Cupcakes are a preferable alternative to birthday cakes, whose constant accompaniment by off-key singing has depleted the planet’s supply of forced smiles. Garner genuine grins with today’s Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of cupcakes at The Cup in the Central West End or Edwardsville. The Cup will donate 25% of the proceeds from each freshly baked Groupon purchase to St. Louis Children's Hospital.

The Cup bakes more than a dozen cupcake flavors that revolve every week, making room for new flavor features and seasonal specials. The classic combination of chocolate buttercream and fluffy yellow cake inside the Gold Rush ($2.75) is always available for prospectors to purchase with their own newly sifted nuggets. Patrons alight on lime-green stools as they break through the latticework of a streusel-encrusted sugar glaze to access the Cuppa Coffee Cake ($2.95). The Grasshopper ($2.75) was a recently featured confection, with an Andes mint spelunking into vanilla-mint buttercream. The Pumpkin Harvest ($2.75) treat will induce jack-o'-lantern grins September–December. A selection of The Cup’s from-scratch buttercream is also available in gluten-free incarnations.

25% of the proceeds from this deal will benefit St. Louis Children’s Hospital and fund programs like the Family Resource Center, music therapy, surgical research, pediatric neurocritical care, and camps for children with special needs. Consistently ranked among the nation's top children's hospitals by publications such as U.S. News & World Report, St. Louis Children's Hospital boasts an expansive research resume, and provides comprehensive services in every pediatric medical and surgical specialty to help kids like Kallie.