A cupcake is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied.

The earliest extant description of what is now often called a cupcake was in 1796, when a recipe for “a light cake to bake in small cups” was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. In fact the first official use of the phrase “cupcake” was an 1828 reference made in Eliza Leslie’s cookbook. There is also a 1796 recipe reference of “A cake to be baked in small cups” made by Amelia Simmons in her book American Cookery. In fact the first official use of the phrase “cupcake” was an 1828 reference made in Eliza Leslie’s cookbook. There is also a 1796 recipe reference of “A cake to be baked in small cups” made by Amelia Simmons in her book American Cookery.

The first cupcake flavour was a light cake that was baked in a small cup. In 1919, Hostess introduced it’s very first snack cake (AKA Hostess Cupcake). Cupcakes were finally decorated with frosting in the 1920’s. The most popular cupcake frostings at the time were either Chocolate or Vanilla Frosting.

Each year, December 15th is known as National Cupcake Day, Since National cupcake consumption increased 52% between 2010 and 2011, and U.S. consumers ate over 770 million cupcakes last year! What a number!

Having an easy go to cupcake recipe will help you out at various different occasions throughout the year! Cupcakes are usually one of the first recipes that novice bakers learn to make, whether that is as a child, or as an adult. Cupcakes are really easy to make from scratch, they require very few ingredients and are super simple to make.

Ingredients:

125g caster sugar

125g butter, softened (or margarine)

125g self raising flour

2 large eggs

1tsp vanilla essence

Equipments you need:

Mixing bowl

Weighing scales and measuring spoon

Either; electric hand mixer, stand mixer or wooden spoon & whisk/fork

Cupcake tin/Muffin tin

Cupcake cases (paper or silicone)

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together in a bowl. Add the eggs and flour (sift the flour in). Beat everything together until the mixture is smooth. If you are using an electric whisk or stand mixer be careful not to over mix or the texture of the cupcakes will come out too dense. Use a tablespoon to half fill each case with the cupcake mixture. You may need to use a teaspoon or knife to help scrape all the mixture off.

The cupcakes should only take 20 minutes to cook – resist the urge to open the oven door and check on them until the time is up, just peek through the oven door if you have a glass one! Take the cakes out of the oven – you will know that they are ready if they have risen up and spring back into shape when you press gently down on them. They will also be a golden shade. If you are unsure, grab a cocktail stick or kebab stick, and poke it through the middle of one, if it comes out dry, the cakes are done. If the cocktail stick is wet, put the cupcakes back in the oven for a little while longer.

Cupcakes are a versatile recipe, you can add in other ingredients and completely change the flavour. There are many options, lemon, chocolate or carrot are popular cupcake choices!