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CUPCAKES WITH YOUR OWN FLAVOR! 

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A LITTLE CUPCAKE HISTORY

Cupcakes are special dessert treats that have been around since the early 19th century. They have been spreading delight and enjoyment for over a full century and they are still going strong, maybe stronger than ever now.

There seem to be two theories about the origin of recipes titled "cupcake:"

1. The name comes from the amount of ingredients used to make the cake (a cupful of flour, a cupful of butter, cupful of sugar etc.).
---This is very similar to how pound cake was named. In fact, the recipes for cup cakes and pound cakes include pretty much the same ingredients and would have produced similar results.

2. These cakes were originally baked in cups.
---Old cookbooks also sometimes mention baking cakes in small cups. These cups may very well have been earthenware tea cups or other small clay baking pans. These would easily accomodated baking level oven heat and produce individual-sized cakes. This is not the same thing as contemporary metal cupcake pans, enabling cooks to bake a dozen small cakes in one fell culinary swoop.

Which is true? Both!

Because cupcakes have been around for such a long period of time it is not surprising that they have become a widely enjoyed, widely hailed dessert treat. Big companies such as Hostess, for example, have created their versions of cupcakes with Ding-dongs and Twinkies. Other such companies have followed suit creating a wide assortment of miniature sized cake treats.

The popularity of cupcakes continues for many reasons. They are proportionally one serving size. They are easy to carry and pack. They are convenient and easy to clean up after. There is versatility in the packaging, decorating and shapes. Cupcakes were first made in muffin tins and now they can be made in cupcake tins that have special shapes like hearts, stars, and so many more options!

The cupcake has become such a large part of this country’s dessert staple that people not only still bake them, bakeries bake them, and some even go so far as to specialize in the sole production of them. Companies will produce products made specifically for them, i.e. cupcake pans, cupcake decorations, and other such cupcake items. Organizations will have cupcake bake sales, birthday parties will still often have a spread of multi-colored cupcakes abound, and oftentimes cupcakes are even brought to the office!

Historic cupcake recipes:

[1796]
"A light Cake to bake in small cups.
Half a pound sugar, half a pound butter, rubbed into two pounds flour, one glass wine, one do. [glass] Rosewater, two do.[glass] Emptins, a nutmeg, cinnamon and currants."
---American Cookery, Amelia Simmons, 2nd edition (p. 48)

[1828]
"Cup cake.
5 eggs.
Two large tea-cups full of molasses.
The same of brown sugar, rolled fine.
The same of fresh butter.
One cup of rich milk.
Five cups of flour, sifted.
Half a cup of powdered allspice and cloves.
Half a cup of ginger.

Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm them slightly. Warm also the molasses, and stir it into the milk and butter: then stir in, gradually, the sugar, and set it away to get cool. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture alternately with the flour. Add the ginger and other spice, and stir the whole very hard. Butter small tins, nearly fill them with the mixture, and bake the cakes in a moderate oven."
---Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats, By a Lady of Philadelphia [Eliza Leslie](p. 61)

[1833]
"Cup cake. Cup cake is about as good as pound cake, and is cheaper. One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs, well beat together, and baked in pans or cups. Bake twenty minutes, and no more."
---American Frugal Housewife, Mrs. Child (p. 71)

[1871]
"Cup cake. Half a cupful butter and four cupsful of sugar creamed together, five well-beaten eggs, one teaspoonful of [baking] soda dissolved in one cupful of cream (or milk), six cupsful of flour, nutmeg, one teaspoonful of dry cream of tartar."
---Mrs. Porter's New Southern Cookery Book, Mrs. M.E. Porter (p. 255)