The Difference Between A Cupcake & A Muffin

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We are ending this confusion ONCE AND FOR ALL! The pain and struggles of differentiating them will be no more.

  1. Cupcakes have frosting. Muffins do not.
  2. The ingredient ratio is different. A basic formula for muffins is 2 cup flour, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, 2 and a half teaspoon baking powder, half teaspoon salt, 1 egg. When the fat, sugar, and egg to flour ratio in a recipe reaches double that of a muffin, you create a more open crumb and a sweeter end product and that is, a cupcake.
  3. The cupcake has a finer crumb while a muffin has a bigger/coarser crumb.
  4. Muffins have more of a domed top than cupcakes, often overflowing out of their wrappers.
  5. If you throw a cupcake against a wall, it will make a ‘POOF’ sound. However, if you did the same with a muffin, it would make a ‘THUD’ sound.

A little information to help you differentiate between cupcakes and muffins! Here’s a test, based on the image below is this a muffin or a cupcake?