Sunday, March 14, 2010

Cupcakes vs. Muffins

Cocoa Banana Muffin
Is there some kind of definitive distinction between cupcakes and muffins? Two recipes I made recently have made me question it. Both were tasty, and that was definitely not the problem. The first is this Cocoa Banana Muffin from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri. Chocolatey with banana chunks - for breakfast? Yes please! But really, if I'd slapped some buttercream on the top, what would distinguish it from being a cupcake?

Carrot Raisin Cupcake with Mascarpone Whipped Cream
When I was looking for a way to use up the rest of my homemade mascarpone from my tiramisu experiment, I found myself back in The Craft of Baking, making a recipe for carrot cupcakes with mascarpone whipped cream. It was one of those great moments where I had everything on hand for a recipe, and even added some raisins and nuts, both of which seemed awfully muffin-esque. Now... is it because it had frosting that it was a cupcake and not a muffin? I would have eaten that for breakfast. In fact, I brought them into work and handed them out around 9 am.

Does anyone have an answer? I'll keep baking the tasty treats....

Categories: Banana, Bread, Breakfast, Carrot, Chocolate, Cupcake, Muffin, Raisin

1 comment:

Trine said...

I've read somewhere that a cupcake is made by beating sugar and butter until it is white and fluffy, adding eggs, and then adding the rest of the dry ingredients. This makes a for a more cake-y texture.

While muffins are made by mixing wet and dry ingredients separatly and pouring one into the other.