To think cupcakes are all fur coat and no knickers?

[StillCoughingandLaughing]

We’ve just been sent a batch of branded cupcakes from a client. They look absolutely amazing - colourful, intricate icing, wonderfully presented - but then I bit into one. Dry, dull and flavourless. The fancy buttercream icing is admittedly tasty (if a bit of a sugar overload), but the cake itself? Feels like a waste of 300 calories.

It got me thinking; most of the cupcakes I’ve had have been like this (apart from a couple of independent bakeries). They look beautiful and everyone oohs and aahs over them, but if you ignore the multicoloured icing flower with edible glitter, you’ve actually just got what tastes like a pound shop cake mix effort; the sort of thing you might make with the kids on a rainy day.

Am I the only one who doesn’t get excited about these all style no substance cakes? I’d much rather have a proper slab of cake with a gooey centre that actually tastes of something, regardless of how it looks.

They all look nicer th a they taste

YANBU. Give me a slice of Victoria sponge, lemon drizzle, cherry madeira or a scone with jam and cream over a cup cake any day. I always throw away the icing, too sweet.

You could not be being any less unreasonable if you tried.

YANBU. I'm not a massive fan of cake in general - they all look better than they taste! Dry and bland. Especially shop bought cakes.

I agree.
Also, when did they stop being fairy cakes and start being cupcakes?

They’re not all like this. And by the by, my home made ones are to die for

But I agree it’s disappointing when no attention it given to the cake itself. A heap of colourful buttercream on a dry, dusty sponge doesn’t cut it at all.

Yanbu. Cupcakes are shit.

I can't bear them, horrid sickly icing and dry sponge underneath. Such a waste of calories.

We have a homemade cake once a week, we've got chocolate fudge on the go at the moment.

My DD's have got me onto www.janespatisserie.com and her recipes are foolproof. Her basic chocolate cake and basic sponge cake are fantastic.

I know what you mean but worty it for the icing imo. I could eat icing alone !

You're so right.

My friend runs her own bakery, her cakes are genuinely the best I've ever seen and tasted. But even her cupcakes are dry mealy disappointments underneath the icing. They're just wrong somehow.

I onky ever eat the cake bit of cupcakes as I really can't stand icing

Massive waste of money for me, and it seems like a fancy way of disguising the fact that you're only getting a small bit of cake.
Would much rather have proper cake with no icing, even if it doesnt look like an explosion in a fairy factory

YANBU. The cake is invariably shit - as with novelty birthday cakes and (I'm sorry to say) many commercially made wedding cakes, the sponge is just a vehicle for the icing art. It might as well be that weird green stuff they use for flower arranging.

Nothing beats a good victoria sponge with fresh cream and real fruit.

You are definitely not being unreasonable. I would much rather have a really good carrot cake, or a cherry and almond cake..mmm. Cupcakes in general are really underwhelming. The worst ones are the ones with whole biscuits or pieces of chocolate bar randomly shoved in the icing. Here's a dry, tasteless cupcake with an entire oreo stuck on top with horribly sweet buttercream! Urgh no thanks.

Totally agree. I visited the hummingbird bakery and even their cupcakes were a bitter disappointment. Now Chelsea buns, or proper bakery eclairs, they’re the real deal.

Agreed! Amount of times I've been disappointed at a seductive looking cupcake with glossy icing and pastel colours only for it to tasted like stale no frills bread underneath. Currently have a coffee and walnut loaf cake baking in the oven and it smells divine.

YANBU, definitely look nicer than they taste. I hate buttercream as well, it’s so sickly and there’s always far too much of it on cupcakes.

You haven’t had my cupcakes 😉 -promise they’re nice!

Yanbu. And quite often the icing tastes awful, too. Showy baking and arty icing are so fashionable but in terms of taste they are a waste of time. We live in bizarre times!

I don't like the icing on some of these cupcakes. but I make a *chocolate individual cake or a caramel flavoured one and then spread a chocolate icing on made with cocoa powder, icing sugar, milk and butter. Then I top with smarties, chocolate buttons or melt white chocolate on a plate, drizzle with milk and dark chocolate and cut into triangles.

*Use the Masterclass bake off Chocolate creation mix, a third of it makes 12 smaller cakes, half will make 12 larger ones or a sponge. Lovely moist cake always a winner.

I agree entirely OP. I like a small piece of nice cake every now and then but cupcakes generally too big, too dry and have way too much icing.

My niece has a cupcake and celebration cake business. They look absolutely amazing but they are so big and (IMO) over decorated that it kills my appetite.

Incidentally has anyone else noticed that Chockywockydoodaa (a very fancy and expensive chocolate cake bakery in the SE) has gone into liquidation? I am not surprised -the cakes and the shop always looked incredible but the couple of times I had the cakes they were completely bland and tasteless.

YANBU. I'm not a massive fan of cake in general - they all look better than they taste! Dry and bland. Especially shop bought cakes.

This is why I made my own wedding cake. MIL was obsessed with pushing the bland and not particularly talented cake maker she uses on me. Unfortunately tasting it only sent me further the other way.

My cakes are always full of flavour to the max, and nice textures. You only need a small slice (and a tiny slice is waaaay up in calories compared to a normal cake), but it's better to have a small slice of heaven than some bland sponge disappointment any day.

But isn't a cupcake just a bun with rather a lot of icing on them? So should taste the same as a cake or a bun since it's just the same mix in different shapes?

Or are you saying that people buy nasty supermarket cakes and stick icing and frills on them themselves?

I make cherry Bakewell cupcakes, it's an old bake off recipe, no big mound of icing, ground almonds in the sponge to keep it moist and jam in the middle. There are exceptions but generally YANBU

It’s because they use margarine so they last longer.

Not a fan.

You are spot on Op. I have though this for ages - that cupcakes are an example of style over substance and I think the same can be said for many novelty cakes, it's as it the makers of said cakes think you will be so impressed/blinded by the rainbow colours, glittery shit etc that you won't notice what the cake actually tastes like - like cardboard in my experience.

Now, a homemade victoria sponge with jam and whipped cream, coffee and walnut sponge, cherry and almond cake - those are proper cakes worth spending the calories on.