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Mommy, where do cupcakes come from?

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A Brief History of the Cupcake

Cupcakes are all the rage now-a-days and we enjoy cupcake boutiques and bakeries, cupcake blogs, cupcake cookbooks and entire lines of merchandise devoted to these sweet mini cakes but where did the original cupcakes come from? What is the history of the cupcake and where did it get it's name?

Cute little cupcakes have been with us at least since the 1900's and were primarily "invented" for the convenience of having a faster cook time than ordinary standard sized cakes.

Read on to learn more about the history of our favorite little dessert, the cupcake.

History of the name cupcake

There are two theories as to why cupcakes are called cupcakes.

The first is that the original cupcakes from the 1900's were cooked over an open hearth, in small clay cups, or ramekins to decrease cooking time. Baking an ordinary sized cake over a hearth took a long time and usually resulted in a half-cooked, half-burned creation. By baking the cake in smaller "cup" sized pans, the cakes cooked much faster and with better tasting results.

The modern day "5 minute cake in a mug" is actually just a replay of this historical idea.

Chocolate "Cup Cake" in a Mug Recipe by enslavedbyfaeries
View other Chocolate Mugs

The other theory is the cup measurements that were used for a popular cake recipe in the eighteenth century known as the 1,2,3,4 Cake Recipe. A cup of this, two cups of that, etc. resulted in the finished product being called cup cakes.

According to the Food Timeline Many people couldn't read back then and so these easy-to-remember measurement recipes worked best. Pound cake recipes were also popular for this same reason but cup cakes were much less expensive to make.

4 ounce "Cupcake" Ramekins

CorningWare French White 4-Ounce Ramekins, Set of 2

The standard cupcake is about 4 ounces so these ramekins should work well if you want to bake your cupcakes the old fashioned way using a single containers instead of the now traditional cupcake pan.

You'll need to purchase several sets in order to bake an average amount of cupcakes.

CorningWare French White 4-Ounce Ramekins, Set of 2

Amazon Price: $6.08 (as of 05/31/2012)

1234 Cup Cakes Recipe

Number Cakes Recipe

The very first cupcakes were probably made using an easy-to-remember numbered cake recipe that was popular during the time period.

1234 Cup Cake Recipe

[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) source

Paula Deen's modern version of the Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake Recipe adds a cup of milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mix.

Cupcake Victorian Design Recipe Card by lapapeteriedeParis
View more Recipe Postcards

Victorian Cookery: Recipes and History

Historical Cookbook

With more than 30 recipes covering the whole range of Victorian society, this book gives a fascinating insight into the way food was prepared and enjoyed in the past.

Victorian Cookery: Recipes and History (Cooking Through the Ages)

by: Maggie Black

Amazon Price: $9.16 (as of 05/31/2012)

History of Mass Produced Cupcakes

From the Hostess Website

"Call it a cupcake caper: mystery surrounds who "invented" the original Hostess Cup Cake in 1919, although it was baking executive D.R. "Doc" Rice, who, in 1950 added the signature seven squiggles and vanilla-crème filling - a move that created the best selling snack cake in history." source

Did you know you could make other dessert recipes using Hostess Cupcakes as the base ingredient?
Find the "cupcake" recipes HERE.

Retro Cupcakes Stickers by SweetStreet
Design custom stickers at zazzle

Vintage Cupcakes on eBay

Live search for antique cupcake collectibles at eBay.com

This search brings up the latest search for antique cupcake collectibles. I've seen some very interesting things come up but can't promise that you will. Don't see what you're looking for? Stop back another time. These collectibles are constantly changing.

Who invented the cupcake?

Cupcake History

Learn more about the history of cupcakes at this great site!

TLC Cooking "Who invented the cupcake?": Are you wondering who invented the cupcake? Check out this article and learn who invented the cupcake and other cupcake tidbits.

Where do your cupcakes come from?

Do you bake them or buy them?

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ohcaroline Aug 31, 2011 @ 8:50 pm | delete

The tv show cupcake wars really tempts me to get in the kitchen to make cupcakes.

Reply

ShirleySunshine Aug 31, 2011 @ 12:07 pm | delete

Cupcakes are such fun to make, and kids love them. A great party idea is to add each guest's name to a cake with an icing bag and pipe.

Cut the top off one (just enough to give a slice think enough to cut in half without crumbling) then, after adding some tasty butter cream to the cut top of the cake, turn the cut halves round so the cut edge is at the bottom, and the smooth sides both facing the middle of the cake to make butterfly wings, then you have a Butterfly cake!

I enjoyed reading that brief history of the Cupcake, thank you!