Everything you've ever wanted to know about cupcakes but were afraid to ask

• Cupcakes are also known as fairy cakes, queen cakes or buns
• The muffins that I am referring to are American style muffins rather than the English style teacakes that are called English muffins
• If you ask me the main difference between cupcakes and muffins is size if the recipe says you'll get 12 cupcakes it means you will get 6 muffins.
• Use muffin or cupcake tins so that the cakes stay in shape
• You can line a cupcake tin with paper cases or squares of greaseproof or parchment paper
• If you don't line the cases with paper make sure that you grease the tins really well
• You can evenly measure out 3/4 filling of a muffin case using an ice-cream scoop (this speeds things up considerably)
• The range and scope of muffins/cupcakes are only limited by your imagination
• Cupcakes got a resurgence in popularity thanks to the cupcakes of New Yorks famed Magnolia Bakery as featured in Sex and the City
• You can use silicone ice cube trays in the oven to make mini cupcakes which are even smaller than mini muffins and are best covered completely in frosting or chocolate and treated like chocolate truffles
• To make raspberry buns, add a spoonful of the cake batter to the paper case followed by a tsp of raspberry jam, then followed by another spoonful of the cake batter and bake as usual
• To make butterfly buns; cut the top off a cup cake and cut the top down the middle to form two halves (these will be the wings). Put a layer of jam followed by a layer of butter icing on top of the cake. Place the two wings on the cake and dust with icing sugar
• Drunken ratinis (these were always a hit at our birthday parties when we were kids theres no alcohol in them the drunken refers to the way in which the the decorations inevitably slides: Take the bun and attach a marshmallow to the top with a little melted chocolate. Cut to holes in the top of the marshmallows and insert to chocolate buttons to form ears. Use strawberry shoelaces to make whiskers and use melted chocolate to draw the remaining rat features
• Coconut buns: In one saucer place a little jam and warm in the microwave. In the second saucer place a little desiccated coconut. Dip each bun in the jam and then in coconut.