National Cupcake Day

This year National Cupcake day was celebrated on leap year day, February 29th. But the noble cupcake has become more of a fundraiser food than a food onto itself. It seems that an endless array of organizations, the SPCA is one example, use National Cupcake Day here as a kind of bake sale fundraiser. It's understandable because cupcakes are simple to make and so small that many fatties (me included) don't seem to notice we are gorging on cake when we eat a cupcake. If there is such a thing as a comfort food, the cupcake has to be it.

It seems that almost every child makes cupcakes at one point because they are simple to do. It's a great way to teach a child how to make a cake. I did it with my own daughter, and I remember my mom making cupcakes with me. But I confess to not baking any cup cakes this year on National Cupcake Day. If I would have it would have been the plain yellow cupcake with vanilla butter cream icing. I like simplicity in my cupcakes. Why, if anyone serves me a cupcake with peanut butter or some other weird flavoring in it I will toss it out the window, my version of National Cupcake Throwing Day. Anyway as to alternative flavorings in cupcakes, there is already another cupcake day for that. In October there is an official National Chocolate Cupcake Day.

Here's the history of the cupcake. The cupcake evolved in the United States in the 19th century, and it was revolutionary because of the amount of time it saved in the kitchen. There was a shift from weighing out ingredients when baking to measuring out ingredients. According to the Food Timeline Web, food historians have yet to pinpoint exactly where the name of the cupcake originated. There are two theories: one, the cakes were original cooked in cups and two, the ingredients used to make the cupcakes were measured out by the cup. This may be enough history abut a small cake as you or I need to know.

Since their invention, cupcakes have become a pop culture trend in the culinary world. Just a decade or so ago, until the public became weary of cupcakes, they were super popular in the U.S. Some bakeries devoted themselves entirely to them. While chocolate and vanilla remain classic favorites, fancy flavors such as raspberry meringue and espresso fudge grew until there are now even savory instead of sweet cupcakes sold. There are cookbooks, blogs, and magazines specifically dedicated to cupcakes. I do like cupcake, but such singular devotion may be a bit much for even me.

Are you hungry for a cupcake yet?