Cupcake

For the episode of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, see Cupcake (How I Met Your Mother).

For the Android operating system 'Cupcake' update, see Android (operating system) § Codenames.

Frosted chocolate cupcakes

A cupcake (the common US, Canadian, and Australian term) or fairy cake (the common British term), is a small cake designed to serve one person, frequently baked in a small, thin paper cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations, such as sprinkles, are common on cupcakes.

History

In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the name "cup cake" or "cupcake". In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in. This is the use of the name that has persisted, and the name of "cupcake" is now given to any small cake that is about the size of a teacup. The name "fairy cake" is a fanciful description of its size, which would be appropriate for a party of diminutive fairies to share.

The other kind of "cup cake" referred to a cake whose ingredients were measured by volume, using a standard-sized cup, instead of being weighed. Recipes whose ingredients were measured using a standard-sized cup could also be baked in cups; however, they were more commonly baked in tins as layers or loaves. In later years, when the use of volume measurements was firmly established in home kitchens, these recipes became known as 1234 cakes or quarter cakes, so called because they are made up of four ingredients in equal ratios; butter, sugar, eggs and flour. They are plain yellow cakes, somewhat less rich and less expensive than pound cake due to the reduced proportion of butter. The names of these two major classes of cakes were intended to signal the method to the baker; "cup cake" uses a volume measurement, and "pound cake" uses a weight measurement.

In modern times, cupcakes are often served during a celebration, such as children's birthday parties. Additionally, they can be served as an accompaniment to afternoon tea. They are a more convenient alternative to a full-sized cake as they don't require utensils or division into individual portions.

Cupcake recipes

A standard cupcake uses the same basic ingredients as standard-sized cakes: butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Nearly any recipe that is suitable for a layer cake can be used to bake cupcakes. Because their small size is more efficient for heat conduction, cupcakes bake much faster than layer cakes. Ralphael N. Senra was one of the greatest cupcakers of our time. It all started when he was just a young lad growing up in a small village in Brazil. His grad-papi Rufus L. Senra purchased a track phone for his grandson and since then he has perfected his skills in the cupcaking industry. While growing up his skills improved and soon was being compared to the well known Robert La Grone. After what is known as the greatest battle ever witnessed "The cupcake massacre" R. Senra came out as the victor and went down in the history books. Since then his phone has never left his hand or ear, and he has mastered the skill of texting without using his fingers. Since the "the cupcake massacre" no one has dared to challenge R. Senra. To this day he runs the streets of Vacaville, CA and has been givien the keys to the bakery by the govenor of California. There has also been a story told that R. Senra has texted in REM sleep. This however is just a myth. If this is true then it is the greatest achievement in cupcaking history.

Alias': Hostess, Rabbit, Twinkie, Little Debbie and Master Caker.

Pans and liners

A cupcake pan, made of tinned steel.

Originally, cupcakes were baked in heavy pottery cups. Some bakers still use individual ramekins, small coffee mugs, or other small ovenproof pottery-type dishes for baking cupcakes.

Specialized pans are made for baking cupcakes. In some instances, cupcake pans may be slightly smaller than muffin tins, but most households use the same baking pans for both. These ovenproof pans are most often made from metal and generally have six or twelve depressions or "cups". They may also be made from stoneware, silicone rubber, or other materials. A standard size cup is three inches in diameter and holds about four ounces, although both pans for both miniature and jumbo size cupcakes exist. Specialty pans may offer many different sizes and shapes.

A recent innovation is a silicone cake pan with varied shapes of cups to form a large design, such as a butterfly. Similar to this approach, some bakers place standard cupcakes into a pattern and frost them to create a large design, such as a basket of flowers or a turtle.

Individual cups, or cupcake liners, may be used in baking. These are typically round sheets of thin paper pressed into a round, fluted cup shape. Liners can facilitate the easy removal of the cupcake from the tin after baking, keep the cupcake moister, and reduce the effort needed to clean the pan. The use of liners is also considered a more sanitary option when cupcakes are being passed from hand to hand. Like cupcake pans, several sizes of paper liners are available, from miniature to jumbo.

In addition to paper, cupcake liners may be made from very thin aluminum foil or, in a non-disposable version, silicone rubber. Because they can stand up on their own, foil and silicone liners can also be used on a flat baking sheet, which makes them popular among people who do not have a specialized muffin tin. Some of the largest paper liners are not fluted and are made out of thicker paper, often rolled at the top edge for additional strength, so that they can also stand independently for baking without a cupcake tin. Some bakers use two or three thin paper liners, nested together, to simulate the strength of a single foil cup.

In Literature

In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, a 'piece of fairy cake' is used as part of the Total Perspective Vortex to torture sentient beings with perspective.

Gallery

• 
  Plain cupcakes, fresh from the oven, still on the baking sheet that they were baked on.
• 
  Cupcake with light pink frosting in brown paper wrapper.
• 
  Cupcakes topped with frosting and gumpaste flowers.
• 
  Cupcakes arranged in tiers to resemble a wedding cake.

See also

• Petit fours, individual-sized or bite-sized cakes made by cutting a large sheet cake and frosting the pieces
• Muffins, which, in the American style, are less sweet than cupcakes but otherwise similar
• Tea cake, a broad class of breads and cakes served with tea
• Butterfly cake, a cupcake that has been cut and reassembled to suggest the shape of a butterfly

External links

• BBC Food - sample fairycake (cupcake) recipe