OK! It’s time to get down to brass(knuckle) tacks here…. what the frickity-frock is the difference between the modern muffin and a cupcake?! what’s that you say? a MUFFIN is a healthy breakfast quick bread? Yeah, no dice on that one readers. The modern muffin is nothing more than a naked cupcake. There is enough sugar and fat in a muffin now to last you ’till dinner….the lack of frosting just helps you pretend that it’s remotely good for you.
By definition a cupcake is “a small cake, the size of an individual portion, baked in a cup or cup-shaped mold”, while a muffin is defined as “a small quick bread, baked in a cup or cup-shaped mold, often sweetened”. Do you see the difference in those? yeah, cake=a sweetened quick bread , so really there’s no difference between cupcakes and muffins(except for the RARE savory muffin ie corn).
Now i’m sure in the days of yore, or 15 years ago before starbucks and other gourmet coffee establishments came on the scene there were legit muffins, Bran and oat and corn OH MY! that were dense and not so cloyingly sweet, but honey-bun those days are gone. In the wise words of my favorite (imaginary) chef Sookie St James “muffins are just and excuse to eat cake in the morning!”
