Cupcakes, those wonderful little cakes with thick frosting that invoke such sweet memories.  In fact, it seemed to be a rite of passage that children would let mom know the night before that 60 cupcakes were needed for school the next day.  It is hard to imagine but cupcakes have been around since the 1700s and in fact; the term ‘cupcake’ is mentioned in E. Leslie’s Receipts written in 1828. The cupcake has also been referred to as a “fairy cake” and “measure cake.”  The name ‘cupcake’ is said to come from the measured ingredients used to make a cupcake, which in a very basic recipe was one cup of flour, one cup of butter, and one cup of sugar. The batter was then baked in a cup shaped mold.  The smaller size was favored since baking was done in an open-hearth oven at the time.  During the 18^th Century, ingredients were weighed instead of measured, so the cupcake was a trendsetter even during its beginning. 

 

Today, a cupcake craze is sweeping the nation with adults and new cupcake bakeries are opening regularly in cities all across the country.

 

For example, in San Francisco, Teacake Bake Shop offers cupcake gift boxes for all occasions, ranging from Birthday, Baby Shower, Wedding, Love, Thank You and Congratulations and will ship to anywhere in the country.

 

The cupcakes are handcrafted in small batches and decorated with Teacake Bake Shop's signature fondant designs created especially for each occasion. The Tiffany-inspired cupcake gift boxes offer "Classic Flavors" such as Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla with Vanilla Butter cream, to the more adventurous "Taster's Collection" which includes Pink Velvet (a twist on classic Red Velvet cake) and Coffee Bean.

 

Teacake Bake Shop also offers customizable monogrammed cupcakes and has designed a philanthropy cupcake box for the Children's Hospital & Research Center Foundation/Oakland in which 50% of proceeds will support Children's Hospital Foundation causes. Their website is www. www.teacakebakeshop.com.

 

In New York City, The Crumbs Bakeshop is opening their fifth store on Wall Street.  As the brainchild of husband and wife team Mia and Jason Bauer, Crumbs first opened in Manhattan in 2003 selling gourmet cupcakes based on Mia's personal collection of delectable recipes. Now in its fourth year, with the opening of its fifth shop in Manhattan, Crumbs' presence in New York is felt in almost every neighborhood.

 

Crumbs Bakeshop offers more than cupcakes with an atmosphere of a past era inspired by the aesthetic of old-time candy shops. Their décor features shades of pink, orange and yellow, with a French tiled floor, custom wood display cases and charming decorative touches, including an abundance of hand written chalkboards. Exclusive to the new Wall Street location is a state-of-the-art catering area; double the size of the front bakery, where bakers create made to order cupcakes for breakfast meetings, dessert parties and corporate events.

 

Known for their cupcakes, Crumbs bakes over 50 varieties each day in such as Oreo, Devil Dog, Reese's, Red Velvet and Caramel Apple. There is the baker's favorite specialty cupcake of the week and Artie Lange of the Howard Stern Show created “Artie’s Special” where a portion of the proceeds go to LifeBeat, an AIDS/HIV awareness program working in collaboration with the music industry to reach youth. Their website is www.crumbsbakeshop.com.

 

Cupcakes located in Chicago opened in 2005 and was featured on the Food Network’s program, “The Secret Life of Cake” which explored the love affair between America and cakes, including cupcakes. Like many of the gourmet cupcake bakeries across the nation, Cupcakes offer unique flavors such as “Sweet Potato Pie” and other seasonal favorites as well as traditional offerings.  Their specialty, however, is custom cupcakes and even offer canine cupcakes called “Dogcakes” made of whole grains, herbs and carob.  Their website is www.chicagocupcakes.com.

 

In January 2006, Pamela Jenkins opened “The Cupcakery” in Las Vegas, Nevada.  At the time, she was 25 years old and the Executive Assistant to Timothy Poster, chairman and CEO of the Golden Nugget. An article about a woman in San Francisco who sold cupcakes out of her car inspired Jenkins and seeing a trend, Jenkins left the Golden Nugget along with two other colleagues to open The Cupcakery. In her first year of business, The Cupcakery sold over 275,000 cupcakes.  Jenkins bought out her original partners and now partners with her “Uncle Ricky” with plans to open a second Cupcakery in Las Vegas and then expand to Dallas, Texas.  The Cupcakery was also featured on “Ellen Across America” and selected the Best of Las Vegas 2007 for the best cupcakes.

 

The Cupcakery’s holiday boxed dozen will feature an assortment of specially decorated favorite cupcake flavors and December’s flavors of the month including ‘Peppermint Bliss,’ a chocolate cake with hot pink peppermint icing and ‘Sugar & Spice Man,’ a gingerbread cake with cream cheese frosting and topped with a miniature gingerbread man cookie.  The Cupcakery is located on the northeast corner of Eastern Avenue and Silverado Ranch, just behind Red Robin restaurant at 9680 S. Eastern Ave. Suite 100. Hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 8 am – 6pm, Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm and Sundays 12 pm – 4 pm. The phone number is (702) 207-8853 and their website is www.thecupcakery.com.

 

Joni Moss, of the Las Vegas Wedding Connection, said the trend with cupcakes include people ordering cupcakes to be stacked to create a wedding cake as well as a substitute for a “groom’s cake.”  This trend can be seen with offerings from red carpet events, grand openings and other galas. 

 

While adults enjoy the resurgence of this comfort food, according to the September 23, 2007 article that appeared in the New York Times, a growing number of schools are banning cupcakes due to fat and empty calories. With the growing increase of childhood obesity and childhood diabetes, fattening food served at the nation’s schools has been called, “the cupcake problem.”

 

Believe it or not, the Texas Legislature actually passed the “Safe Cupcake Amendment” in 2005, which allowed parents to continue to send cupcakes to schools instead of healthy alternatives.  In fact, on David Letterman’s Top 10 List of Hillary Clinton’s Top 10 campaign promises, Clinton listed No. 9 as, “Each year on my birthday, everyone gets a cupcake.”

 

In London, where the American cupcake has also become very popular, where it is considered more civilized to eat a small cupcake than to devour a big piece of cake or pie.

 

So wherever you live, there is probably a cupcake store near you or a special section in your grocer’s store devoted just to cupcakes. And, don’t let other foodies tell you I said this, but you can find a cake mix and bake a batch of cupcakes yourself.