my little cupcake

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Our little newsletter

Today marks the creation of our first newsletter*. In it you will find information on upcoming events and recent announcements. It will be released once a month towards the end of the month. A sample of something you might see is a post about our upcoming music night.

We are calling it our little coffeehouse. One of our talented employees, Danielle Judson, will be performing live acoustic music next Thursday, March 1, from 6:00-7:30pm. It will be a lot of fun, and a great way to relax with some good music, and yummy cupcakes. It will be the first of many music nights to come. So come on down. We can't wait to see you!

Stay sweet,

my little cupcake

*If you would like to sign-up for our newsletter please comment below with your email address.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The History of the Cupcake

Most of the time when you think of cupcakes, you probably think of a fun alternative to a birthday cake. But where do these cupcakes come from? Where did it all begin? Most devoted cupcake-eaters would be surprised to learn that cupcakes did not originate as individually portioned cakes. Their name has two derivatives, as the Food Timeline states: (1) "the first recipes used measurements by the cup to create these cakes," and (2) "These cakes were originally baked in cups that could withstand oven temperatures, to save time,". Cupcakes were sometimes referred to as 1234 cakes to help bakers remember the recipes. The numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 corresponded with ingredient measurements. The original ingredients were similar to that of pound cakes, making these cakes quite decadent. Small pound cakes were quite popular in England during the 18th century, but they were referred to as Queen cakes. They were both individually portioned cakes, but ingredients and uses varied.

Image courtesy Google Images

But no one knows the true origin of cupcakes, leaving us with a lot of speculation. What we do know is the earliest recorded cupcake recipe dates back to 1796 and is as follows:

"A light Cake to bake in small cups.
Half a pound sugar, half a pound butter, rubbed into two pounds flour, one glass wine, one do. [glass] Rosewater, two do.[glass] Emptins, a nutmeg, cinnamon and currants."
---American Cookery, Amelia Simmons, 2nd edition (p. 48), Courtesy of The Food Timeline

This recipe seem somewhat straight forward, but slightly different from the cupcake recipes we are used to today. It is very rare to see a glass of wine in cupcake batter and the rosewater* was most likely used as a flavoring agent, but emptins-what is that? After some careful digging it was determined the emptins was a leavening agent. It's purpose was to give the cakes an lighter quality.

So how does this all sound to you? Here at my little cupcake we are very curious what those first cupcakes tasted like! Would you be willing to help out? Bake up a batch of these cakes and let us know how they come out. Exact measurements might take some tweaking, but the force will be with you. Good luck!

Stay sweet,

my little cupcake

*my little cupcake recently made rose cupcakes for Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

You can have your cupcake, and wear it too.

Did you know you can wear my little cupcake? You can wear us anytime and anywhere you want! Maybe you like wearing us at the beach, or to go bowling. You might even like wearing my little cupcake in our store. That's right devoted cupcake-eater, you can own your very own my little cupcake t-shirt! Below is a picture of one of our employees, Gabby, wearing a pink version of our signature shirt.

Image taken by my little cupcake

Our shirts also come in blue and white and men's and children's sizes. We always have a variety of sizes in stock. We even make onesies for that special little baby in your life. Now you really can call that special someone "cupcake". Along with a gift card to our bakery, it's the perfect Valentine's Day gift!

Don't have time to run to another store to get a card for your lucky valentine? Well you're in luck. Right at the end of the counter is a rack of various cards and after a few moments you find a card that is so adorably cute, you know your sweetie will smile. We even have a HUGE selection of unique pens and pencil cases! Pictured below are just some of your choices.

Image taken by my little cupcake

You have everything you could possibly need, plus a few cupcakes for yourself! All in all, a successful trip to my little cupcake.

In the future, you will remember my little cupcake for your adorable needs. There is plenty more you can get: like a coffee mug, or novelty toppers for sprucing up your cupcakes, or stickers and bags and trays, oh my! If you are daring enough, you could even grab a picture with Edward, our lovely t-shirt model and employee of the year(s).

Image taken by my little cupcake

Whatever your need, my little cupcake will do our best to help you find the perfect gift for your little cupcake!

Stay sweet,

my little cupcake

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Once in every life

It has been said that every little girl dreams of her wedding day. She imagines the jaw-dropping gown, prince charming standing in front of her, and a reception to top all other receptions. Everything is perfect in her mind; every little detail is just so, nothing is out of place.

Image courtesy of Google Images

Okay, not everyone can have the wedding that Prince William and Kate Middleton had. But little girls still like to dream. And like every little kid, centered at the fantasy is the delicious wedding cake; what kid doesn't dream of cake? But maybe that little girl dreamt of an unusual wedding cake, something different, something unique, something special. If this girl sounds like you, then my little cupcake is the place for you. Cupcakes as wedding cakes is an up-and-coming trend, as many brides learned at the WOKO Bridal, Health & Beauty Expo this past Sunday, January 29. Cupcakes are in; they allow for more variety in cake flavors, they add a bit of whimsy to any occasion, and you can do so much with them.

Image courtesy of Google Images

Image of my little cupcake at the expo

All of this helped attract the eager brides to our table. Well that, and the three tier display of cupcakes. Our motto for the day became: "Try our cupcakes, they're not fake," which immediately earned us some laughs. But once the reviews came in, everyone was happy. Some brides already had my little cupcake in mind for their wedding, others were mighty curious. Brides, and their entourage, were excited to learn of the different applications cupcakes could have at a wedding. They can act as the main wedding cake/cake display, they can be a supporting act to the main show, or our cupcakes could be a fun twist on a dessert bar. But thats not all, one bride said that she loved the idea of cupcakes because you could have a bite, without feeling a commitment to an entire cake. We did run into a few brides who wanted to have the tradition of cutting the cake in their reception. The good news is, we offer a 6-inch cutting cake for those such brides. **

Image taken by Sarah Cutler, my little cupcake

And with that, those little girls that had dreamt of their fantasy wedding, finally got to plan it. They exchanged their traditional wedding cake for whimsical, yet elegant cupcakes, and rode off into the sunset with their prince charming. At least that is how I was told the story goes.

Stay sweet,

my little cupcake

**For more information about our wedding cupcakes, please visit our website.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

That doesn't look like a cupcake to me.

So you know that here at my little cupcake, we use local ingredients to create our mini cupcakes. Now say you get a craving for one of our delectable creations. Well, you could always venture out to our flagship store in Essex, VT (in the Essex Town Center), or you could wander over to our recently opened Burlington, VT store at 217 College Street. To make things a bit easier on you, our stores are easily recognizable by our smiling cupcake logo on our windows.

Now comes the hard part. You walk into one of the stores, and directly in front of you is a large display case with tons of cupcakes; so what do you get? I am guessing your first thought is "cupcake," but then something catches your eye...

Image courtesy of our Facebook page

Is it a lollipop? No, its a cake pop! "What is a cake pop?" you might ask. Well, think about it like a lollipop version of a cupcake. The cake and butter cream are mixed together and dipped in white or dark chocolate. Then they get covered in a complimentary topping. For instance, our salted caramel cake pop is drizzled with a salted caramel topping (pictured above). Now that sounds like good sweets.
But maybe cake pops don't sound like your thing; you are more interested in finding a more substantial dessert you can sink your teeth into. So you continue to scan the display case when you notice it: the whoopie pie. The whoopie pie is a cake sandwich. Similar to an ice cream sandwich in shape, but instead of cookies on the outside, it's cake, and instead of ice cream in the middle, it's buttercream frosting. Now that really is something you can write home to mom about. Your watch also tells you it is lunch time, so a dessert sandwich makes sense.

Image courtesy of our Facebook page

So you have made your decision, you now are the proud consumer of a delicious whoopie pie. While you are paying, it suddenly dawns on you that this evening is a friend's birthday party and you are in charge of the cake. She happens to be a vegan, and her husband is allergic to gluten. But you need to get something, so you take a risk and ask if my little cupcake has gluten-free cupcakes. The salesperson behind the counter enthusiastically responds with a yes, and directs you over to the gluten-free flavors of the day. Conveniently next to those cupcakes are some clearly labeled vegan cupcakes (like the apple cider flavor pictured below). Oh how perfect could this be? You get 12 mini cupcakes, of assorted gluten-free and vegan varieties, pay, and go on your way.**

Image courtesy of our Facebook page

As you walk away you have your not so lunchtime sandwich, the whoopie pie, in one hand, and the 12 mini cupcakes that your friend and her husband can eat for her birthday dinner later that night. And the best part? You are as happy as can be. I call that success.

Stay sweet,

my little cupcake

** the vegan and gluten-free options appear daily in our Burlington store, and occasionally in Essex- call ahead to find out!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Now that's what I call dedication.

Have you ever wondered what goes into a cupcake? There are the obvious ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, and a little bit of love, but after that, it is up to the bakers. Some might add chocolate and others might add berries, but here at my little cupcake we add a touch of local. That's right, I said local. When possible we use Vermont-made ingredients to create our bite-sized, miniature cupcakes. Our butter (and boy do we use a lot of butter) comes from none other than the Cabot Creamery, made famous by their cheese. Cabot butter comes to us straight from Cabot, VT, only about an hour east of our Burlington bakery. We're proud to support such an honest local creamery.

Image courtesy of Google Images

Our flour comes from King Arthur himself.

Image courtesy of Google Images

No, not that King Arthur. Our flour comes from the King Arthur Flour company. Now, I am sure you are wondering how flour can be a local ingredient. Well, devoted cupcake eater, King Arthur Flour is located about an hour and a half away in Norwich, VT. Some of these places might not seem local, but in our case, we are still able to celebrate our Vermont pride.

We also celebrate it with chocolate! Barry Callebaut Chocolate, our chocolate supplier is located about a half hour north in St. Albans, VT.

But the fun doesn't stop there. my little cupcake tries to buy locally grown ingredients, no matter what we need to use it for. We have milk products delivered from Shadow Cross Farms, in Colchester, VT and coffee and espresso products from Black River Roasters, in Burlington, VT. We even went so far as to have our cupcake stickers created by a local label company and our mural, cupcake decals, and my little cupcake t-shirts created by New Duds, in Colchester, VT. Local is in our brand, through and through. So now it is your turn, stop by either of our shops, and see if you can sense Vermont in our brand.

Stay sweet,

my little cupcake.