Hi everyone,

I’ve been lurking for about a year now and have learned so much from all of you!
I have a quick question about cupcake liners in the RHC book.  Some of the cupcake recipes in there ask you to coat the cupcake liners with baking spray.  I’ve never done this before with any cupcakes that I’ve made, so I’m just wondering if there was a reason that this needs to be done.  Also, when Rose says cupcake liners, is she talking about paper liners or silicone cupcake liners?

Any information you can provide would be appreciated!

http://www.sugarcoatedbliss.com

Hello there and may I say I am so glad you decided to come out into the open! lol I know I am a newbie still around here, but I figured I would chime in and probably make you laugh with my *duh, seriously?* answer to your question. At least a partial answer! I will share with you an unfortunate event from last month, where I had a big cupcake order and didn’t grease the liners with a very chocolatey batter. My test cupcakes all stuck to the supposedly non-stick paper and foil liners and made a huge mess of eating them, tore the entire outsides off trying to unwrap them. They were like little chocolate cupcake nubs! Luckily, I caught it before making the actual batch and greased my liners with spray. I think it has something to do with the way the papers are pleated? I am the least of the genius minds here, hehe, I am sure they will have a eureka point to share that will enlighten us all. =P I am so glad to meet you!

Welcome to the forum! You’re in great company

SA, welcome!  Yes, Rose calls for spraying the paper liners when making chocolate cupcakes (in general, chocolate cakes stick more than yellow or white).  She likes Baker’s Joy, or a baking spray with flour.

Here’s my two cents…and I am apparaently a bit on the obsessive compulsive side…and I have had a rediculous journey with cupcakes…getting them the right size…and getting the PAPER LINERS TO STAY ON!.  I find that often when cupcakes cool and shrink a little…the papers fall off.  I have numerous postings from about 2 years ago regarding this.  I’m still not sure excatly where the problem was…but the idea of spraying a cupcake liner scares me to death.  I’m breaking out in a cold sweat right now.  (Rose’s new chocolate cake…the one used in the german chocolate cake…is quite different, and in that case perhaps spraying is necessary) but I woud be very frightened to spray a cupcake liner for a traditional American Butter Cake recipe.

SUGAR ADDICT:
  Good afternoon & welcome to our baking forum. I concur with what BILL has to say about coating muffin paper liners. They are lubricated already from the manu.

  Good luck & enjoy the rest of the day.

  ~FRESHKID.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Thank you very much for all your feedback about the cupcake liners…you’ve all given me a lot to think about.  I’ll have to give the spraying of cupcake liners a try (at least once) and see how it goes.  What’s the worst that could happen right? 

http://www.sugarcoatedbliss.com

Welcome Sugar Addict!!!  I never spray cupcake liners - what a mess that would be!

I never spray them, either. It has never occurred to me to do so. Now, after reading this, I’ll wonder if I should, but I’ll take the easy way out and continue as I have for many baking years: no spray on cupcake papers. By the way, the cupcake papers I last bought here in Mexico have a slick, shiny interior, like they may have a thin, silicone lining. I don’t know…but they work fine.

The thing I love most about learning about baking is having just one more thing to be neurotic about—OMG, do I spray and risk them falling off, or not spray and risk having cupcake nubs??  This sums up my baking completely.  Luckily, I enjoy musing on these things (the musing on the baking is as much fun as the baking itself) and am happy to say (knock wood) that I currently have nothing more important to worry about!

I have tried baking RHC Chocolate Butter Cupcakes twice already and on both times, the cupcake liners always peel off the cupcakes. I let the cupcakes cool enough to handle and allow it to cool on cooling racks. I am beginning to speculate that it may be a recipe issue because I never have any problem with the liners literally falling off the cupcakes as it cools. I do not think it is condensation causing the problem because I take it out from the pans almost immediately. However, I notice that this is an oilier recipe evidenced by the greasy or wet appearance of the paper liners. I also do not think it is an issue of liner brands because I have been using the same liners for all my cupcake recipes, including ones from RHC, all the time without any problems. I appreciate any information you can share with me.

Below was Rose and Woody’s reply below. It did not help me because I tried both methods to spray the cupcake liners and the other batch, without baking spray. Both batches ended up with the liners falling off the cupcakes. I liked the Chocolate Butter Cupcake recipe’s taste and texture; but it isn’t pretty because the cupcakes do not stick to the liners.

Hi Jack,
During our testing we did not have your described problem when the liners were sprayed with Baker’s Joy as stated in the preparation.
We ask:
1. Did you use baking spray with flour on your liners?
2. Have you baked other chocolate cupcake recipes, as chocolate recipes are known to stick to liners?
Rose & Woody

Thank you.