I found a lot of talk and misconceptions about the similarities and differences between a muffin and a cupcake online. Some say a muffin becomes a cupcake when there is frosting on it. Some say that cupcakes are smaller than muffins. That is incorrect, here is my take on it. Let’s conquer the cupcake first.
Cupcakes
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A cupcake is essentially the same as a whole cake. It is simply baked and served in a portion to serve one individual.
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It is usually frosted (like those in the photos above) and decorated. It is common to see it at birthday parties and weddings.
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It is sweet and hence eaten mostly as a dessert or a sweet treat.
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An un-frosted cupcakes does not equate to a muffin.
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Butter is usually used in a cupcake recipe.
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Conclusion: A cupcake is a cake.
Muffins
Source: Wikipedia
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A muffin is one of the easiest things to bake (although I’ve had my fair share of failures, will give you tips to succeed in baking a muffin). It is simply mixing the wet and dry ingredients together and some recipes do not even require the use of an electronic beater or whisk.
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It can be frosted or not frosted. For fruit muffins, I like to use a crumble on top (recipe in the next post).
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It can be sweet or savoury and is mostly eaten during breakfast or tea.
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A frosted muffin does not equate a to cupcake.
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Oil is usually used in a muffin recipe.
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Conclusion: A muffin is a type of bread (quick bread).
I hope this clarifies the difference between a cupcake and a muffin better. Watch out for my next post on my experience with baking muffins.
Tags: bake, baked, Baking, bread, butter, cake, cakes, crumble, cup cake, cup cakes, cupcake, Cupcakes, decorated, dessert, desserts, difference muffin cupcake, difference muffins cupcakes, differences muffins cupcakes, easy baking, frosted, fruit muffins, incorporate wet dry, mix wet dry, muffin, muffin crumble, muffins, oil, quick bread, quick breads, similarities muffins cupcakes, sweet, sweet treats, whole cake
February 20, 2008 at 7:48 pm |
This is a great post and you are so right about cupcake or muffins
Spooky thing – I just made white chocolate muffins today!
Rosie x
February 21, 2008 at 2:04 am |
Babe, you know what, after baking for so long, and eating so many cupcakes and muffins, I still cannot explain their differences. Your post makes it really easy to understand and remember. Cupcake = cake, muffin = bread, and the rest of the differences will fall into place.
I want to bake next week!
February 21, 2008 at 3:09 pm |
Rosie: Thanks!
Mmmm sounds like delicious muffins, gosh I haven’t baked for a while now.
bodytreats: Glad I managed to help my dear, yes to baking! It surely de-stresses.
February 21, 2008 at 3:34 pm |
[...] Curious Foodie. I seek to feed the curious soul in my tummy. « Muffins & Cupcakes: Why they are different. [...]
February 21, 2008 at 8:03 pm |
Nice explanation!! But what really matter is that both are damn yummy!!!
=)
February 22, 2008 at 2:39 am |
Venus Muffinpants: Yes yes, I have to agree with that.
February 27, 2008 at 8:59 pm |
This is such a hot topic. I posted about it here:
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2007/05/cupcake-vs-muffin-update.html
And then again when I made steamed cupcakes:
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/02/steamed-salted-caramel-cupcakes-or.html
I do really like your description. Although, it is so often broken. I’ve had many a muffin that is more of a cake than a bread.
February 28, 2008 at 2:40 am |
Stef: I like your second post on steaming cupcakes, its cool! Next time I’ll try and let you know how it turned out.
Thank you for the links.
May 7, 2008 at 3:43 am |
[...] A few Googled pages later, I discovered that the cupcake versus muffin debate was already in full swing among bloggers and other writers (two good sources are recipezaar’s concise take on the issue, and the more detailed viewpoint on Curious Foodie’s blog). [...]
December 18, 2008 at 8:22 am |
thanks…at last what I search for,I’ve already found…I can use it to expalin to my students…
December 18, 2008 at 8:33 am |
@zanazainal: Glad it is useful
March 19, 2009 at 5:54 pm |
Hi, thanks for the explanation, I wanted to know the difference. I am from Chile and we usually make big cakes, not individual cupcakes or muffins. I want to ask you something about the recipe. I make cakes since I was a little girl and my recipe has been: you mix a cup of sugar with a little of oil, then you add two eggs and beat it very well; then you pour two cups of sift flour and one spoonful of baking soda and beat it. I add half cup of milk to the mix, I think that is optional, but that soften the mix a little. My family likes the cake that way, but I prefer it a more crumby and soft, like cupcakes. How do you make them?
Yesterday I tried to make cupcakes with four eggs instead of two, only one cup of flour, half cup of butter and one grated apple with cinnamon. First they were very high but then it started to low, and they got plane.
April 6, 2009 at 12:16 am |
[...] http://curiousfoodie.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/muffins-cupcakes-why-they-are-different/ [...]
April 14, 2009 at 7:14 am |
[...] http://curiousfoodie.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/muffins-cupcakes-why-they-are-different/ [...]
May 29, 2009 at 12:50 pm |
@Natalia, hey thanks for the visit
For me what makes cupcakes and muffins different is precisely the ratio of all the ingredients. It’d be great to experiment within the ratio the recipe states 
July 12, 2009 at 12:29 pm |
Strictly speaking, muffins are not bread at all, contrary to popular belief. bread is made from dough. Cake is made from batter. It matters not whether the end product is sweet, if it’s made frm batter, it’s cake. Even some things we traditionally call “bread, ” such as banana bread, pumpkin bread, zuchini bread, and yes, even cord bread and quick bread, are all batter based, and therefore, cake. The difference between muffins and cupcakes is the kind of flouer used and the amount of fat used. Most traditional cakes are made with fine cake flour, where as muffins and other “quick breads” are usually made with an all-purpose flour. Yes, I know, we have all used all-purpose flour in our cake recipes, too, but we usually mix it at higher speeds and this has a tendency to smooth out the batter and increase the effects of the gluten in the flour.
Muffins are made with all-purpose or “baker’s flour” and are hand mixted to a sometimes lumpy batter. There is also a much higher fat content in muffin batter. A pan of 6 huge or 12 medium-sized muffins might require a whole stick of butter or more, as well as some milk or cream.
So, call it what you like, but if it comes from batter (even if it’s shaped like a muffin or a loaf) it’s still technically cake.
July 25, 2009 at 8:00 pm |
now what are the muffin cupcake hybrids at resturants like famous dave’s for example? What would you call that? It’s kinda cake like, it crumbles like a cake but doesn’t strike me as a cupcake its kinda sweet but i dunno if id decorate and frost it up.
September 7, 2009 at 3:05 am |
Off topic – need help with email settings
How do I change Gmails SMTP settings?
Dr Gil Lederman
Gil Lederman
Gil Lederman MD
October 26, 2009 at 10:21 pm |
That is the worst post I’ve ever read… so basically a cupcake is a little cake (no, really? … in a cup?), eaten at parties and a muffin is not eaten at parties but for breakfast and tea… Well hoo ha… Can we please have a description of the tangible difference… ie: The different ingredients…
… and can I have a cupcake with my tea? … Pretty Please… Does that make it a muffin?