Vanilla Cupcake Day

Since most of these recipes were developed in home kitchens, it is a bit difficult to trace them back to one original inventor. Usually, people would find an idea that worked, share it with a friend or neighbor, and they would pass it on elsewhere. So no one really knows from which specific woman's kitchen the first cupcake originated.

However, cupcakes can officially be traced back to 1796 when a recipe notation for a cake to be baked in small cups was written in American Cookery (by Amelia Simmons). This idea was in contrast to what was the most popular way to bake a cake at the time: in layers. It's likely that they were baked into little teacups at first. The benefit of baking them in small cups was that they were great for a cook in a hurry as they would bake quite a bit faster. Plus, they could be served individually, without the need for cutting them into smaller servings with a knife.

Sometime around 1919, the first-ever commercially available cupcakes made an appearance in the form of the Hostess 'Cupcake'. Of course, cupcakes have been a standard at children's parties and afternoon teas over the last many years.

But a resurgence of the venerable cupcake certainly came along in the early 2000s. In fact, the world's first Cupcake-only bakery, Sprinkles, in Beverly Hills, California, USA, was opened in 2005. The idea went crazy and cupcake bakery started popping up all over American towns, and then later in cities all over the world. It's time for Vanilla Cupcake Day!