Speaking of cupcakes, I seek advice. Whenever I make muffins or cupcakes, I have a problem with the bases. If I use the paper cups, the muffins end up sticking to them and the consumer ends up eating strips of cardboardy muffin cup. Or I grease the cups (sometimes grease and flour if there are bits that can stick, like blueberries or chocolate chips), and then the bases turn out way too dark — verge-of-burning dark — by the time the tops and insides are cooked just right. They’re never inedible; just never exactly like you hoped they’d taste. And, really, what’s more disappointing than a lackluster cupcake?
So, what am I doing that is preventing me from baking perfect muffins and cupcakes. Oven too hot? Over-beating the batter? Wrong kind of oil? Filling cups too full?
Help me!
Magrilless 
Try using less grease on the muffin pan. You should only need a tiny bit. I’ve never made muffins with a paper liner before, so I don’t know about that. Also, I think it’s important that muffins are in the center of the oven. That may explain why the bottom is cooking too quickly. Hope that helps!-Patrick
Good thinking, Pat. I’ll try moving the rack up to see if that helps.Gee, I may have to make muffins this weekend. Darn it.
catch DVD from Good Eats…tells all re: cupcake science….Mon, May 12 Catch Good Eats on Food Network on your DVR. Alton Brown talks about basic cupcake science and shares some, um, good recipes. May 12, 2008 11:00 PM ET/PT May 13, 2008 2:00 AM ET/PT.