Challenge #00321: Cupcakes! Cupcakes! Cupcakes!

Nobody was entirely sure whether to curse the humans or begin worshipping them for introducing the cupcake to the galactic community. 

The human capacity for invention - alongside their notorious insanity, of course - knows no bounds. Therefore it should have been no surprise that both extended to their food.

Bread is universal. Leavening is not. Cake is known, and has saved some species from extinction. Fruitcake - a human seasonal delicacy - has saved civilizations.

And don’t get anyone started about popsicles.

And then, there’s the creation that can be traced back to a salvage company working in the vicinity of Argo…

*

There was a tower in the centre, in place of the much-anticipated cake. It was festooned with brightly-coloured objects.

Ch'chiva examined it as much as she dared. It was pretty, but human party food was also decorative and some, she had noted, were edible works of art.

Ah, just in time. The human chef emerged. He of the unpronounceable name and the endless smirk. There was a very large bowl of some caramel-corn creation in his hands. The crew loved it, of course.

“I was looking forward to cake,” Ch'chiva tried not to sound reprimanding.

“Those are cakes.”

“Even the round things on the sticks?”

“Yes. Cake-pops. Human food-on-a-stick.” Victor set down the caramel corn -there were peanuts in it! Ch'chiva almost squealed in delight- and plucked out an array of them. “There was no consensus on flavour, this time, so all the -ah- small cakes are colour coded for convenience. Chocolate, strawberry, banana and vanilla.” He pointed out each in turn.

“Many desire chocolate, but it is not a healthy food,” Ch'chiva noted. “Smaller doses would mean less time in sickbay.”

“Only for some,” smirked Victor. He put the cake pops back in their display.

“Is there a name for the larger small cakes?”

“Yes. We call them ‘cupcakes’.”

“It is a very small cup.”

“Beverage containers were smaller when the term was coined." 

"Cup. Cakes,” Ch'chiva toured around the table. “A single serving with none of the dissection. This is excellent food for semi-hostile negotiation.”

The concept spread like wildfire. Not only did the very human concept of food-on-a-stick expand even further, but the cupcake became dessert du jour for all ambassadorial meals. Any meal where knives weren’t possible became ideal ambassadorial fare. Especially in the presence of other ambassadors.

But then there were the heated debates about who got the last chocolate one.

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