Or how mini versions of cake are invading the planet
THe most memorable part of any elementary class is the parties. Every birthday, holiday, or celebration, had some kind of food. Sure there were chips and juice, but the stars of the show were always the cupcakes. My mom can recount a particular batch she baked for a Thanksgiving feast when I was in fourth grade. But as the school was warding off obesity and good food, sweet treats were being banned. Ed Levine reported that some Texan schools went as far as to illegalized cupcakes altogether. Whole-grain and natural guised as a theoretic improvement on health, but for the taste buds of elementary school children, flavor is all that mattered. They traveled easy in the unsteady hands of third-graders and didn’t need complicated utensils to eat (peal off the wrapper and just take a bite). No birthday party was complete with all of my classmates and me munching on tasty little cupcakes.
An angry little cupcake
A Word of advice: don't ever confuse a cupcake with a muffin. If you do, some connoisseur will dash over from France and smack you over the head with his rolling pin. The Cake Mix Doctor herself explained the difference for those too stubborn to change their current views. Cupcakes are always sweetened to perfection and frosted with a whipped icing or drizzled with glaze, while muffins are a type of quick bread in cupcake sizes. Many people (including those who write books about those copycat breads) will also attempt to argue that cupcakes are a type of muffin. Not so fast, my chef-to-be. Muffins and cupcakes are both smaller versions of larger breads and cakes. Like the kid brother or sister of a famous star. Not usually as well know but pocket-sized and much sweeter. So don't be telling me that muffins are the parents of cupcakes: the lineage between the two is more synonymous to cousins that also happen to be best friends. But the fight isn’t too competitive. Who wouldn’t take a piece of frosted goodness over wheatgrass muffins? Hay is for cud-chewing herbivores and certainly has no place in human food.
THe muffin vs. cupcakes debate can be a hard fight to win, so I’m going to fill you in on the history of the humble little cakes (no one cares about the muffins anyhow). Here’s what you need to know: cupcakes are not newcomers to the world of confectioneries. So where exactly did cupcakes start out? These bite-sized cakes have unknown origins, as their creation was more of an evolutionary process. Many food experts believe that they were Americans downsizing British pound cake into small cups (hence, CUPcake). The name may have also been derived from the ingredients in said pound cake. In traditional pound cake, a pound of each ingredient was required, so in the cupcake version, a cup of every constituent was needed. In the American Frugal Housewife, Mrs. Child quotes a cupcake as being "about as good as pound cake, and is cheaper." After a possible two centuries behind the scenes, cupcakes began to emerge with the nineteenth century. Baking necessities were no longer rationed after the World Wars, and cooking had become less of a chore with nonstick pans and conventional ovens replacing inefficient cast iron molds and open hearths.
BUt cupcakes are no longer a dessert of days gone by. According to George Musser, "In recent years the U.S. has had something of a great cupcake awakening, as blogs and bakeries have devoted themselves to its pleasures. Some attribute this renewed popularity to the cupcake-indulging characters of HBO's Sex and the City, and food historian Susan Purdy also credits dietary awareness: you can have your low-calorie cake and eat it, too." Smaller portions of sugary foods don’t only contain less of the unwanted carbs and fats, but also allow for dieting people to not feel guilty for eating dessert. Smaller portions are often key to calorie-counters so cupcakes make a piece of cake.
DOn’t be frightened when you spot cupcakes popping up everywhere. Blogs exclusive for little bakery delights are cropping up faster than greedy little fingers gobble up a plateful of homemade cookies. Stef’s “Cupcake Project” began after she decided to whip up a batch of cupcakes for her friend’s wedding, with no previous baking skills to back her up. The gals over at “Cupcakes Take The Cake” present themed cupcakes and allow for devotees to stay up on up-to-date on breaking cupcake news. Some bakeries even specialize in only concocting the best cupcakes around. These high-end bakeshops cater to grownups that want another lick at a childhood treat. Sprinkles has a fleet of confectioneries passing along the trend across the country (and a delivery truck not unlike that of an ice-cream man), with its signature red velvet flavor. For a coughing up a hearty $3.25, you can take a lick of what celebrities and posh persons nosh on for dessert. If you’re not the only one with the need for a sugar fix, Sprinkles also offers an all-natural doggie cupcake (for just $2.50 more). That just goes to show that cupcakes aren’t just for little kids anymore.
TRends usually move down the age groups, starting with adults and moving down to children. A dad wears a suit and tie to work and Junior wants to dress just like his old man. The little boy wants to mimic what his father wears and learn to tie his own tie. The cupcake is gravitating from the other direction. Adults are taking the treasured bakery item and transforming it into their own, elevating the cupcake to a caliber suitable for vogue events. The connection that today’s adults want with an innocent-seeming indulgence is comfort. Every parent baked their love into those cupcakes for their little angel. Cupcakes are a comfort food, warming the soul like a hug. With the media pressuring maturity and importance of material objects over values like family, adults need something to fall back on. One savory bite brings back all those memories of being a kid, when paying the rent and job stress was a thing of playtime. Adults may appear too old to care about something as childish as a cupcake. Just don’t be surprised when the seasoned adult presiding over a birthday party for tantruming toddlers slips a cupcake from the birthday child’s stash.
TRends usually move down the age groups, starting with adults and moving down to children. A dad wears a suit and tie to work and Junior wants to dress just like his old man. The little boy wants to mimic what his father wears and learn to tie his own tie. The cupcake is gravitating from the other direction. Adults are taking the treasured bakery item and transforming it into their own, elevating the cupcake to a caliber suitable for vogue events. The connection that today’s adults want with an innocent-seeming indulgence is comfort. Every parent baked their love into those cupcakes for their little angel. Cupcakes are a comfort food, warming the soul like a hug. With the media pressuring maturity and importance of material objects over values like family, adults need something to fall back on. One savory bite brings back all those memories of being a kid, when paying the rent and job stress was a thing of playtime. Adults may appear too old to care about something as childish as a cupcake. Just don’t be surprised when the seasoned adult presiding over a birthday party for tantruming toddlers slips a cupcake from the birthday child’s stash.
SO if you’re feeling out of sorts, don’t reach for the alcohol. Its empty calories and puking tendencies could make you sicker. Go grab a cupcake: there’s bound to be a bakery open during your lunch break. Pick out your favorite (chocolate if you don’t already have one) and take in a mouthwatering drop. Chew softly as you remember that party in first grade when you spilled icing all over the front of your shirt. Finish off the little sweet and hide the wrapper in a trashcan on your walk back to work. Your grown-up coworkers would frown upon evidence of consuming a trite treat. Don’t be too paranoid, though: they probably stash a cupcake in their desk after making a dozen for their kid. Cupcakes may be the tiniest of cakes, but don't judge them on their size. These bite-sized treats are what take the cake.
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