Every time I make cupcakes using the paper liners, I get wrinkled paper! I can't these stupid things to sit nicely in the muffin pan!

Normally I would not care but I'm doing cupcakes for a family event and I just want things "perfect". I know I can bake the cupcakes without the liners. I just like the finished look of the cupcakes with the liner.

Sooooo... all you cupcake bakers, what's the secret? How can I get my paper liners to sit and play nice in the muffin tin??

Part of your problem may be that liners and tins are not regulated sizes. Sometimes you need to change brands of liners to fit your pans or if you are using an older pan get a new one the older ones are harder to find matches for.

Good point but you would think Wilton liners and a Wilton muffin pan... they would fit perfectly!

Sorry I tried. Maybe a bump will help.

I like using nut cups myself.

I used to have wrinkly liners too! They made me crazy. As others have mentioned, I found that there really was no "standard" muffin/cupcake pan and no "standard" liner. I finally found a good match with Nordic aluminum pans ($9.97 at WalMart) and Reynolds or Wilton liners. The bottom of the muffin pan is slightly narrower than others I have seen so my cupcake liners have a nice crisp edge on the bottom--and no more wrinkles. Does that make any sense?

I have had problems with Wilton liners also. It drives me nuts! I quit using the Wilton ones.

Theres gotta be a better way somewhere! I cant stand when you go to put the batter in and it falls over or comes out with the laydle!
By the way, where is Scotland, CT at? From Ledyard myself.

I have previously used Reynolds foil cupcake "liners", which do not require sitting in a cupcake tin. You can simply fill them while on a cookie sheet - they're strong enough to hold. (Just don't use them in a convention oven...that was my "Bright" idea...) They are two-ply, with the white paper liner next to the cake and a foil liner on the outside. You can keep the foil after they're done or peel it off to expose the white. Hope this helps!

I like the nut and party cups. I have a Calphalon muffin tin and seems to work with my "cheapo" liners.

Here's another vote for the nut cups. They make clean up easy as they can stand on their own on a cookie sheet. Baking is not limited as well to the number of cups on your cupcake pan.

Megan,

Why do you say "don't use them in a convection oven?" I just got a new oven and don't want to do any harm here!

um....melysa....you're a GENIUS!!!! wow! I'm so glad I learned this now, I have a cupcake wedding tasting for next week. Thanks alot

as for the convection oven issue, my convection is a tabletop version, smaller than a regular size stove oven, so the air blew the tops of my cupcakes lopsided before they got a chance to set up. it's possible that the "convention motion" in your oven might be better distributed if it's bigger, but I have had bad results from it, even w/regular cakes

for some reason wilton liners are a tiny bit bigger than other liners so mine usually come out wrinkled. i finally just bought grease free liners from smart and final and i love them

megan and ceshell, glad it helped. i think it was something i saw in kraft magazine or something simple a long time ago. it helps and its nice to not have to wash out a pastry bag, just throw out the ziplock when youre done!

I have tried the nut cup and after it baked, I had the hardest time trying to eat the cupcake. Everything just fell apart. What did I do wrong?

kris, do you mean that you had a hard time peeling the wrapper away? if they sit overnight, the paper will soften and you can undo the pleats simply by pulling on one edge, or you can cut each edge slightly with a pair of scissors before baking so you can pull the wrapper apart.

if you meant the cake fell apart, perhaps it was a dry recipe or overbaked? not cooled enough?

Melysa, love that idea for filling the cups! I've been looking for a way to fill cupcakes, especially since I will have a lot of them to make in November.

Hi weirkd -
Scotland is a little town (more cows than people my DH tells me) right in between Norwich and Willimantic; about 11 miles in either direction from them. I didn't even know Scotland existed until I met my husband. It's really rural and quiet. Being a "city" girl, I had a hard time getting used to it but now I really enjoy it... unless I need gas for my car! We have no gas station... or stop lights for that matter.

Thanks for the help everyone. I will give the nut cups a try next time I'm making cupcakes.

melysa, I have a hard time peeling the cup away from the cake.