Cupcake Help! – Cupcake Liners Pulling Away

By on August 2nd, 2008 . Filed under: Cupcake Help! .

We received this e-mail from Erin who has a question about cupcake liners:

Hi all,

I am in the process of putting together my own cupcake business (I am at the very beginning stages), so I am trying out lots of recipes and such. I have made cupakes in the past, but not for business purposes, so this issue never really crossed my mind. I have become really frustrated by the cupcake liners pulling away from the cake after they have been baked. This doesn’t happen to all of them, just a few in each batch, but it is enough to drive me bonkers. It makes them look terrible. What causes this and what can I do about it?

Thank you so much,

Erin K.

Please leave a comment if you have any solutions.

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21 Responses to Cupcake Help! – Cupcake Liners Pulling Away

  1. rachel

    Are the cupcakes also dry? Or over baked?

  2. Natalie

    Make sure your pans are nice and clean before you put hte liners in, and you might even want to grease the top of the pan (not the cups) so the crown of the cake pops out easily once the cake is cool. Sometimes liners pull away when the cake gets stuck, I’ve found.

  3. Erin

    Rachel – no, typically the cupcakes are not dry. Most of my recipes have buttermilk or sour cream in them, so the cakes are nice and moist, and I don’t believe they are overbaked. At first I thought it was because I may have forgotten to drop the pans on a hard surface to get the cake to settle into the liners evenly. But that wasn’t it. I am going to try Natalie’s advice next and grease the tops of the pan. Please keep the advice coming. I really appreciate all of it. Like I said, I am at the beginning stages, so the more tips the better! :)

  4. Michelle Bessette

    Erin first congrats on the bakery! I noticed in your replies you mentioned that your cupcakes are moist due to sourcream/buttermilk. Sometimes if cupcakes are not fully baked through they can pull away from liners, in your case MAYBE you are adding too much sc/bm making the cupcakes too moist almost as if they are not baked enough making them pull OR not grab onto the liner. Best of luck!

  5. kate

    this happens to me sometimes-i feel your pain. sometimes it happens if i under bake mine a bit so i try to not rush the baking time and keep cupcakes in the oven for an extra two minutes or so, just to be sure.

    :) good luck with the business!

  6. Erin

    Michelle and Kate – Thanks so much for this insight! I had numrous cupcakes do this to me this weekend…the most I have had in a batch so far…and it occurred to me that this might be the situation. I am so afraid of OVERbaking, that I may be underbaking. You all have confirmed my hunch. My other thought is this…could I be using too much butter in my recipes causing the cake to not adhere to the liner? Thanks!!!

  7. Judy

    Hi Erin,
    This has to be one of THE most frustrating things to happen when baking cupcakes! I always make sure I leave the cupcakes in the trays until almost cool, I’m not sure if it’s just good luck but it seems to work. Good luck with the biz, I’m on the same path and loving every moment. (Although I’m in Australia!)
    Cheers
    J

  8. Melisser

    Yes, this happens to me. Your cupcakes may be too moist (sounds funny, right?), you may want to make sure you’re not adding too much liquid / fat, bake them a bit longer and/or switch to foil liners.

  9. Erin

    Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for your advice. It was wonderful and very helpful. I decreased the amount of butter in my recipes to cut down on the oil and I increased the baking time about 3-5 extra minutes and I made sure that I remembered to drop the pans onto the table a few times to settle the batter. What a huge difference! I baked 5 dozen cupcakes (3 different recipe types) this weekend and not one of them had a liner pull away…and they are still very light and moist. I am ecstatic! Thank you all so much! ~ Erin

  10. Lou

    Is the air too humid on the days that the liners pull away?

  11. angel

    what causes cupcake dry? is it the baking powder coz i add 2 tsp. of it. i want fluffy but moist cupcake…

  12. Heartburn Home Remedy

    I read your posts for quite a long time and must tell you that your posts always prove to be of a high value and quality for readers.

  13. erin fuller

    I’M STARTING MY OWN CUPCAKE COMPANY E CUPCAKES ALSO IN ELLIJAY GA, I’M ALSO HAVIING A HARD TIME KEEPING THE CUPCAKES MOIST LONGER AND I HAVE ALSO NOTICED THAT SOME LINERS AND PULLING AWAY FROM THE CUPCAKES. WHICH DO YOU IS BETTER TO USE TO MOIST THE CAKES IF THE ARE HOME MADE RECIPES APPLESAUCE OR ADD LITTLE MORE OIL?

  14. Nicole

    Hi everyone!!! Well I have read all ur comments and done such research on the Internet for this frustrating situation with the cupcake cases pulling away from our delicious cakes!!! I really do not know why it happens but I have tried many things… I’ve reduced over mixing, I’ve also increased mixing.. Ive filled my cases a bit more.. In hope they don’t spill over each time, I tap the tray onto the side to help level out the mixture prior to it going into the oven!!! I have changed from a standard muffin case to s more expensive, I’ve tried reducing certain ingredients for eg butter!! However nothing has worked AT ALL!!! there is one more thing I may look at and that’s king powder … I never used to use it in any recipe and never had this problem… Now I use it and now my cases detatch themselves from the cake…. Maybe just give ir a try… You never know! If that fails then I don’t know anymore xxxx

  15. Nicole

    I mean baking powder

  16. joe

    hi everyone ! I have a cupcake business, to keep the cases on, trying using a sugar syrup soon as they come out of the oven, it keeps cakes moist and helps keep them in the case so they still look good ! just sugar and water boiled up to a syrup i hope this helps ! good luck !

  17. debby

    to joe (november 6th, 2011)

    about your recommendation of sugar syrup on the cupcakes to keep paper from peeling away: how do you apply this sugar syrup? do you brush it over top? what is the sugar to water ratio when making the syrup? please explain in detail how to make the syrup and the procedure for applying it. thanks. debby

  18. Becky

    Hi everyone or anyone – I also have this problem and like Erin have tried not to overmix, adding my eggs then my flour (I used to do it alternatively), leaving them in the trays, taking them out! Everything and they still come away. They are a moist cake though and maybe I do over bake but I’m so frightened of overbaking and making them dry, I use stork and always have and have so much compliments about my cakes I don’t really want to change. I have tried butter and soft butter but still happened anyway. Please please help. I used to use cheap but have changed to more expensive solid liners but still no luck :-( Please help xx

  19. BiG Dave

    I have the same problem. I thought of something that maybe someone else has also tried. What about drying out your cubcake liners before you use them. Stick them in a 200 degree oven for about ten-fifteen minutes to take any moisute out of the paper liners. So that the moisture from the batter would be drawn into the liner during baking and therefor getting better adehsion. Just a thought is all.

  20. Milspse28

    I am glad to see that I am not the only one with this issue. I don’t normally make cupcakes, but never have had an issue in the past. About half the batch peeled away from the liners, some immediately out the oven some 12 hours after. My friend bakes cupcakes ALL the time and NEVER has had issues. The difference between her recipes and mines is the sweetness. So I had to go experient… I remade a batch using less sugar , and several different pans, dark, light, foil. The only ones that really peeled were the ones in the foil pans…so far. I also noticed that the ones that peeled felt like there was an air bubble on the bottom and sides. (I also made some colored marble ones and the texture was nicer on those, smoother on top) It’s been 3 hours, so far only one other has started peeling away.

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