Valentine’s Day Cupcakes: or the “Want” of a Tradition
Do you remember waking up on a typical school day? Getting up and heading to the breakfast table for the same toast or cereal or oatmeal or whatever you ate most mornings. Maybe eating in shifts while others in your family took turns showering or brushing their teeth? Do you also remember mornings that were different? When something exciting was available to break your fast? Something that got the day started with a smile?
That’s what Valentine’s Day was for me as a kid. It was a day when the mundane routine was broken up with handcrafted, red and pink fluttering hearts that hung in paper strands from the dining room light fixture. It was chocolate cupcakes topped with a Laura Secord, red-foiled chocolate heart. Breakfast probably only lasted ten minutes, but it was sweet! And so are my memories of it. When I think of Valentine’s Day, what I remember, what I still look forward to, are the homemade decorations and cupcakes. I knew that someone loved me very much. I want to love someone that much too.
My research into traditional foodways has shown me that the origins of a family’s or individual’s traditions are difficult to define. It’s true that continuing a tradition comes from societal pressure and the fear that not participating will ostracises an individual. For example, for years I disliked Christmas and admitting it usually brought up intense negative reactions from others and fervent appeals to convince me that “Christmas was the best!” The words “Grinch” and “Scrooge” were almost always thrown at me, as if being painted with those names would shame me to reconsider my position.
It’s also true that sometimes the pressure to maintain a tradition comes from one’s family. For example, it may be considered necessary to make, or at least eat, tourtière at Christmas and deciding to serve something else, like a charcuterie board, will be met with grumbling – if not full out protests. (At least until the new tradition catches on.)
But when did eating tourtière become a thing? Why tourtière and not stew? Why did my mother make chocolate cupcakes and not chocolate cake? Or pudding? Or brownies? Or cookies? What’s important is that a tradition, all traditions, must start somewhere. Someone must want to do something special for someone else. Someone must want to make a day, a food, a token, a plate… signify more than its literal meaning. The “traditioner,” the person who sets the tradition in motion, must want the “traditionee,” the person who will receive their efforts, to be excited, feel special, be included. But the traditioner must be able to make the tradition happen. It must be in the person’s financial means. It has to be something that can be accomplished. In other words, the person needs the time to do, have the skills to accomplish it successfully, and have the resources available at their disposal. Most importantly, they must want to do it. That “want” may be due to a sense of duty and obligation but, my research has shown, the “want” is most often rooted in a place of love.
I don’t know where our recipe for chocolate cake comes from (please tell me if you know so I can give credit!), but it’s my favourite! It’s chocolaty without being heavy or too sweet. Most of the food I make is dry – especially the German cakes – but this recipe is usually super moist. To be honest, I would be very sad if I lost this particular recipe, even if there is no shortage of chocolate cake recipes in the world.
