What’s the real difference between a muffin and a cupcake?

[Anonymous]

First time I heard about cupcakes was in "2 Broke Girls" which I found very funny. Still find it funny and I look it sometimes on TV.

Looks like muffins. What's the difference? Or just a more fancy name for the boring name muffins?

And I saw cronuts first time in 2 Broke Girls.

[KBird]

A muffin is baked good, made from batter in a muffin tin. It is typically less sweet than a cupcake, as a cupcake is more like cake batter and typically includes frosting on top. A chocolate muffin in comparison to a chocolate cupcake, for example, is a lot more dense, less sweet, and can sometimes be made with ingredients like whole grain flour, oats, nuts, etc. They are more hearty and filling.

A cronut, is something completely different. It is a hybrid between a donut and a croissant. It is the shape of a donut (with the central hole cut out), and is made with flaky pastry like a croissant. It is also fried like a donut.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

It’s a difference in texture and ingredient measuring. Cupcakes are cakes baked in muffin tins and have a cake-like texture in addition to the frosting on top, whereas muffins are closer to bread in terms of texture and have a greater lift than cupcakes

[Telekinetic-Potato]

I think a cupcake is a muffin with frosting on top and the muffin usually focuses more on what's inside

[MrChinaski]

@Telekinetic-Potato This should be in the 'Relationships' category...

[Telekinetic-Potato]

@MrChinaski I was thinking that myself 🤔

[permanentem]

A cup cake is a cup sized cake. It is cake batter cooked and iced like a cake.

Full sized cake

Cupcake

[MrChinaski]

So, cup cakes are made from cake batter and cooked like cakes, whereas muffins are made from muffin batter and cooked like muffins?

[permanentem]

@MrChinaski Pretty much. Cake batter tends to have higher concentrations of butter, milk, eggs, and sugar than muffin recipes. Otherwise the ingredients for cupcakes are generally similar to most muffin recipes, except when you go to stuff like corn muffins which are just cornbread in a muffin shape. Cupcakes also have frosting or icing to boost all the butter, sugar, milk/cream, etc. even more. Cupcakes are much more fattening and dessert oriented than muffins.

[MrChinaski]

@permanentem That's actually a really thorough description. 10/10.

[jennifer_bloom]

I would say the muffin does not having icing on it and is usually a little larger while the cupcake has icing on it, and is usually smaller, and the cupcake is usually eaten in groups with other cupcakes in the same meal while the muffin is usually eaten by itself alone.

[purplepoppy]

Muffin come from the old German word for cake muffen while cake comes from the norse kaka. Apart from frosting on the top there really isn't much difference, most likely muffin took off because a lot of Germans migrated to America

[NathanDavis]

no difference... as I am eating both

that was a great show... maybe I should re-watch it all again

[Asker]

I never ate a cupcake. And muffins are such dry so I don't like them.

[NathanDavis]

well... yeah, that's one thing

a muffin is more dry... so a cupcake is a bit softer, sweeter and more "buttery" (usually vanilla flavored)

[Tarifa]

I don't really see any difference. As long as they taste good, I don't care what they're called.

[exitseven]

A muffin you have for breakfast a cupcake you have for dessert

[MrChinaski]

Muffins are breakfast food. Muffins magically transform into cupcakes at 10:30 am every morning.

[bowenw]

To me a cupcake is a small version of a cake. Sweet, and often has icing. A muffin is more like a quick bread and less sweet often with fruit or nuts.

[Spencer10]

OMG good question... I really have no idea other than maybe a cupcake has a topping?

[Mike_Hum]

I’d guess icing. Plus muffins tend to be less sweet.

[Kingofkings1992]

A cupcake has icing, that's it. A muffin is just a bald cupcake lol

[beenherebefore]

A muffin doesn't have frosting.

[Asker]

Thank you :-)!

[Abbycado]

Cupcakes have frosting.

[Nikki1989]

Nothing.

[OneViewpoint]

Sugar is the difference.

[Still-alive]

They’re pretty much the same lol

[Iron_Man]

Icing It’s like a small cake

[WhitneySnow]

Icing

[jahaims]

Google it