Fun and Interesting Facts About Cupcakes

The first mention of a cupcake recipe goes as far back as 1796. Amelia Simms wrote a recipe in “American Cookery” which referenced, “a cake to be baked in small cups”. However, it wasn’t until 1828 that the actual word cupcake was used by Eliza Leslie in her cookbook “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats”. One fun fact about early cupcakes is that they were baked in teacups or ramekins before the invention of the multi-cup pans we use today. Cupcakes also started to become popular because they saved time in the kitchen and were generally easier to bake than larger cakes. Some theories suggest the term cupcake was derived from the easy to follow early 1-2-3-4 recipe. The recipe was measured: 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, 4 eggs.

Here’s a fun fact: Cupcakes can be referred to as fairy cakes in Britain or patty cakes in Australia.

Here are some more interesting facts you may not have known about this tremendous treat.

• Interesting Fact: Cupcake liners do more than make it easy to remove them from the pan. Traditionally, sides of tins are greased for easy removal, but also floured because the batter needs to have something to cling to. A cupcake liner takes care of both.
  
• Fun Fact: On August 15, 2009 GourmetGiftBaskets.com broke the world record for largest cupcake ever made. The cupcake was 1,224 pounds, 4 foot tall by 10 foot wide, and had 2 million calories.
  
• Fun Fact: One of the most popular cupcake bakery's in the U.S. is Crumbs in New York City. They have reported $23.5 million in cupcake revenue last year alone!