Difference Between A Cupcake And A Muffin

Being a baker in Brisbane, I often get bothered when people cannot tell me the difference between cupcakes and muffins. Or even worse, when people believe that muffins and cupcakes are both the same. No, muffins and cupcakes are not the same. They are very much different from one another – a muffin is a muffin and a cupcake is a cupcake.

Although it’s hard to pinpoint the difference between a muffin and cupcake, it must be clear to you whether you’re eating a muffin or a cupcake after the first bite.

One similarity between muffins and cupcakes is their ingredients. Both contain flour, butter, eggs, milk and sugar. But sometimes muffins replace the all-purpose flour with oat flour, whole wheat flour or even different nut flours. Muffins may even be filled with different kinds of tasty mix-ins, like chocolate chips, nuts or dried fruits. Moreover, muffins can replace butter with vegetable oil or any other liquid form of fat. Sugar and butter content is more in cupcakes than in the muffins.

The mixing method & the consistency of batter is something that differentiates muffins and cupcakes. Cupcakes are made by creaming the sugar and butter together for creating a fluffy, smooth batter. The batter is beaten for a longer period of time than muffin batter, which created uniformness of the air bubbles all over the cupcake. On the other hand, muffin batter is beaten for a short while and remains lumpy. This makes for a relatively more dense baked product.

Muffins are considered to be a healthier option for which they are acceptable to be eaten during breakfast. But they are not a healthier option all the time. You can have a savoury muffin however but not a savoury cupcake.

There is also a very obvious visual difference between muffins and cupcakes – the frosting. Muffins usually have a thin glaze or a sugared top whereas cupcakes are topped with delicious, creamy frosting. Generally, the fillings inside muffins add a lot of excitement to the baked product, thus there may not be anything on the top.

However, don’t think this way that if you remove the frosting from a cupcake, you’ll get a muffin! Cupcakes are generally small cakes and muffins are small quick breads. If you are not able to pour batter into an eight inch circular pan and make a unique birthday cake, then you’ve yourself what’s called a muffin.