Happy National Cupcake Day!

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Dec 15th 2009 @ 1:15PM

Winter party cupcakes. Photo: Abakedcreation, Flickr.

Celebrate the holidays with National Cupcake Day! For what could possibly be more festive than ingeniously decorated individual cakes, with a miniature sizing only adding to the adorableness factor?

Originating in the U.S. in the 19th century, it is undetermined whether the dainty servings came to their name as a result of their use of ingredients by the cup or if they took the name of the glassware they were baked in. The cakes were also once dubbed "number" cakes, for their use of numerically expanding ingredients: one spoonful of soda, one cup of milk, one cup butter, two cups sugar, three cups flour and four eggs.

But as the cupcake trend continues to expand, the cakes have evolved further from their basic-recipe origins to take countless forms, with every flavoring imaginable and delightfully outlandish representations -- in a quick skim of our Slashfood Flickr pool, we found whimsical organic ones, Cookie Monster varieties, cocktail-inspired cakes, even burger doppelgangers! Take a look at our Slashfood cupcake coverage for inspiration -- admittedly, we're perhaps a little bit obsessed! -- or share your creative cupcake visions in the comments.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured on the site.

Tags: cupcake origins, cupcakes, national cupcake day