as possible? (Hayyy Capitalism!) Believe what you want, but living under the assumption that all of our natural resources whether they be animals OR plants are always going to be available to us is unsustainable. And no, I don’t mean sustainability as in “oooh eco-consciousness”, “use paper not plastic”. I mean, the literal definition - as in, it’s not going to last.
If food allergies are as rampant as they say, then a substitute product should be as easily accessible as the original. In fact, for someone like me who is “traditional” in my cooking and baking - I don’t like to experiment with dairy and sugar or really any alternatives (gimme the real stuff!) - I’d admittedly be much more willing to consider experimenting with different options if it didn’t mean breaking the bank to make something that might taste worse. But that’s also coming from someone who has little to no dietary restrictions, food allergies, etc. so I’m “privileged” to have the opinion that “real”, OG ingredients taste better. Also, LOLZ I am painfully aware of how everything I’m saying is easier said than done and how it just simply doesn’t fit into the framework of our broken, and only getting more broke by the day society. But hey, a girl can dream and a girl can have an opinion, right?
ANYWAYS, thanks for indulging me while I got on my soapbox for a bit. Or was it a stack of egg cartons? Not in this economy. Here are a few whacky stories about eggs to help you eggscape reality, if only for a few seconds. And I promise, only fun and absurd egg things in part II of this newsletter.
(Mini) Digestif
because even if I’m splitting the NL up, I can’t sign off without a fun (or disturbing) little palate cleanser :)
I’ll have you know all my puns were written before I watched this but, perhaps I should have started with it. Lolz.
She’s catchy.
FIN
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My next issue is already cooking but if you’d like to split the calorie intake, please share with friends! Instagram: @lecakewalk
There’s an egg shortage in Australia too, we have restrictions on how many cartons you can purchase per person! 🥚