If you aren't up to speed on what the Transportation Security Administration has labeled Cupcakegate, here's a quick synopsis. Traveler Rebecca Hains of Peabody, Mass., last month had a cupcake confiscated as she passed through airport security at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. The TSA maintains the cupcake raised suspicions because it came in a jar and contained "gel-like" frosting that was deemed to have exceeded the 3-ounce limit.
Enter the TSA Compliant Cupcake, a new product from Silver Spoon Bakery in Providence, R.I. "We wanted to take a tongue-in-cheek look at what the ideal cupcake would be to be TSA compliant," Silver Spoon owner Kelly Colgan says Thursday. "Cupcakes are a fun product."
Colgan redesigned the cupcake with security in mind. It's made of basic vanilla bean cake topped with exactly 3 ounces of frosting and packaged in a standard 3-1-1 one-quart see-thru bag. It costs $4 and even comes with its own boarding pass -- and, if you like, comes decorated (see photo) with a Richard Nixon photo and the words "I am not a gel" or other security-related message.
Colgan bristles at the thought of the sweet stuff having terrorist overtones. "I am not a gel, I am frosting, I am icing, I am harmless, I am confectioners sugar and butter!" she says.
