Welcome to our series featuring Food Holidays: November 9th, 2022, Today is National Vanilla Cupcake Day. If I had knew this when the kids was over earlier I would have made Cupcakes with them. But its to late now. Although I might see them tomorrow and we could pick up a Cupcake at the store. Would you like one as well?
National Vanilla Cupcake
Some people think that “Vanilla” is synonymous with “boring.” National Vanilla Cupcake Day is dedicated to dispelling that myth. Did you know the very first cupcakes date back to the late 18th Century and took their name from the small ramekins or cups in which the Cakes were baked. Who knew nonstick muffin tins weren’t widely available in the 1700s? We’ve come a long way since then. Now, Cupcakes are miniature, edible works of art that are almost too pretty to eat. Diehard Chocoholics, do what you will on November 10th; the rest of us will be trying not to get Vanilla Frosting on our noses.
National Vanilla Cupcake Day Activities
- Unlike complicated Tarts or finicky Cheesecake, Cupcakes are a good starter project for beginner bakers. If you can read a recipe and measure ingredients correctly, you can make Cupcakes. Even if your Cupcakes end up a little lumpy, just remember that frosting Covers a multitude of sins.
- Everyone knows the fun in Cupcakes is decorating. Get a Cake mix or premade unfrosted Cupcakes and go crazy! One trip to the Cake-making aisle of your local big-box craft store will provide all the supplies you need to host a Cupcake party: Icing, Sprinkles in all kinds of shapes, edible glitter, even Fondant you can mold like clay.
- Your kids’ school, a local animal shelter, or Charity you choose can probably use all the funds it can get. Solicit your baker friends to donate their creations to the cause. Protip: to make the treats look extra-attractive, package them in colored cellophane bags. Make sure to include ingredient lists and note potential allergens.
Why PEOPLE Love National Vanilla Cupcake Day
- Invite Vanilla to the party, and you’ll always have a hit on your hands. Devil’s Food, and Spice Cakes might be iconic. But Vanilla is a blank canvas that lets bakers get creative with fillings, flavors and decorations. Its time to experiment during National Vanilla Cupcake Day.
- Picture a four-year-old’s birthday party where frazzled parents are trying to divvy up the Peppa Pig Cake. Some kids want the corner piece or the piece with the Frosting Rose; there’s inevitably a parent who requests a tiny slice from the middle with no Frosting. Cupcakes, with their uniformity, prevent this problem. Additionally, their perfect portion control makes it harder to eat more than one. Who are we kidding I’d eat a whole plate of Vanilla Cupcakes and not share. What about you?
- Remember the Cupcake craze that swept the Country about a decade ago? Cupcake exclusive bakeries popped up all over the place because they offered a small, sweet escape from the financial crisis, bank bailouts, and underwater mortgages at an affordable price. While there’s no longer a “Cupcakery” on every corner, the logic remains. Need an afternoon pick-me-up or a just-because-it’s-Friday treat? Cupcakes to the rescue.
Facts to know about Vanilla & Cupcakes
Vanilla is the only fruit-bearing member of the Orchid family.
The flower that produces the Vanilla Bean lasts only one day.
The flower that produces the Vanilla Bean lasts only one day. The Beans are hand-picked and then cured, wrapped, and dried in a process that takes 4 to 6 months.
The first mention of a Cupcake recipe goes as far back as 1796. When Amelia Simms wrote a recipe in “American Cookery” which referenced, “a Cake to be baked in small cups”.
However, it wasn’t until 1828 that the actual word Cupcake was used by Eliza Leslie in her cookbook “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats”.
#NationalVanillaCupcakeDayThank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
