Essentials: Cupcake Liners

Cupcakes are pretty popular here on MBA – both in my photos and in my inbox. It’s pretty clear you guys want to know all about where I get my liners, why I use the ones I do, and a few cupcake how’s and why’s too. Hopefully this quick Q & A will answer the most commonly asked questions.

Q: My liners fade after they are baked. How do you get yours to stay so vibrant?
A: I personally don’t do anything special to the liners. I do make sure that I buy Grease-Proof liners, which I believe makes a big difference here.

Q: Where do you purchase all of your pretty cupcake liners?
A: I purchase them from a variety of places, including a local baking supply store. However, my main liner source is Bake It Pretty. Amanda’s shop offers a great variety of sizes, colors and patterns. I’m pretty much obsessed with her shop to the point of needing an intervention.

I have also purchased solid liners from Confectionery House and Shop Sweet Lulu. All of the companies are reasonably priced and are quick to ship, which is always a bonus in my book!

Q: You seem to use chocolate brown liners a lot. Is there a reason behind this color choice?
A: Yes and no. The chocolate brown liners are simply my favorite. I find them to be a great neutral color that looks pretty fantastic with almost any frosting shade and decor. However, I do find that although the other colored liners remain pretty vibrant when filled with chocolate batter – they don’t stay completely opaque like the brown liners do.

Q: How do you store your cupcake liner stash?
A: I definitely have more liners than I know what to do with. What can I say? I’m a sucker for pretty things and often get a little carried away in the liner department. I store my liners in a large plastic bin that I picked up from Target. I also use a large apothecary jar to hold a variety of liners and display them on my baking shelf in the kitchen.

Q: Do you waste a lot of your pricey liners when you are testing new recipes?
A: No, I always test recipes using the cheapo liners from the grocery store. If the first batch comes out okay, I’ll use the pretty liners on the next batch.

Q: Do you spray your liners with non-stick cooking spray before filling them with batter?
A: I have done this in the past, but really don’t see the need for this extra step. I always spray my muffin tins with non-stick spray if I am not using liners.

Q: All of your cupcakes look to be the same size, how do you achieve this?
A: I typically use a large OXO scoop to distribute the batter evenly between the cupcake liners. You can read all about it in this post.

Q: My liners keep peeling away from my cupcakes, why does this happen?
A: Liners pulling away from cupcakes seems to happen for a variety of reasons, here are some of the reasons that I have encountered:

* Underbaked cupcakes- If I don’t bake the cupcakes completely, I have noticed that parts of the liner edges with pull away from the edges
* Storing cupcakes- I have also found that if put the cupcakes into my storage container before they are completely room temp the liners will come almost completely unattached from the cupcakes.
* Super moist cupcakes- I definitely notice this issue occurs more often when the batter that I am using is really moist.

And there you have it – the answers to the most commonly asked cupcake liner questions.
If you have any other questions relating to cupcake liners or any other topics, feel free to send them to questions@mybakingaddiction.com.

Cupcakes Pictured Above: Vanilla Bean Cupcakes