Munchie Monday: Cupcakes

Do you love cupcakes? Will any size, mini, classic, or giant, do? Well, here are a few cupcakes facts to munch on: one of the earliest published recipes for cupcakes are in Elisa Leslie’s 1828 cookbook, Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats. An even earlier reference may be found in 1796. In her cookbook, American Cookery, Amelia Simmons mentions “tiny cakes,” which just might be what we now consider a cupcake.

Louisa Macculloch (1785-1863) has at least three cupcake recipes in her nineteenth-century cookbook.  The recipe below made a great cupcake, light and fluffy, with very little change needed from the original recipe. Celebrate cupcake history on National Cupcake Day with a freshly baked cupcake or two!

Good Birthday Cake for Children—Cup Cakes

1 cup of white sugar

½ cup of butter

½ cup of sweet milk

2 eggs

1 ½ cups of flour

1 teaspoonful of baking powder

½ teaspoonful vanilla

Cream butter & sugar. Add yolks of eggs well beaten, then milk and flour (baking powder sifted in flour) and lastly the beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in tin with a hole in the center for about 45 minutes.

Adapted Recipe –Birthday Cake for Children—Cup Cakes

1 cup of white sugar

1 stick of butter, softened

½ cup of milk

2 eggs

1 ½ cups of sifted flour

1 teaspoonful of baking powder

½ teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add yolks of eggs, well beaten. Add milk alternately with flour and baking powder (sifted).  Add beaten egg whites.  Grease cupcake pan or use paper cupcake liners and fill ¾ full. Bake 15-20 minutes. Let cool on baking rack. Makes one dozen cupcakes.

Want more facts about cupcakes? https://www.allculinaryschools.com/articles/the-rise-of-cupcakes/

Learn more about the 11 seasons (2009-2018) of Cupcake Wars on Food Network and try some of the winning recipes: https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/cupcake-wars

For more about Elisa Leslie: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/577325/eliza-leslie-cookbook-writer-19th-century