Hey There...Cupcake

I absolutely LOVE cupcakes. After working in a bakery and now with The Festival of Chocolate… it made me wonder WHO came up with the brilliant idea to create the perfect 2-bite treat.

Most people think the term “cupcake” comes from idea that a cupcake looks like a cake cooked in a cup. However, after some research, it turns out that cupcakes are so named because this was a snack that could be stored inside a protective athletic cup during baseball games. Abner Doubleday himself may have been the first to tuck a cake there, and he was known to reach down for a nibble of his “cup cake” even while running the bases.

The first cupcakes did not have frosting as we know it, but instead were topped with lard as a kind of cake-moistening gravy. And, get this…Winston Churchill was the first person to suggest a kind of sweet frosting on the top of the cakes.

Lard to Buttercream…that must have been a no brainer!

Cupcake Cottage will leave you Wanting S’more…

So, if I’ve gotten you craving a cupcake now, it’s about to get even more tempting. We just got word that Cupcake Cottage is bringing their Triple Irish Crown and S’mores cupcakes to The Festival of Chocolate.

Their cupcakes are as decadently delicious as they are beautiful. And, yes – for my VERY difficult job, I had to try a few. My drop-to-the-knees favorite was Boston Cream. (a REALLY Moist Cake, Injected with Rich Cream, Topped with Thick Rich Chocolate) Back off donuts…there’s a NEW Sheriff in town. http://www.cupcakecottage.net/index.asp

For those of you unfamiliar with this Royal Palm Beach gem, the Cupcake Cottage is a gourmet cupcake boutique owned by Lisa Hamilton. Just one year ago, Lisa’s love of baking took her from a life of building condos, high rises and shopping plazas to sweet days focused on constructing the perfect cupcake. Smart Lady!

SPEAKING OF CUPCAKES… want to get your photo taken IN a Cupcake? As it turns out, our Cupcake Photo ops that were originally built for the Festival of Chocolate children have actually turned into an adult adventure too! That’s right! At the Festival of Chocolate, even grownups can stick their head through a cupcake while eating a cupcake. What a perfect day.

CUPCAKES BY THE NUMBERS

One cupcake is consumed for every adult in the US every day. If you haven’t had yours, you better wrestle one away from that chubby dude standing in front of the bakery.

The number of cupcakes eaten last year have more mass than the entire Earth!

What a Spook-tacular day to enjoy a little Chocolate...

The first time that I ever went Trick or Treating, I was three years old. Completely obsessed with the 1955 Peter Pan broadcast starring MaryMartin; my mother made me the most amazing Tiger Lily Costume that my three-year-old self could imagine. Once I was dressed and ready to go, my father handed me my little plastic pumpkin basket and we were onto the first house. I have always been painfully shy, so the idea of knocking on someone’s door and saying “Trick or Treat” was TERRIFYING, but I did it anyway.

Little did I know, that by saying those three little words, the individual standing in front of me would hand me a full size chocolate bar to be placed into my pumpkin basket. Onto the next house, and the same thing happened, and as I started to recognize the pattern, I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I literally started running from house to house. Nothing could stop me, not even falling on the street, splitting my knee open. With a bloody shin and feather headdress I probably quite a sight for the nice people answering the door to take in.

As I have gotten older, and to the age where I pass out the candy instead of go around looking for it, it has made me wonder how the tradition began. And of course, The Festival of Chocolate constantly has my mind wondering how chocolate factors into the candy-receiving traditions.

I won’t bore you with the ancient facts, but Trick or Treating as we know it today gained nation-wide popularity sometime around the 1950s and actually stemmed from a Thanksgiving tradition in which kids dressed up to go door-to-door begging for food to be consumed during their Thanksgiving meal. As the years went on, the tradition shifted from begging for food to asking for Halloween treats with elaborate costumes, parades and parties popping up all over the nation.

The favorite food of Trick or Treaters? According the US Census Bureau and National Confectioners Association, 68% of kids prefer anything that is made with chocolate, and 70% of Parents prefer to sneak chocolate than any other candy from their kid’s trick or treat bags.

Treat for Grown Ups!

So, if you are an adult and are not ready to put on your headdress or scary mask and ask for mini-sized treats…then check out the place that has a Chocolate Treat that is made with the quality, uber-fresh ingredients demanded by many Grown Up but the flavors that will make you feel like a kid again.

Chocolate by Mr. Roberts, located in East Boca Raton, has been a very popular location to procure chocolate (for Halloween and beyond!) for over 30 years. The neighborhood believes that it is their Best Kept Secret…but the secret is out!

Michelle Zander, the current owner, studied under Chocolate by Mr. Roberts’s creator, Heinz Robert Goldschneider prior to taking over the business in 2007. She has mastered the art of fine handmade chocolates created in the Swiss tradition.

Each piece has been hand tempered, cut and dipped into the decadent creamy chocolate. If that does not impress you – it should. I can count on my right hand the number of chocolate business that actually make it ALL from scratch.

If a White Truffle doesn’t sound like your thing, give their English Toffee truffle a try! With the buttery crunch center covered in either milk or dark chocolate, and crushed almonds on top, it is enough to make any chocoholic scream for more!

For additional information on Chocolate by Mr. Roberts, please visit their website at http://www.chocolatesbymrroberts.com/.

Want to know more about Chocolate history? Be sure to visit our Chocolate Museum, -- we have the only travelling Chocolate Museum in the USA. Learn about the evolution of chocolate from the seed in a pod on the Theobroma tree, to your favorite chocolate, see how chocolate travelled to the Americas and even check out some the tools that the Mayans used when they first discovered the Cacao Bean. It’s Super Cool!

Be safe tonight! And Have a Happy Halloween!

-CC