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Happy National Vanilla Cupcake Day

The world’s favorite cupcake flavor!

#NationalVanillaCupcakeDay


Here are today’s five thing to know about Vanilla & Cupcakes:

 Vanilla is the only fruit-bearing member of the orchid family.

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The flower that produces the vanilla bean lasts only one day. The beans are hand-picked and then cured, wrapped, and dried in a process that takes 4 to 6 months.

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The first mention of a cupcake recipe goes as far back as 1796. Amelia Simms wrote a recipe in “American Cookery” which referenced, “a cake to be baked in small cups”.

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 However, it wasn’t until 1828 that the actual word cupcake was used by Eliza Leslie in her cookbook “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats”.


Today’s Food History

  • 1683 Robert Morison died. A Scottish botanist whose work, together with that of others, helped lead to the modern system of plant classification.
  • 1793 Dr. Jared Kirtland was born. A physician, naturalist, botanist and teacher, he is credited with developing 26 varieties of cherries and 6 varieties of pears.
  • 1871 Journalist Henry Morton Stanley finds missing explorer Dr. David Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika – “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
  • 1876 The Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition closed.1930 The play ‘Light Wines and Beer’ opened at the Waldorf Theatre in New York City.
  • 1951 As of this day in history, you could call from New York and make a reservation for dinner at a California restaurant without operator assistance. Coast to coast, direct dialing began.
  • 1969 The children’s TV show, Sesame Street debuted, with the Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and many more characters.
  • 1974 The discovery of the ‘charmed quark‘, a subatomic particle, was announced.
  • 1978 Sir Edward Salisbury died (born April 16, 1886). English botanist and ecologist. Director of Royal Botanical Gardens (1943-1956).  His books include ‘The Living Garden’ (1935), ‘The Biology of Garden Weeds’ (1962).

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