Page 187 - Cupcakes

Birthday candle and candle holder

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24
cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

You Say It’s Your Birthday

And you’re gonna have a good time! Did you know that throughout history,
birthdays weren’t celebrated with as much hullabaloo as they are now? At
first, birthday celebrations were a way of warding off evil spirits. Family
and friends would gather for a meal and to extend good wishes in hopes of
bringing good luck. The idea of blowing out candles on a cake came from
the ancient Greeks and Romans, who believed that the flame would carry
this wish to the gods.

But what would a birthday party today be without cake, candles, ice
cream, and singing “Happy Birthday to You”? This melody was written in
the early 1890s by Mildred Hill, with lyrics by her sister Patty, who was a
teacher, as a way for students to greet their teacher (“Good Morning to
You”). It is thought that forty years later, Patty added the birthday lyrics we

use today.