Cupcake Cases Coming Away!!!! Help!!

Baking By Sarah1986 Updated 27 Aug 2011 , 11:10pm by imagenthatnj

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Sarah1986 Posted 26 Aug 2011 , 2:47pm
post #1 of 8

Hi everyone

I have to make 90 cupcakes next month for a wedding, ive had a practice today. Made them last night stored them in a air tight container over night, came to ice them this morning to find that all cupcake cases have all come away from the cakes round the edge!!!! Help why has this happened, they were fine when i took them out the oven and cooled, they are decent cupcake cases too!! Is it because of the air tight container?

Thanks, Sarah

7 replies
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ConfectionsCC Posted 26 Aug 2011 , 3:01pm
post #2 of 8

I think you mean cupcake liners? icon_lol.gif I got a little confused at first thinking the boxes you stored them in were falling apart or something! LOL! I am not sure of the answer to the question, but I have heard of this happening to many people, so I am curious for the answer!

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sillywabbitz Posted 26 Aug 2011 , 3:19pm
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Yes it is the air-tight problem. When you seal cupcakes in an airtight container the moisture of the cupcakes spreads to the liners and they pull away. THat's why bakeries store baked goods in carboard boxes not air tight containers.

I also find the brand of liners makes a huge difference. The Celebration brand at Michael's pull away no matter how I store them. I just started trying a new line of liner from my cake and I'm not sure how I like them. My favorite are the reynolds foil liners but they are pretty pricey.

I stopped even covering my cupcakes with saran wrap because of this problem. I just make them very close to the day they're going to get eaten.

I have the best luck with Wilton white liners but they recently changed their liners and made them smaller and thinner which is a disappointment.

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wowgirl Posted 27 Aug 2011 , 12:43am
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Hi

I have never had that problem. When I make a large batch of cupcakes weather it is for my family or for an event, I let them come to room temperature, they I put them in large ziplock bags and use a straw to suck the air out. Then I put them in the freezer until the day before I need them. Then I take them out and decorate them. I have two small children so doing the baking ahead is easier for me and since they've been in the freezer it is like I just baked them that day so they are very fresh and I have never had a problem so far with the paper pealing away. For my family I do the same, only I use smaller bags so I can defrost a few at a time. Good luck!!

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JGMB Posted 27 Aug 2011 , 12:56am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sillywabbitz

Yes it is the air-tight problem. When you seal cupcakes in an airtight container the moisture of the cupcakes spreads to the liners and they pull away. THat's why bakeries store baked goods in carboard boxes not air tight containers.




That may be one cause, but there must be another! I just now made vanilla cupcakes, which turned out fine -- liners intact.

I used the exact same liners, pans, everything to make chocolate cupcakes next. They looked fine when they came out of the oven. As they're sitting on the cooling rack, though, the papers are pulling away. icon_mad.gif Hopefully, enough will stay together to fill the order I'm delivering tomorrow morning. Luckily, I made extras.

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LindaF144a Posted 27 Aug 2011 , 1:20am
post #6 of 8

Underbaking will cause this. I find it happens on my citrus themed cupcakes and sometimes on chocolate, but not all the time. I make hundreds of cupcakes a day and it will happen to maybe 5. Try baking about 30 seconds longer. There is a fine line between underbaked, just baked and overbaked.

If you want to test the underbaked theory. Take the same recipe and cake liners and bake the cupcakes about 2 minutes longer and then store them in an airtight container. Then see if the liners peel. If they don't then you have discovered that although they look baked right, they are not.

Also if they are not completely cooled they will peel. They will also peel if they are overheated. I had a customer put her cupcake box in her car for 5 minutes. The cupcakes peeled away from the heat inside the box. So if they are not completely cooled and you put them in an airtight container the same thing will happen, like someone else mentioned.

BTW, I own a cupcake shop and every cupcake goes into an airtight container or a domed cake stand. I do not let them stay out in the air. It will dry them out.

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JGMB Posted 27 Aug 2011 , 5:02am
post #7 of 8
Quote:
Originally Posted by LindaF144a

Underbaking will cause this. I find it happens on my citrus themed cupcakes and sometimes on chocolate, but not all the time. I make hundreds of cupcakes a day and it will happen to maybe 5. Try baking about 30 seconds longer. There is a fine line between underbaked, just baked and overbaked.

If you want to test the underbaked theory. Take the same recipe and cake liners and bake the cupcakes about 2 minutes longer and then store them in an airtight container. Then see if the liners peel. If they don't then you have discovered that although they look baked right, they are not.




Thank you, Linda, for sharing your expertise! I will try baking them just a smidgen longer next time. thumbs_up.gif

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imagenthatnj Posted 27 Aug 2011 , 11:10pm
post #8 of 8

This has never happened to me; then again, I don't make cupcakes every day. I have found this "cause" a few times on the internet:

Turn the cupcakes out of the pans as soon as they are finished baking. If cupcakes are left in the pan too long while cooling, steam will condense between the cupcake and the pan, causing the liner to loosen.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/cupcakestakethecake/discuss/72157618340296444/

Some other forums (believe it or not, and this goes against Linda's theory) talk about the cause being overbaking. People do have this happening a lot with citrus cupcakes. At the Baking with Rose forum, it was advised to underbake citrus cupcakes slightly: "acidic batters set faster and so these could, in a sense, be overbaking."

And at another forum, some other people advised this:
Be sure to fill the cupcake pans full enough so that the batter will stick to the top of the paper liner, keeping it adhered. Cupcake pans should be filled 1/2 2/3 full.

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