One of the things that the media loved to talk about during Bill Clinton’s presidency was his diet and his weight. When I was thinking about this cupcake, this came to mind. But, sometimes we misremember things. A few cursory searches, though, proved to me that I wasn’t making this up at all.
Don’t read the articles about Bill Clinton’s relationship to food if you’re hungry. You’ll probably drool all over your computer or phone. You’ll probably go eat something that you wouldn’t normally eat. You’ll read about Clinton eating chicken enchiladas, hamburgers, barbecue, cinnamon rolls, tacos, baked beans, sweet potato pie, jalapeño hamburgers, corn pudding, carrot cake, apples, bananas, roast beef, peach pie, and lemon chess pie. Drooling yet? And this is not an exhaustive list.
Back in 1992, the New York Times published an article “Bill Clinton and Food: Jack Sprat He’s Not.” Saturday Night Live had a bit of fun at the expense of his gustatory reputation, in it Clinton visited a McDonald’s and helped himself to the food on people’s trays.
More recently, media attention to Clinton’s diet has focused on lifestyle changes that he’s made in the last several years. Following serious heart trouble, Clinton adopted a more or less vegan diet. This change doesn’t mean an end to articles about Bill Clinton and his food habits, they’re just pitched differently.
The cake:
This cake combines some of Bill Clinton’s favorite things, with some of the things that might look good, but not be good for him. Bill Clinton is a fan of bananas, so the cake is banana-flavored. It is filled with whipped cream, which is one of the things that looks so good, but would be bad. You see, Clinton is allergic to milk. He is also allergic to chocolate, part of this cupcake’s garnish. The cake is frosted with butterscotch buttercream, bringing these flavors together with sweetness, a taste that he has seemed to favor. Finally, the cupcake is sprinkled with salted peanuts. This cupcake is called the temptation because like some of the foods that the press so loved talking about, it looks so good, but if consumed with reckless abandon, it could be so bad for you.
