This is so UAE. This is so Dubai.

Conspicuous consumption just cuz.

We are into measuring things here, and we like stuff expensive, because not many places on the planet have so many people with money to just throw away on something like the world’s most expensive cupcake.

And how much does it cost?

You can have it for 3,700 UAE dirhams — which is $1,007.

Must be a heck of cupcake, for $1,007.

And it is. Mostly because you’re eating gold … what our writer describes as “23-carat gold sheets.”

It is called the Golden Phoenix and has gone on sale at a place named Bloomsbury’s in the Dubai Mall. As long as you give the shop two days’ notice.

So, yeah, it has special chocolate, and special vanilla and gold-dipped strawberries … just so long as we can go beyond wearing our gold and eat it.

It was thoughtful of our online folks to put so many “most expensive” links to other stories in The National on the topic of ridiculous spending.

They include the world’s most expensively adorned Christmas tree ($11 million in precious stones; some serious tinsel, yeah) … and here is the one about the world’s most expensive tower apartments. The place is 50 stories tall but has only 80 apartments and is meant for “the rich and foolish.” Make that “the rich and famous.” The most expensive unit on sale recently was the 16,000-square-foot, six-bedroom “apartment” for $10.6 million. … And here is the bit about how the UAE is the most expensive country for expatriates in the Gulf …  (Well, sure. You buy a couple of cupcakes, and you’ve blown a month’s salary.)

The UAE is not all about spending money stupidly, but we seem to want to talk about it.

Hard to defend against charges of conspicuous consumption when we in the UAE are consuming so conspicuously.