Thanks guys! Now I know what I'm going to order from my closest bake shop!

Hi Ginko, I have worked many years as a professional baker and I can tell you that the way a muffin is made is closer to a quickbread than a cake. A cake's batter tends to be put together more delicately and has a finer crumb, as well as having a higher sugar content (cupcakes also use this type of batter.) Muffins tend to have less sugar and the method for making them are simpler and can generally be done in one bowl. Phi also brings up frosting, which is mostly true. However, I have seen American bakers frost their muffins not with a traditional cake icing, but rather, a glaze made with icing sugar and some sort of liquid. (I personally don't like frosting my muffins, as I tend to like my muffins less sweeter than a cake. If I wanted cake for breakfast, I'd just have a cake.) I hope this helps!

Hi Ginko, If you search the internet, most definitions will say that the muffin is technically a bread and not a cake. You would frost a cake with icing decorations, but you would not frost a muffin. A cupcake looks similar to your picture, and you would frost it. An English muffin is something quite different, I like English muffins.