~History of cupcakes~

Cupcakes (also called Fairy Cakes) have become so beautiful. Gone are the days when they were only served at children's birthday parties dressed with a quick swipe of frosting and maybe a sprinkling of colored sugar. Today's cupcakes show up everywhere, from adult birthday parties to weddings and their decorations range from the very simple to stunning works of art. But all cupcakes start with just a regular cake butter that is baked in individual cup shaped molds (Americans like to use a muffin pan) that have been lined with fluted paper bake cups.

These paper bake cups make the cupcakes easy to release from the pan and also make clean up a breeze. Most of us have to have our cupcakes frosted with a sweet buttery confectioners frosting but another great idea is give them a smooth hard matte finish with royal icing. While covering them with just a thin layer of frosting makes them ideal for everyday, you can make them more decorative by bringing out the piping bag fitted with a decorative tip.To dress them up even more, garnish with fresh or candied flowers or a sprinkling of colored sugars that also give the cupcakes a welcome crunch.

The name "cupcake" was used differently back in the 1800s. Then the name "cup cake" simply referred to a cake where the ingredients were 'measured' not 'weighed'. It seems that before the 1880s ingredients for cake baking were actually weighed so when recipes started to be given in 'cup' measurements, the cake recipes were named 'cup cakes' to reflect this difference. Greg Patent also tells us in his book 'Baking in America' that a woman named Mrs. Rorer (in 1902) was the first to actually print a recipe for the cupcakes (with frosting) we all enjoy today.
( i read this from www.joyofbaking.com)