Cupcake Cups

by Cate
(California)

I am having a problem with the cupcake cups coming away from the cake and therefore presentation looks bad even though I try to fill it and stick it back to the cake?

Is it my papers or am baking for too long?

I have purchased 500 unbleached liners and have never had this problem before...thanks




Hi Cate

Thanks so much for your question about cupcake cups or cupcake papers.

I always think the golden rules for baking standard size cupcakes are:

- don't open the oven door for the first 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes you may need to rotate the position of the baking trays in order to move trays in and out of "hot spots". (Some cupcakes only need 15 minutes to bake but most tend to take between 20-25 minutes to bake fully. Obviously if you are making mini cupcakes you will have to open the oven as they will be fully cooked within this time.)

Often cupcakes shrinking from the cupcake liners means they are a little overcooked. It can also be due to:

- too little mixture in the pan;

- trays greased too heavily (I always use cupcake papers);

- cooling cupcakes completely in cupcake trays. They should be removed from the trays about five minutes after they have been taken from the oven;

- over-beating mixture; or

- too much liquid.

You can, hopefully, pick which of these will be your answer. Sometimes cupcakes that are not baked enough will not have a firm enough structure and they will fall which could also mean that they shrink from the papers.

It does seem funny that you have only experienced this problem since buying your new cupcake liners, however, I can't see that the unbleached papers should make a difference.

I have a friend who make fantastic tasting cupcakes and she always peels off the liner before serving. She can't bear watching people, and especially children, eat the cupcake out of the paper.

When my mom made cupcakes when I was little she never used cupcake cups to bake in. She would just grease the tins with butter or non-stick spray. I often wonder if we use the paper liners so that the cupcake looks good, to cut down on washing messy trays or to keep the cupcake "together"? Perhaps its a combination of all three.

Regards