Cupcakes can be traced as far back as 1796. A recipe for "a cake to be baked in small cups" was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons.The earliest use of the term cupcake was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Recipes cookbook.
In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the name cup cake or cupcake. Before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds. They got their name from the cups they were baked in.