Can you tell me what is missing from this picture?
Birthday candles? No.
Sprinkles? Well, yes, but that is not it.
The paper baking cup!
Birthday candles? No.
Sprinkles? Well, yes, but that is not it.
The paper baking cup!
I cannot recall the last time I saw a cupcake outside of my home that was not contained in a paper baking cup. Dare I say, never? Why is it acceptable for muffins to be naked, yet cupcakes must be clothed in pleated pastel paper skirts? Cupcakes even have designer clothes now. Oh sure, you can get liners to match your mood, kitchen, sports team, favorite cartoon character, whatever your little heart desires. They even come with feet!
At least those are reusable, although I am leery of putting silicone in my oven. What I am getting at is, is all that really necessary? Do cupcakes really need their own individual wrapper? What are we protecting them from, ourselves? Why would you want to add a barrier between yourself and that little nugget of goodness? I can hardly wait to get them out of the pan before devouring! Or, is it that we have become so lazy that we cannot spare the finger pressure to spray the pan to keep them from sticking?
Sometimes I have to stop and wonder, "Why am I doing this?" Just because you have always done it that way or because everybody else does it that way, does not mean you must continue to do it that way. And so it goes with the cupcakes. One day I decided to stop wasting my money on little paper cups that will be used once and thrown away; decided to stop buying paper cups always packaged in plastic; decided to stop adding to the already overburdened waste stream. And you know what? No one even noticed. Makes me think they were never necessary to begin with.
It is tiny choices like this, when added to all the other little things you do to be green, multiplied by all the people in the world trying to live sustainably that equals big change. Do not think for a minute that the minutest thing you do does not make a difference. It does! Solar panels and geothermal heat are wonderful, but the little things count too.
Sometimes I have to stop and wonder, "Why am I doing this?" Just because you have always done it that way or because everybody else does it that way, does not mean you must continue to do it that way. And so it goes with the cupcakes. One day I decided to stop wasting my money on little paper cups that will be used once and thrown away; decided to stop buying paper cups always packaged in plastic; decided to stop adding to the already overburdened waste stream. And you know what? No one even noticed. Makes me think they were never necessary to begin with.
It is tiny choices like this, when added to all the other little things you do to be green, multiplied by all the people in the world trying to live sustainably that equals big change. Do not think for a minute that the minutest thing you do does not make a difference. It does! Solar panels and geothermal heat are wonderful, but the little things count too.
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8 comments:
really great point! it's funny how all those little things add up! I'm scared of silicone, now, too.
good point--this is one of those things we do without thinking, and it IS unnecessary.
OMG, you totally read my mind! I hate those little paper things, since they're pretty unnecessary, and they always stick to the cake. And I don't trust putting silicone in the oven either.
Couldn't you just grease the muffin tin well on the tops and in the muffin area? Just wondering!
That's exactly my point Rob! People use paper baking cups out of habit without stopping to question whether they are even necessary. A squirt of nonstick spray does the same job without the waste.
I find that when I bake without paper muffin cups, the muffins/cupcakes have a different shape than when I do bake with them. It doesn't affect the taste, and it's certainly nothing a little frosting can't fix. Has anyone else had this happen to them?
I'm not a fan of the papercups either - they are cemented to the cupcake and I end up tearing it off in itty bitty pieces. So wasteful!
I'm thinking about baing cupcakes for VD. I didn't plan on using the papers. Glad to see that yours came out OK.
Very brilliant ides. So genius...
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