Is muffin batter the same as cake batter?

Muffin batters typically use baking powder or soda, producing its typical crumb. Not all cake batters do.

I think a cupcake crumb is typically finer than a muffin, and is sometimes risen without baking powder too. And of course, it shouldn't crack at the top, I would think!

-Lin 

It's blurry. Typically muffins are less sweet and more likely to include things like nuts, fruits, and berries. You are more likely to find whole grain flour, whole grains like oats, or bran in a muffin than a cake. But I've had very sweet, cake-y muffins and unsweet, whole grain cakes so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It seems like a silly thing to spend much time thinking about but I've seen it actually have real world implications. When California first passed the snack tax back in the 90s there was a kerfuffle over exactly this issue: cupcakes were taxed, but muffins were exempt. So then this very debate became an issue, with some shops trying to skip the tax by calling their cupcakes muffins.

I feel like all (sweet) muffin batters are cake batters, but not all cake batters are muffin batters. Since muffins can be savoury!

For example, you can easily make a carrot cake into carrot muffins and I doubt anyone would question it, even if you put frosting on it. There is also this chocolate breakfast muffin recipe - personally I think that's a cake, but they also call out that you could toss some frosting onto it and call it a cupcake. I did a quick scroll through the muffin section on KA and can't see any recipe that I wouldn't be able to throw into a bigger pan and then call it a cake.

However, I think cakes like angel food cake or chiffon/sponge cakes would not be "muffins" if you baked them in a muffin tin. The texture and crumb wouldn't feel muffin-y IMO. Those are more egg-raised batters, so I think Lin has a point about the method of raising!

I also think that something like a "yellow cake" or "white cake" wouldn't typically be used as a muffin because they're a little less assertive in flavour, since they are more there to serve as vehicles for frosting and bases for decoration. 

Of course, anyone can call anything what they want, but I think it's a matter of believability. If someone served me a "vanilla muffin" dusted with powdered sugar, I'd thank them for it, but would be thinking that it's actually a cake.

muffins are quickbread in cups, and quickbread usually is a lot less rich and sweet than yellow cakes. They don't always involve creaming the fat, sometimes using oil or melted fat, and mixed simply by gentle stirring or folding. And since the batter usually thicker than yellow cake, it's too hard to fold meringue into it anyway, so no need to whip meringue. Not to mention it's supposed to be low effort bake :)

Theoretically, a cake should be made with cake flour, whereas a muffin is usually made with ap flour. Cake flour should proudce a lighter, fluffier crumb.

is that cake batters are typically mixed until they are very uniform and smooth, whereas muffin batters are undermixed and rough in texture.

I have yet to see a muffin recipe that begins with creaming sugar and fat together or with beating egg whites until foamy.  The former is typical of butter cakes and high ratio cakes while the latter is typical of sponge cakes and angel food cakes.  Neither do I see muffin recipes that call for alternating additions of dry ingredients and wet ingredients, which is also typical of many cake recipes.  Instead, muffin recipes ordinarily call for mixing the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients separately, then stirring the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture until they are just barely combined.

My two cents.

Paul

I've always wondered about this. The thing is, some of my favourite cake recipes really look more like muffin recipes because they use oil instead of butter and don't require any beating or extensive mixing. They're good without icing, too. I don't think anyone would bat an eye if I called them muffins, particularly uniced.