A muffin is not a cupcake, but how do you ultimately distinguish between the two delights? After all, they are both roughly the same size and shape and come in a variety of flavors. This article will illuminate some of the distinguishing factors.
First of all, a bagel can be classified in several different ways. It can be a meal, usually at breakfast, it can be a snack, and it can even be a dessert. It is usually consumed first thing in the morning and is usually considered somewhat healthy. They can even be eaten with a meal, instead of perhaps rolls or slices. Restaurants often serve them with a salad to add the extra carb filling that many people seem to crave with their salads. They are consumed with juice, milk and other similar drinks, even soft drinks during lunch.
A cupcake, on the other hand, is often something that is considered a dessert, and a dessert only by definition. It is a treat that is not considered a meal and most would not be satisfied with a single cupcake, if it were in fact consumed in lieu of a meal. Cupcakes are generally considered to have more calories and fat than a muffin. Sometimes this is not the case, but more often it is. They are usually consumed with milk and eaten after a meal or as a special snack.
Muffins can be made with fruit, wheat, bran, and other health-related whole ingredients, putting them more firmly in the category of breakfast- or lunch-enhancing foods. Cupcakes, however, are enhanced with delicious frostings, sugars, toppings, and other dessert-oriented additive ingredients. Cupcakes definitely look more like candy while muffins look more like food.
They are clearly different if one just takes a look at the essential ingredients in one versus the other. The muffins can even be made with atypical ingredients like cheese, pumpkin, the creative possibilities are limitless. Cupcake ingredients typically, if ever, intersect with the more “food related” additives. But the enhancements to a cupcake can also be limitless. Adding chocolate shavings, fudge drizzles, and cool whips can make the treat even more irresistible.
In addition, visually the buns are usually almost a fattened mushroom shape with a distinguished “top”. Seinfeld even had a sitcom that illuminated just how important the muffin top was to the entire muffin composition, that in fact, many people dive in and eat the muffin top leaving the uneaten bottom behind. For whatever reason, it seems like a lot of the flavor and appealing qualities of the muffin tend to pop through the muffin top. Whereas with cupcakes, the shape doesn’t expand at the top. However, cupcake tops have a special quality because that’s where the cupcake maker can add their extra touches with frosting and other special additions. The two delicious treats are not the same, but they are definitely both equally enjoyed baked goods that are universal!