Cupcakes shrinking from cupcake liners

by Melissa
(New South Wales, Australia)

I am looking at making a cupcake wedding cake though I am having trouble with the cupcake liners coming away from the cakes. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks for your time
Melissa




Thanks very much for your question Melissa.

I always think a good rule of thumb for baking standard cupcakes is:
- don't open the oven door for the first 15 minutes.

Your precious little cupcakes need to develop some structural integrity. After 15 minutes you may need to shift the position of the pans 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.)

Often cupcakes shrinking from 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 in cupcake trays;

- 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.

Hope this helps and good luck with your wedding cupcakes.