National Cupcake Day

National Cupcake Day is December 15th! Come join the fun with these cupcake celebrating activities, discover more dedicated cupcake holidays and all the best cupcake recipes!

Brief history of the cupcake

A cupcake is a small, single-serving cake typically iced or frosted. The first cupcakes were actually baked in a teacup, giving these small cakes their name, while the modern cupcake is typically baked in a cupcake pan designed with usually a dozen to a dozen and a half individual cakes.

The first mention of “a bake to be caked in small cups” can be found in American Cookery in 1796.

Eliza Leslie is credited with publishing the term ‘cupcake’ for the first time in her Receipts cookbook in 1828.

Today the term ‘cupcake’ refers to any type of single-serve cake, of which there are literally gazillions of these delightful treats today.

Fun ideas for National Cupcake Day activities

• Have a cupcake party! (Psst – don’t forget the ice cream!)
• Challenge your friends to a contest and see who can create the most elaborate decorations
• Invent a new cupcake with different flavors & frosting combinations.
• Google ‘free cupcakes’ and see which retailers in your area are celebrating too. You might even find a new favorite cupcake!
• Print and color these cupcake coloring pages.
• The kids can do these fun cupcake liner crafts while waiting for the cupcakes to bake.

Traditional cupcake recipe

The classic pound cake gets its name from an easy-to-remember recipe of one pound of flour, one pound of sugar, one pound of eggs, and one pound of butter.

[Tip: If you don’t have a kitchen scale, it doesn’t have to be a pound each so much as being sure to use equal parts of the basic ingredients. Instead of weighing, alternatively you can measure the same number of cups of flour, cups of sugar, you can find the cup of butter measurement marked on the stick of butter wrapping, and you can crack the eggs into the measuring cup to make sure you are using an equal proportion of eggs.]

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare the cupcake pan by greasing with butter and lightly dusting with flour in each cup. (Or go ahead and use cupcake liners!)
3. Cream the butter until it’s light and fluffy using a hand mixer.
4. Continue beating the butter and slowly add the sugar. Continue to beat until smooth.
5. Slowly add the eggs, beating throughout until the mixture is smooth.
6. Add the flour in small portions, mixing evenly each time until all the flour is used.
7. Fill each cup 2/3 to the top with batter. (About a 1/4 cup.)
8. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

Pound cakes (and pound cupcakes) are more dense than the typical cake, so lighter toppings like whip cream and fruit slices pair with it very well.

More national days for cupcakes

What’s better than National Cupcake Day? More national cupcake days! Sometimes referred to as unofficial holidays, we’re happy to share that there are three national days dedicated to cupcakes:

National Chocolate Cupcake Day is October 18th

Here are some tasty recipes for chocolate cupcakes:

National Vanilla Cupcake Day is November 10th

There’s nothing boring about vanilla cupcakes in these delicious recipes:

Fun facts about cupcakes

• Cupcakes are called ‘patty cakes’ in Australia.
• Hostess cupcakes are the most famous commercial ‘snack cake’.
• English fairy cakes, also known as butterfly cakes, are cupcakes with the tops cut off and replaced in two pieces like wings.
• Sprinkles Cupcakes is the first bakery franchise dedicated to cupcakes – and invented a cupcake ATM!
• Cupcakes have their own TV show! Cupcake Wars can be found on the Food Network.
• ‘Cupcake’ is also an informal term for an attractive woman or an effeminate man. (*not typically appreciated by the recipient!)
• 16% of weddings serve cupcakes instead of a traditional wedding cake.

Favorite cupcake quote

“Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed. Cupcakes make it worthwhile.”

What’s your favorite cupcake quote?