muffin vs. cupcake

What's the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? Does a muffin become a cupcake with icing on it? Does it depend on whether or not fruits or vegetables are in them? I've got a collection of icingless muffins/cupcakes in my freezer and on my counter right now.

I've run out of flour, or else I'd have buttermilk biscuits and rootbeer cupcakes to add to the collection. That's tomorrow night's plan, or Saturday night's, probably.

The last couple of days I've been baking to counter the sort of low-grade uncomfortable crap that tends to pop up every so often. You know the sort: bad review at work, realising you put the wrong address on a resume, gaining weight unexpectedly before having to fit into a dress. Just stuff that doesn't make you feel very good, but that can probably be countered with explaining or a quick anorexic diet. Pretty sure baking will help with that.

Yesterday it started with banana cake made with buttermilk, which actually makes me think about keeping buttermilk at all times. It has a nice little hint of salt to counter the sweetness/sourness. Then cocoa banana cupcakes (I think the recipe claims these are muffins, but, for all intents and purposes, they're cupcakes) that makes such a pretty, fluffy batter and makes about 18. Then I tried a new recipe for peach cupcakes. This let me finally use the rest of the peaches from the packing house (though I froze enough for another batch when the weather turns and my freezer starts to empty) and try another buttermilk recipe. They are very airy and not too sweet. Today I made carrot cake cupcakes (new recipe), which are really fantastic with lots of walnuts (my addition) and are the best carrot cake cupcakes I've ever had. Really. That brings my total of cupcakes/muffins to about 5 dozen.

(I also used the grater plate on my food processor for the first time since I got it about 13 years ago. Thank goodness I kept all those attachments. I love the grater. So easy and painless and bloodless. The only appliance I would love more than my food processor, maybe, is a stand mixer with multiple attachments. Swoon. But I can't believe how smart I was to ask for a food processor for Christmas when I was a poor student.)

I really need an apartment-sized deep freeze for baking. And tomorrow I'm picking blackberries again. Where the hell am I going to put those? Time to re-organise the freezer. What a party I am: planning to organise my freezer and bake on weekend nights.