I discovered this website a couple days ago after buying Martha's Cupcake book and relighting my interest in cake decorating. I took all the Wilton classes 18 or so years ago and spent about 2 years decorating cakes for birthdays and weddings. Then I opened a sports store, bought embroidery equipment and worked day and night for the next 15 years with no time to spend on cakes.

I have no intention of selling cupcakes at this time, but following my nature of loving to completely conquer and perfect my latest interest, I want to be making the most beautiful, tasty cupcakes I possibly can create.

All that being said, I made my first batch of cupcakes from the Martha book two weeks ago and they were woefully small. Looking through the galleries here, I have noticed a completely different size and shape. I attach this picture as an example:

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1339194


I also ordered new cupcake pans before I discovered this sight:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004R91D/?tag=cakecentral-20

THese pans measure 2 3/4 by 1 3/4 and appear to have the larger base, squared up sides that I am looking for.

My question is, for those of you have make these very nice cupcakes, what pas do you use ad what liners do you use?

I also just bought the Wilton cupcake liners recently, but got them home and they appear to be the same size as the ones I have from the grocery store.

Thanks so much for any help you can share with me. I have read many of the posts here and haven't quite seen this addressed.

I use regualar Wilton cupcake pans and grocery store LARGE cupcake liners (not JUMBO). I fill the cupcake liners with approx. 1 1/2 tbsp of filling (usually I put 1 tbsp in 24 spots, and then even them all our until the batter is gone).

They turn out the same every time.

Good luck. I got the MS Cupcake book for my birthday...try the Roasted Banana cupcakes...they are delicious!

Hello and welcome!

The picture you posted the link to just looks like a regular size cupcake. I get that size from the regular muffin pans and the Wilton liners.

I know some people use nut cups instead of cupcake liners. Nut cups are stiff enough to just be placed on a cookie sheet but you have to be sure they're oven safe. I've never tried them...I'm fairly satisfied with the way my cupcakes come out.

Ross always has Chicago Metallic pans and they're good prices...I've seen the cupcake pans there for about $10...haven't bought one because my walmart cheapies that I bought about 10 years ago are nicely seasoned from baking rolls in them over the years and I'm still happy with the way they bake.

The best tip for making the giant frosting swirl on top is 1M. If all you're doing is cupcakes it makes sense to buy the disposable icing bags (since you won't be using a ton of colors or changing tips frequently while decorating)...you need the 16 inch for tip 1M.

Again, welcome! If you have a picture of your cupcakes to post, it might help people to help you figure out the size issue

Thanks for the quick replies! I would post a pix of the cupcakes, but alas, they have all been eaten!

I think the new pans will make a great difference. My old pans were cheapies I've had for years. I would love to just use all white liners because I love the way the color of the cake comes through and will have to see if the ones I bought from the store are "sized". I'm not even sure the wilton ones are (large, etc).

I was just wondering if the beautiful big ones I see here are the texas size and if so, I just wasted a lot of money on cupcake pans.

Your cakes are lovely, I browsed your pictures.

The ones I see at the store come in mini, regular and jumbo. I always use the white wilton ones because I like that look much better (and because I bought about 20 packages of them on clearance last year ) . Foil ones seem to be a tiny bit smaller than paper ones, or maybe they don't stretch as much. If you ever need a different color, try your local cake decorating supply shop

Most of the cupcakes I see here are regular size, not TX size. A lot of us make the big puff of frosting on top and it makes the cupcakes look a lot bigger, that might be what you're noticing.

I've been looking into this lately as well. I seem to see minis, reg, large and jumbo out there. Which of those Texas is, I'm not sure. Also, google souffle cups if you want bigger sizes. They obviously can go in the oven. There are also some fancy "bake and give" pans out there. They are made of paper, but are very sturdy and nice looking.

The thing I notice most about the pictures, as opposed to what I have always made, are the pictures seem to be more square at the bottom, with a bottom almost as big around as the tops. Mine angle out quite a bit, smaller at the bottom and larger at the top. The squareness definitely makes the cupcakes appear to be larger than mine.