A Lot of Crazy Things Were Invented During the Revolutionary Period, But This One Sure Takes the (Cup)cake

A Lot of Crazy Things Were Invented During the Revolutionary Period, But This One Sure Takes the (Cup)cake

So why do people like cupcakes so much anyway? If you think about, most people prefer the smaller, younger versions of things. Take puppies and dogs for example: I know for a fact that I would definitely prefer to have a puppy to a dog. Why, you ask? Because in the way society works right now, young equals small and small equals cute. A cupcake will usually cheer someone up more than a cake. Since their creation, cupcakes have become a pop culture trend in the culinary world. A cake is bulky and big, a cupcake, however, is cute. 

When cupcakes were invented, they probably looked
very different than our modern cupcake

Cupcakes remind me of when I was a kid. I had cupcakes at almost all of my birthday parties and I experienced the magic of a cupcake first hand. They have a way of making you feel better even when things seem terrible. I remember having a broken arm at my 4th birthday party. When I walked into the party room and saw the vibrantly colored cupcakes, I immediately felt better. 

This is what a modern cupcake looks like. Obviously,
there are a few differences compared to the original cupcake.

Cupcakes were invented during the French Revolution. The earliest traces of the name "a cake to be baked in small cups" date all the way back to 1796. This term was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. The earliest documentation of the term "cupcake" wasn't until 1828 in 'Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats' by Eliza Leslie.

Cupcakes were not only invented because of the pleasure it gave people, they actually helped revolutionize baking. Baking cupcakes instead of cakes made baking faster and more efficient. When they were first invented cupcakes were often called "number" cakes, because it was really easy to remember the measurements of ingredients it took to create them: One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs, one cup of milk, and one spoonful of soda. Clearly, cupcakes have become much more complex now, however, most recipes still use all of those ingredients as the base of their recipes.


Sources:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring07/ayers/history.html

https://people.rit.edu/kge3737/320/project3/history.html