I am still reading that book called Knickerbocker Glory Years. Although it
is mainly about British food, the author also touches on food from other
countries and I personally think it is quite funny. I highly recommend it.
Am almost to the end of the book. I am a fast reader but have only been
able to read a page here and there so that's why it is taking me so long.

Anyway... The author mentioned muffins and said that they are no longer a
savory food but are now essentially cupcakes. And people in this country
have made such comments. They're unfrosted cupcakes! But now? We just saw
cupcakes at the store that had a drizzle of what appeared to be caramel
frosting on them! It was put on in one of those criss crossing fashions.
They draped it across one direction repeatedly and the did it again
crosswise. These were located in with the muffins and we had to actually
look at the label to make sure what they were. Caramel Apple Muffins. They
also had the freakishly green and strangely seedy looking Pistachio Muffins.
I just happened to mention those to the cashier one day who told me what
they were and added that they were nasty. And they have Red Velvet Muffins
with the cream cheese swirl! And Chocolate Muffins with Chocolate Chips.

So I am thinking back. I don't really remember too many muffins from my
youth, perhaps because I didn't care for them too well. I know that people
made cornmeal into muffins. And I know that I made a few recipes from the
Betty Crocker cookbook, one that contained jelly inside. They were called
Surprise Muffins. And me being the smart alecky practical joker type was of
course thinking of dozens of other things besides jelly that I could put in
there as the surprise! But my dad turned up his nose at them and said that
he didn't care for surprises! So I don't think I ever made them again.

Seems like we have had the bran muffin forever, often with raisins in there,
and probably the blueberry muffin as well. Both sweet and cupcake-like.

Then in the 80's when I went on that extreme low fat craze and also a weight
loss diet, I made some muffins using one of the variations listed in my
Betty Crocker cookbook. It was probably the 1979 edition. The regular
flour was replaced with a mix of whole oats and whole wheat flour but from
there I did my own variations. I used applesauce instead of oil, egg whites
only and then a ton of fruit and nuts for protein. Yes, I know that nuts
have fat in them but on most days that was about the only fat I ate.
Sometimes I used dried fruit that had been chopped and plumped in hot water.
Other times I used fresh fruit. Depended on the time of year, what I could
get my hands on or what I had in the house. But... I added so many fruits
and nuts to the mix that there was only just enough muffin batter to hold it
together. I actually liked these, usually. They were not really
muffin-like to me and certainly not light and fluffy like a cupcake. And
unless I put fruit in that I hated (I actually don't like most fruits and
did discover some dried ones that I didn't care for), they made for a good
quick breakfast that could even be eaten in my car on the way to work.

Then a few years later and no longer on that diet, I got a muffin cookbook.
I baked my way through that thing, rarely eating them myself but getting
rave reviews from the people at work. And now that I rear back and think
about it, I think I did in fact put some glaze on some of those. Like the
lemon poppy seed. I did make them as mini muffins though, as if that somehow
makes them better!

So where do we draw the line between the muffin and the cupcake? On that
Cupcake Wars show they have done things like BLT or Ham and Cheese Cupcakes.
I think I once even saw something like a Chicken Pot Pie Cupcake. Those
things usually don't get good reviews but it's the fault of whoever dreams
up the ingredients for the show by forcing them to use them. Damned if they
don't showcase the savory foods and yet they also expect the big giant swirl
of icing so damned if they make a savory icing!

What is the difference to you? I really don't know.