Cupcake or Pie ??

This story from NPR: 
"Cupcakes Are Dead: Long Live The Pie!"

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/02/132477830/cupcakes-are-dead-long-live-the-pie&sc=nl&cc=es-20110109

Oh my !!!

So what is the history of the cupcake, anyway?  To answer that question, I turned to Wikipedia:

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

The first mention of the cupcake can be traced as far back as 1796, when a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” was written in “American Cookery” by Amelia Simms. The earliest documentation of the term “cupcake” was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook.



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.

Personally, though, give me PIE over a CUPCAKE any day. 

But there is a "however ..."

I must tell you - I had the most delicious Karma Cupcake on Wednesday, at the end of a committee meeting at CCI (www.cci.org) for an event I volunteer with, Balboa Barks ( http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=450430 ). 

Said Karma Cupcake was a luscious lemon flavor, and it was terrific.  And the best part is that the KARMA CUPCAKE sales benefit CCI, with the flavor changing each month.  

You can get your own Karma Cupcake at my friend Becky's cupcake shop, LITTLE CAKES CUPCAKES at 30 Main Street, Suite 180, in Vista, California.  Call ahead for hours and the specials-of-the-day:  (760) 842-5138.  You can visit them on-line right here at:  http://littlecakeskitchen.com/ ...

Whatever YOUR pleasure is, make the most of it.

Happy New Year ~~

Davielle


P.S. if you click on the link to the NPR story, there's even an option to hear the story ... stream it !!!

P.S.S.  If you were to ask me which I would choose - I'd have to go with PIE. As the article says, "PIE can be sweet or savory", and yes, some creative cupcake folk are baking "savory cupcakes", but to me, those are just muffins in disguise.

That's not to say that I might not give a French Toast cupcake a try, but still - that's sweet, isn't it?  Just don't wrap my French Toast Cupcake with .... bacon.

Now a PIE, a pie ... give me fresh blueberry or spicy pumpkin pie, oooh, and fresh peach in the summer, with crystally sugar sprinkled on the top crust.  


And on the savory side, oooh, I like quiche, and that's like pie, right? And then there's Shepherd's Pie, which isn't really a pie at all, but it sounds like one, and it's got all the food groups in it; well, except for sugar!  If you are a savory pie person, and you need to fill your daily sugar requirement, treat yourself to a CUPCAKE.  And make sure it's from Little Cakes Cupcakes :-) !!!