By Lauren Dickinson

A decorative tower by Sprinkles Cupcakes, the indisputable leader of the cupcake pack.

I have been thinking about cupcakes for a while. Not so much about eating them myself, but about everyone else who is, and how places to buy cupcakes keep springing up.

As much as I adore cupcakes, I don’t require a daily fix, so this phenomenon has been a bit mysterious to me, until today’s article in The San Francisco Chronicle suggested that cupcakes may be like lipstick, whose sales always soar during rough financial times.  Apparently the baking industry was more prepared than the rest of us for our current economic distress.

So in case the stock market is driving you to comfort by sugar, check out:

• Sprinkles Cupcakes, the star of LA, has also now expanded to Northern California with its first location in Palo Alto.

• Kara’s Cupcakes, a growing cupcake empire with four locations now.

• My personal favorites in San Francisco are Citizen Cake/Citizen Cupcake and Miette, where this time of year you can find variations of gingerbread with cream cheese frosting.

• Or if you need a steady supply at hand let Martha teach you how to make seasonal pumpkin cupcakes at home.