Talk:Cupcake

Australia naming

With respect, fairy cakes are NOT called cupcakes or patty cakes in Australia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chillchillchill (talk • contribs) 18:18, 26 December 2011 (UTC) You are delusional. They are called cupcakes. No one here calls the fairy cakes — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8003:4044:6100:94CD:D8A2:88D2:B38C (talk) 19:32, 27 February 2018 (UTC)

With all due respect you are completely wrong. As an Australian, I can confirm 100% they are not called fairy cakes at all. Here are several examples: https://cupcakecentral.com.au https://littlecupcakes.com.au/ https://thecupcakefactory.com.au/ Urgeback (talk) 03:30, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

[1]https://www.vanillacupcakery.com.au/ my favourite cupcakes and cakes in Sydney Thewiseone99 (talk) 04:12, 8 May 2023 (UTC)

"recipes for cupcakes have been printed since at least the late 12th century"

Doesn't seem to make too much sense, since that's over two centuries before the invention of movable type... AnonMoos (talk) 15:03, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Fairy cakes vs cupcakes

In this article it states (without a cite) that fairy cakes are much smaller than cupcakes. This is factually incorrect as there is no set size for fairy cakes. As a British trained and educated chef, I can assure you there is no difference in size either way. Generally speaking American serving sizes are generally bigger than the UK's but there is no industry standard set for the size of either cupcakes or fairy cakes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaelic femme (talk • contribs) 23:25, 24 March 2012 (UTC) and that photo is of a British Butterfly Cake (type of Fairy cake with buttercream icing & part the top cut out to make wings) - not a Butterfly Cupcake - afaik there's no such thing.

Fairy cakes have rounded tops - like smaller American muffins, Cupcakes have flat tops and usually either thick flat icing (like the Hostest style photo) or like a twirl of squirty cream.109.224.137.121 (talk) 17:53, 1 August 2013 (UTC)

Ah, no... That is so wrong, I am having a tough time formulating a reply that would adequately address the problems with that statement, but I'll try...

Cupcakes do not usually have flat tops, unless they are cut off or have fallen. Hostess and its ilk make a cupcake that is designed to be filled, and it does not have a shape one associates with a homemade or local bakery cupcake. Like a muffin, a regular cupcake has a domed top. As to frosting, it will depend on what you frost it with - A buttercream frosting will be light and fluffy, while one with a fondant topping will be flat, as would one dipped in chocolate. --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 06:55, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

You can also get a flat top by underfilling your baking pans, placing them in water baths, or by baking at the wrong temperature. But I agree that the unregistered editor's comment, no matter how true in his or her own experience, is not WP:Verifiable. WhatamIdoing (talk) 15:07, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

correction: Amelia Simmons, NOT Amelia Simms

Amelia Simmons is the author of American Cookery, and the author of the first known published recipe. See the wiki Entry for American Cookery. Also this is the name given at the linked citation, so I assume it was just a slip up to have written Amelia Simms. Untowardland (talk) 21:01, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

 Done. WhatamIdoing (talk) 20:21, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Better sources

• Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (ISBN 9783125179882) defines fairy cake in British English as being the same thing as a cupcake in American English.
• British English A to Zed, Third Edition (ISBN 9780816064557 p. 440) says that the two terms are equivalent.

The blog being put forth as a claim that cupcakes are larger than fairy cakes is being misrepresented: it says that the terms are equivalent, and that American-style muffins are larger than fairy cakes. The BBC recipe differentiates between what it calls "small fairy cakes" and "deep cupcakes", without saying anything about how the normal sizes of each compare. WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:00, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

Place of origin

I note the infobox gives USA as the place of origin, but I think this is questionable. Amelia Simmons (in the USA) is the first known source for cakes cooked in cups (1796). However, the term "cupcake" is an American term, and for those of us in other countries who call them fairy cakes, the "cup" is not the determiner of origin. An older source "The Complete Confectioner" by Frederick Nutt was published in London in 1789, and describes the manufacture of small paper cases for baking little cakes. Reference. This is a European reference that predates the earliest American reference by seven years. I am going to incorporate this into the article, and would suggest an update of the infobox also. Timothy Titus ^{Talk To TT} 03:11, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Frosted cupcakes

I have twice had the photo I have added to this article removed. First it was called "poor quality" and a duplicate of other photos, and now it is said that it is dubious that American cupcakes are usually frosted, and some times elaborately frosted. If a Martha Stewart, the Queen of Cakes in America reference with pictures of cupcakes, all with frosting, is not good enough, I take it that a google of cupcakes, again all frosted, is not good enough either. I am well over 50 and I have never seen a cupcake that was not frosted. It is so common in the US that I would think that rather than I having to prove it, the editor that denies it should have to prove their claim. I try to do some articles that are less likely to be a pain in the *** because I work on so many that are, and I'm sad to see that now even the cupcake article is no longer any fun.

[2]

[3] Gandydancer (talk) 09:01, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

In Britain fairy cakes are commonly not iced (that is to say, frosted), but when I edited the article to give the lead paragraph a more international feel I was careful to retain the sentence: "The use of frosting is common on American cupcakes". I did so because all my American friends have always stated that American cupcakes are always iced and decorated, and this is backed up by every US-based photo of cupcakes that I can find on-line. So I was also surprised when the line "The use of frosting is common on American cupcakes" was removed - and removed, apparently, by an American editor. Confused. Timothy Titus ^{Talk To TT} 11:57, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

The cupcakes at our Commons are frosted as well. Since there has been no further talk, I have reverted WAID's edit. Gandydancer (talk) 15:16, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

I have seen a lot of unfrosted cupcakes. They are usually homemade. In fact, I was at a party this weekend that offered cupcakes either plain or with whipped cream, but with no frosting anywhere. There are also non-frosting ways to decorate cupcakes, like powdered sugar, lemon zest, or sprinkles baked in. This has strawberries but no frosting. This uses multi-colored batter. Then there are specialty flavors like pineapple upside down cupcakes or cheesecake brownie that get no frosting. This has meringue instead of frosting. Here, here, and here, and here are some Martha Stewart recipes for cupcakes with no frosting. Since we're talking about graduation-related pictures, this uses a tiny amount of frosting as "glue", but I'm not sure that you would describe it as a frosted cupcake. I realize that it's trendy to make fancy frosted cupcakes, but if you go look at older cookbooks, it's not unusual to find recipes that don't mention frosting or that explicitly list it as optional.

I don't really care about the image one way or the other; it strikes me as redundant. I do care that it not be inserted in the middle of a sentence, because that breaks the list formatting. So if you're going to keep this, please go clean it up, with no blank lines between list items, no images stuck in the middle of sentences, and no images interrupting the list. I'd prefer that we didn't have a paragraph that says people decorate cupcakes and then a separate list item that says they decorate cupcakes for special occasions, because that seems redundant. But I hope we can all agree as a minimum move forward that the list formatting be fixed again. WhatamIdoing (talk) 16:48, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Your confrontational attitude is totally uncalled for. I would hope that at least on the cupcake talk page we can do better. Wikipedia is not written to reflect your own personal experience of what a cupcake should look like. As my two refs show, and a check of WP Commons shows as well, in the US most cupcakes are frosted. TT, I did not return your edit, though I thought it was fine. You can return it if you find it appropriate. Gandydancer (talk) 21:24, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

I suspect that if your initial reversion had not carelessly reintroduced the obviously broken list formatting (I did mention that fix in the edit summary), then I would have felt very different about your changes.

I don't see anything in your sources that actually says anything about the relative proportions of cupcake frosting. I don't want to infer anything about a large country from a Martha Stewart webpage; it would be like going to the website for Wilton cake decorating supplies and inferring that nearly all cakes get elaborate decorations. If we want to make claims about the relative proportion of what people are eating (or at least what people are buying, because it might be hard to get data on home baking), then I think we need a source that actually says this, using words about the relative proportion, rather than relying on pictures of recipes. WhatamIdoing (talk) 21:46, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Idiot in the first section

Removed the information in the first section which states Cupcakes are usually used for heavenly goodness and are very yummy. People who don't like cupcakes are VERY naughty. I am Cupcake Lover and as my name suggests, I go bananas over cupcakes. It doesn't matter what flavour, cupcakes are cupcakes. But, Red velvet cupcakes are the best! :)" <--- Not really what a factual page of cupcakes actually needs. Snowstormskies (talk) 00:23, 7 April 2014 (UTC)snowstormskies

Welcome to Wikipedia, Snowstormskies, and thanks for cleaning up that mess. If you look in the page history, that appeared shortly before you cleaned it up. WP:Vandalism in the form of "cute jokes" is sometimes a problem on pages like this. Thank you for fixing it! WhatamIdoing (talk) 00:33, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

A periodic table of cupcakes

I truly like the idea of this periodic table, however those don't appear to be cupcakes. It looks like a flat sheet-cake that has been cut into squares and frosted. I can see how cupcakes could be used for this idea though. Also, it says this is common, however I've never seen one, and I'm a science teacher, though I now may have to do this.Flight Risk (talk) 20:16, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

I agree that they don't really look like cupcakes to me either. The whole "cupcake themes" section seems unnecessary and has an WP:UNDUE focus mainly on one example. Deli nk (talk) 20:40, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

I think the example is notable enough. The text is fine but it would be better if the photo showed actual cupcakes, not a sheet cake. Jonathunder (talk) 22:07, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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Semi-protected edit request on 13 June 2016

Add {{Pp-semi}} template.

--186.84.46.227 (talk) 21:34, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Done — Andy W. (talk · ctb) 22:55, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

It seems like somewhere in this article there must be room for appropriate mention of "2 Broke Girls". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.239.81.161 (talk) 01:33, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

Redundant link (cake in a mug)

This link is reduntant, since it links to the same page at the same section the link is in. Not much more to say 14.203.7.151 (talk) 05:23, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

Locked?

Locked?? Cupcakes?? WTF!!

187.143.74.31 (talk) 21:19, 5 March 2018 (UTC) baden k.

Queen cake

Queen cake is redirected here, but the actual article lacks any mention of said cake. This is also a bit strange as Queen cake is known at least since 1725 https://researchingfoodhistory.blogspot.se/2011/04/queen-cakes-and-patty-pans.html (I checked with my electronic copy, it's there). That particular recipe doesn't mention any type of small fluted pans however. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A04:AE04:4402:EE00:5119:F6E6:2305:CEAB (talk) 06:56, 16 May 2018 (UTC)

There is also a recipe, akin to the 1725 Queen Cake which should rightfully be called Princess cake ;-) in "Queens delight" 1671, "To make a Cake the way of the Royal Princess, the Lady Elizabeth, daughter to King Charles the first" which is very much like a Queen cake. It too doesn't mention pans of any sort.Shieldfire (talk) 03:59, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

There is a mention of Queen Cake in the 1739 text "THE House-keeper's Pocket-Book; And Compleat FAMILYCOOK." by Sarah Harrison. It follows the same standardized set of ingredients the other Queen Cake recipes share, namely sugar, eggs, currants and (usually) rose water. Some of these early recipes mention paper moulds, and this is the oldest I have found that does this. Shieldfire (talk) 15:46, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

Although the 1764 Kings Cake in Moxon does mention paper tins.Shieldfire (talk) 04:18, 19 May 2018 (UTC)

It looks like Queen Cake recipes didn't use paper (or other) moulds until at the earliest 1739 - eventhough the recipe composition was known and used. Funilly enough Moxon differentiates between King cakes (without) and Queen cakes (with) moulds.Shieldfire (talk) 15:46, 19 May 2018 (UTC)