A Brief History Of The Cupcake

While cakes have been around for centuries, cupcakes first came around in the 19th century, courtesy of the United States of America.

The idea behind making tiny cakes was elaborated in ‘American Cookery’, a 1796 cookbook by Amelia Simmons. However, the word ‘cupcake’ itself did not come about until 1828, when celebrated author and cooking expert Eliza Leslie published her cookbook ‘Receipts’, which included the recipe for the first cupcake.

Though Leslie can be credited for cementing the first cupcake recipe, there is no single inventor of this sweet treat. Most of the time, ‘cupcake’ was simply a name for a measurement, much like ‘pound’ cake.

While the history of the cupcake it somewhat vague, not as clear as most desserts we bake and buy today, one thing is certain—we got a pretty clean and tidy way on miniaturizing the cakes we love, reducing the mess and increasing the joy.

Cupcake Here, Cupcake Everywhere

Once the concept was popularized, cupcakes became a favorite amongst both home and commercial bakers. Commercial shop-bought cupcakes were first introduced in 1919 by ‘Hostess’, an American bakery company that introduced this single-portioned dessert as a ‘snack cake’.

The dainty appearance, small size, and balanced shape for decoration purposes made it an economical baked good for both bakers and consumers. Plus, the fact that cupcakes are loved by children, and can be shared and gifted, made it a handy sweet treats in birthday parties and other celebrations.

Today, cupcakes come in a variety of flavors and styles. From buttercream-frosted cupcake bouquets to fondant-designed themed cupcakes, this dessert is loved by everyone. Bridal showers, baby showers, national and traditional holidays, and more, there is no occasion for which a cupcake cannot be baked.

Advanced technology has allowed this treat to be infused with jams, chocolates and creams without compromising the shape or quality of the cake crumbs. Artist bakers emerge craft and creativity to turn cupcakes into edible wonders.

Ready, Set, Cake

A great cupcake required great ingredients, and at Divine Specialties, our cakes supplies store has every ingredient you need to create premium cupcakes. Get cake supplies shipped to your doors—come shop with us today!

For the American rapper, see Cupcakke . For other uses, see Cupcake (disambiguation)

A cupcake (AmE), fairy cake (BrE), or bun (IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied.

History

The earliest extant description of what is now often called a cupcake was in 1796, when a recipe for "a light cake to bake in small cups" was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons.[2][3] The earliest extant documentation of the term cupcake itself was in "Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats" in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook.[4][5]

In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the term cup cake or cupcake. In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in. This is the use of the name that has remained, and the name of "cupcake" is now given to any small, round cake that is about the size of a teacup. While English fairy cakes vary in size more than American cupcake, they are traditionally smaller and are rarely topped with elaborate frosting.

The other kind of "cup cake" referred to a cake whose ingredients were measured by volume, using a standard-sized cup, instead of being weighed. Recipes whose ingredients were measured using a standard-sized cup could also be baked in cups; however, they were more commonly baked in tins as layers or loaves. In later years, when the use of volume measurements was firmly established in American home kitchens, these recipes became known as 1234 cakes or quarter cakes, so called because they are made up of four ingredients: one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs.[6][7] They are plain yellow cakes, somewhat less rich and less expensive than pound cake, due to using about half as much butter and eggs compared to pound cake.

The names of these two major classes of cakes were intended to signal the method to the baker; "cup cake" uses a volume measurement, and "pound cake" uses a weight measurement.[6]

Recipes

A standard cupcake uses the same basic ingredients as standard-sized cakes: butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Nearly any recipe that is suitable for a layer cake can be used to bake cupcakes. The cake batter used for cupcakes may be flavored or have other ingredients stirred in, such as raisins, berries, nuts, or chocolate chips.

Because their small size is more efficient for heat conduction, cupcakes bake much faster than a normal layered cake.[8]

Cupcakes may be topped with frosting or other cake decorations. Elaborately decorated cupcakes may be made for special occasions.

They may be filled with frosting, fruit, or pastry cream. For bakers making a small number of filled cupcakes, this is usually accomplished by using a spoon or knife to scoop a small hole in the top of the cupcake. Another method is to just insert the pastry bag in the middle of the cupcake. In commercial bakeries, the filling may be injected using a syringe.

Variants

• A cake in a mug (more commonly known as a mug cake) is a variant that gained popularity on many Internet cooking forums and mailing lists. The technique uses a mug as its cooking vessel and can be done in a microwave oven. The recipe often takes fewer than five minutes to prepare.
• A cake in a jar a glass jar is used instead of mugs, trays or liners.
• A butterfly cake is a variant of cupcake,[9][10][11][12] also called fairy cake for its fairy-like "wings".[13] The top of the cake is separated and split in half. A filling (e.g. icing or jam) is placed into the hole. The two halves are placed onto the filling to resemble wings. Other decorations, such as sprinkles and icing sugar, are often added over the cake.
• Elaborately frosted cupcakes may be made for special occasions such as baby showers, graduations, or holidays.[14]
• A cake ball or cake pop is an individual portion of cake, round like a chocolate truffle, that is coated in chocolate.[15] These are typically formed from crumbled cake mixed with frosting, rather than being baked as a sphere.
• A gourmet cupcake is a recent variant of cupcake. Gourmet cupcakes are large and filled cupcakes, based around a variety of flavor themes, such as Tiramisu or Cappuccino. In recent years there has been an increase in stores that sell only gourmet cupcakes.[16]
• As an alternative to a plate of individual cakes, some bakers place standard cupcakes into a pattern and frost them to create a large design, such as a basket of flowers or a turtle.[17]
• A cupcake cone or cupcone is a cupcake baked in an ice cream cone.[18][19] After baking, icing or other decorations may be added.

• Examples of cupcake variations

• A mug cake

• Cake in a jar

• A butterfly cake

• Elaborately decorated

• A cake ball

• Gourmet cupcake ( s'mores flavor)

• Large design

• Cake batter is poured into an ice cream cone prior to baking