rspca cupcake day- 19 August 2019

by petula savin (cousin billie), victoria - BASED MEDIA STRINGER

Did someone skip lunch? Need an excuse to cheat on their diet? Or was it just a stroke of genius?

Regardless of how it came about, “any excuse for a cupcake” is the motto of life’s greatest people, and RSPCA’s annual fundraising event certainly is a paw-some idea! The event began in 2008 to raise money for animal welfare services, and at the time of writing; this year’s campaign had raised over $382,000! The teams on top of the leader board for 2019 are TriCab and Krispy Kreme with a combined effort of $10,050, followed closely by the Bayside Dog Owner’s Group.

Want to know about some other incredible people who are putting their efforts to good use?

Ellen DeGeneres (or is it ‘generous’?) – Ellen is the owner of Halo Purely (a healthy pet food company) and has built a Campus at The Dian Fossy Gorilla Fund in Rwanda; where scientists work to protect critically endangered mountain gorillas.

Miranda Lambert – Country music star Miranda and her mum Bev Lambert founded Muttnation, a foundation that promotes and facilitates the adoption of shelter pets in Nashville, Tennessee.

Betty White – This 97-year-old Golden Girls actress has dedicated much of her life to the Los Angeles Zoo and the Morris Animal Foundation. She is quoted to have said ‘I have to keep acting so that I can afford to keep doing my charity work!’

 If you’d like to play your part by eating cupcakes and fighting animal cruelty at the same time, you have until the end of August to host your own Cupcake Day event!

Here’s some fun facts to get your mouth watering:

· The record for eating the most cupcakes in the shortest time is 29 cupcakes in 30 seconds.

· The world’s largest cupcake weighed over 540kg and contained over 2 million calories.

· In 2005, the first cupcake bakery in the world was opened in Beverly Hills named Sprinkles Cupcakes. They were also the creative minds behind the first cupcake ATM, which could hold up to 350 cupcakes at one time. They currently make over 25,000 cupcakes a day from 11 different locations.

· Approximately 770,000,000 cupcakes are eaten in the United States every year…we have no idea how they worked this out!

Feel like a cupcake yet?

Here’s a recipe to get you started from the Australia’s Best Recipes website:

All-In-One Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients 

· 125 g butter

·  ¾ cup caster sugar

· 1 tsp vanilla essence

· 2 eggs

· ½ cup milk

· 1 ½ cups self-raising flour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°

2. Line 2 x 12-hole cup cake trays with paper cases.

3. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl of electric mixer, beat on low speed until all ingredients are combined.

4. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and has changed in colour.

5. Divide into paper cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

6. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

And where do you find the best decoration inspiration? Glad you asked.

·  This Pinterest board

·  This Instagram Feed

·  This book

·  This bakery

How to get involved? Head to find out more about hosting your own Cupcake Day or simply donate some ‘dough’ online!