Cupcake or Muffin?


(Picture by Cakespy)

I love chocolate chip muffins. When I make them or buy them, inevitably someone will ask "Hey, is that a cupcake or a muffin?" It is humorous to see people's expressions when you ask this very simple question. But, seriously!? - is it a cupcake or is it a muffin?

Is a muffin merely a vessel on which all yummy icing travels and then is called a "cupcake" ~ or ~ can muffins harmoniously coexist with lusciously coated cupcakes and remain individual entities?

The quick-and-dirty answer on this is that cupcakes have frosting, whereas muffins do not. However, in researching, I found an excellent formulaic definition of the difference courtesy of Diana's Desserts "A basic formula for muffins is 2 cups flour, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 egg, ¼ cup oil, shortening or butter and 1 cup milk. When the fat, sugar and egg ratio in a recipe reaches double or more than this, you have reached the cake level.

Comments

Bea Roque said…
Hi there, I found your blog through the Foodie Blog Roll, and I am so happy that I did....You have a good question here, I actually through that the difference was only that in the muffins the wet & dry ingredients were mixed ... obviously I was wrong:-((( Where I live, there is no way to find fun colorings or things to decorate the cupcakes with, but suddenly about a month ago I found an English supermarket and a new whole world of cupcaking possibilities opened up. Now I found your blog..It will be an excellent reference for me... Thank you. B
Wendy Joan said…
Hi BEA: I am so glad you stopped by my blog! I hope you have been able to find more "cupcake goodies" since you wrote! Take a look on the left hand side of my blog - I am always adding new goodies I find through catalogues and on different websites. Plus there are so many talented bloggers out there! Come back soon! xoxoxo