Comments on: Muffins vs. Cupcakes

by: Orestes

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:04:25 +0000

Well, I actually just googled the etymology of cupcakes, and stumbled across this page (funny how someone can say you stumbled ove something that isn’t real, you’re not physically stumbling on it? anyways…) Would have been nice when cupcakes were first called “Cupcake” maybe ine some royal kitchen in france in the 1600’s , i guess that words never had too much attention. But this was an itneresting question and never thought about it until the stumbling and the reading. I’ll be more alert for muffin fraud now. Thanks!

by: stephanie

Mon, 01 May 2006 20:26:07 +0000

i have had a debate with friends on whether or not a muffin is in the cupcake family and they definately are not one. a cupcake is in the cake family and a muffin is in the bread family according to many definitions that i have found and on further note a bread contains yeast and a cupcake does not have that for sure. they are different things.

by: Pete o' Fun

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 04:55:33 +0000

That’s not good enough for me. What happens if you make a bran muffin, and put frosting on it? Or make a cupcake and leave teh frosting off? The presence of frosting is definitely correlated with cupcakes, but it is not the defining feature. Sorry.

by: JK

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 18:46:39 +0000

So I was just at Starbucks and had a similar experience with a beautiful chocolate muffin. I Googled “muffin vs. cupcake” and found your postings. While I was reading a friend called. I asked her the great questions, “Do you know what the difference is between a muffin and a cupcake?” She had the answer, “Frosting, cupcakes have it, muffins don’t”. Now I don’t know if this is the true and final answer to the powerful issue but its good enough for me. 

by: SA

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:55:34 +0000

I was wondering the EXACT same thing - and found your post upon googling “muffin vs. cupcake.”

It’s killing me. I’m gonna do some serious homework on this. Cuz I feel like I”m gonna cry and run out also if I don’t figure it out.

I don’t buy that the only difference is frosting. I know a cupcake is lighter and fluffier because it’s essentially a cake. And yes a muffin is denser, blah blah blah.

But I want to understand the etymology and origin of the muffin. Which came first? (I’m guessing the cupcake.) Did one derive from the other, and why? For now, my suspicion is that one day, somebody wanted to have a cupcake for breakfast, but felt guilty about doing so, so invented something and called it a muffin…so that he/she could eat a dessert for breakfast and not feel guilty. ??

by: UV

Fri, 04 Mar 2005 01:12:55 +0000

Cupcakes have frosting and are fluffier than muffins. Large muffins (the kind you usually see in coffeeshops, etc.) have *more* calories and fat than cupcakes, which are, in fact, yummier. This has been scientifically proven. By me. :-)

Eat more cupcakes!

by: amanda

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 00:18:11 +0000

i dont there is a difference they both can be sweet and they both can taste the same

by: Alberto

Sat, 22 Jan 2005 22:24:29 +0000

what the hell is with the muffin ads?

by: Ian

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:07:39 +0000

That is somewhat true– a banana bread is a batter rather than a dough. Yeast is one way of making bread rise, but so is baking soda. Essentially, anything that causes the release of carbon dioxide as you bake it creates a lighter fluffy bread or cake. Most cakes also have at least baking soda.

And what about a pie? Cakes are round breads that are sweet. A pie is round and sweet, so does that make it a cake? If I were to bake a chocolate cake in a long rectangular bread pan, would that be chocolate bread? And finally, if I were to bake a cherry pie in a bread pan, would that be a cherry bread?

by: Pete o' Fun

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 23:36:53 +0000

Banana bread probably gets its name from its shape, not from its ingredients. I’m pretty sure you don’t need yeast to make a banana bread rise first. In general breads are levened, they have yeast. Cakes don’t. Are there sweet yeast products out there? Unsweetened yeastless ones too?