cup cakes!!!

lynzpower

Wilkos do muffin papers for about 45p too , they are much deeper, and Ive had much better results with these

Plum_Pie

Also I don't beat the batter til smooth, a few lumps sems to help with rising (unlike cakes!)

Peem

Tips I've learned are

brush the top of the muffin pan with oil - round the holes - this way the bits that overflow don't stick and the muffins are easier to get out.

Also - and use an ice cream scoop to put the mixture into the cases. It makes them all the same size and nice and full.

Hope this helps

freyasmum

Hiya,

As suggested, the deeper pan makes the difference as it allows the cakes to rise - but don't overfill the cases as this makes them all crack ( a tip i learned last night when I was making giant cupcakes for my grannie's birthday )

Lx

nikiyoung

Also how do they make them sooooo fluffy inside mine always turn out like a cupcake quite dare i say hard?

Gingernutmeg

There's a difference between muffins and cupcakes. Muffins are made by mixing the wet and dry ingredients together very, very briefly - you have to be really brave because it looks awful and like it's never going to rise, but it will! Overmixing is the major cause of tough muffins.

Cupcakes are usually made by a creaming method, and what'll make these light is LOTS of mixing. Cream the butter and sugar until it's almost white, carefully mix the eggs in and I find that if I sieve the flour a couple of times before I add it I get a much lighter cake.

nikiyoung

ta gingernutmeg!
love the name by the way

FrugalJo

I am resigned to making rubbish muffins, I've just tried Nigellas recipe again 3 rd time this month, but with mediorce results, quite moist inside but always seem to have a 'crust' on the top, never soft and light.

I'm just pants at them....

Gingernutmeg

Homemade muffins will have a crust on the top ... you're never going to be able to recreate the 'shop' kind of muffins because they're full of humectants (moisture attracting syrups to keep them squishy) and all sorts of rubbish to preserve them. My mum runs a bakery and a rep once tried to sell her some pre-packaged muffins that had a shelf life of a year, heaven only knows what was in them ...

I haven't tried them but apparently Delia's muffin recipes are quite good, I think they're in the summer or winter collection. Tbh I often don't bother with TV tie in cookbooks, it's disappointing how many of the recipes haven't been tested enough and just don't work.

FrugalJo

Thank you Gingernutmeg, humectants don't sound particularly inviting ! I think I'll stick to chewy cookies can do them ok.