National Chocolate Cupcake Day is a holiday that’s celebrated annually on October 18th. This holiday celebrates the small cakes baked in cups that have been popular since they were first introduced to the American public during the late 18th century.

Now, over 700 million cupcakes are enjoyed by the American public every single year. And, as many of you will probably guess, chocolate is one of the more popular types of cupcakes.

The History of Chocolate Cupcakes

Although we don’t know the origins of National Chocolate Cupcake Day, and we don’t know who invented it or why, we do know the history of the common cupcake quite well. Although cakes were made at various times from the Middle Ages on, the first written record of a cupcake can be found in a book written by Amelia Simmons in 1796.

This book, titled “American Cookery,” described individual-sized cakes that could be served to guests. She didn’t specifically call these cakes “cupcakes,” though. That term would come later when another book, released in 1828, coined the term “cupcake.”

Interesting Facts About Cupcakes

Cupcakes have fascinated Americans for over two hundred years now, and it’s easy to see why. Who wouldn’t love a small cake that’s easy to transport, easy to serve, and provides a single serving of cake? We know that we were so fascinated by cupcakes, we had no choice but to find out everything we could about them. Below are some fascinating facts we’ve discovered about cupcakes.

• October 18th is National Chocolate Cupcake Day, but November 10th is National Vanilla Cupcake Day.
• National Cupcake Day falls on December 15th.
• Cupcakes were known as “1234 Cakes.” That’s because they’re made with 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and four eggs—mixed with a cup of milk and a single teaspoon of baking soda.
• The Hostess Company began mass-producing cupcakes in 1919.
• Hostess claims to be the first commercially produced cupcake, but TastyKake disputes this claim.
• Hostess cupcakes didn’t have a creamy filling or a squiggly line on them until the 1950s.
• In Great Britain, cupcakes are sometimes called “Fairy Cakes.”
• In Australia, cupcakes are sometimes called “Patty Cakes.”

How To Celebrate National Chocolate Cupcake Day

Anyone looking to celebrate this holiday merely has to either buy some chocolate cupcakes to pass out to friends and family or make their own cupcakes from scratch.

Chocolate cupcakes are great for office parties, for packing into school lunches, or for after-dinner dessert, so there are plenty of opportunities for people to work them in on this day. Participants can also use the hashtag #NationalChocolateCupcakeDay to post pictures of their homemade chocolate cupcakes on social media or simply to let everyone know they’re celebrating this holiday.