Muffins Or Cake—What Should You Make?

Muffin or cake?
Photo by Verstappen Photography on Unsplash

Have you ever been in the middle of mixing up some cake batter, and then looked up and noticed your muffin tin? Whether you’re making banana bread or chocolate cake, sometimes it’s hard to decide whether to make individual muffins are a whole cake. Here are some things to consider when making that decision.

Time Constraints

How much time do you have? Since muffins are smaller, they will bake faster. That also means it’s easier to burn them. If you’re running low on time, you might want to opt for muffins. If you want to be able to stick the cake in the oven and go do another taste, cake is your better bet.

Texture

One of the most important things to consider when baking is texture—moistness, crumb, and crust. With muffins, because they are smaller, it’s harder to preserve the moist crumb that the larger surface area allows for toward the middle of a cake. This becomes more true the more advanced the type of cake–a more delicate texture will be easier to create in a full cake than in smaller muffins.

Portions

If you’re baking for a crowd, and you’re worried people won’t get equal shares, muffins are a great solution. They’re also more sanitary since they’re separate, and you won’t need to go through the process of cutting and plating which can be messy and difficult.