I came across this on Cupcakes Take The Cake - an article by Brock Hamilton and really loved it....
Attributes of the perfect cupcake
The perfect cupcake…in your mind you visualize it. It is moist, it is straight out of the oven and it fills the air with heavenly scents that one cannot help but submit too. It is your favorite flavor, whether it is a vanilla, white, chocolate, or other tantalizing cake base. It is decorated with your favorite toppings: flavored icing, sprinkles; the works.
It peels easy from the wrapper, but leaves a light lining of cupcake remnants on it to later be licked away. The frosting is generously applied. It covers the entire top of the cupcake a few times over. The frosting is sweet, but light. It is a decoration, but it also adds to the overall quality of the cupcake. It is not hardened or clumpy. It is smooth, sweet and easily licked off or eaten with the cupcake itself. Light sprinkles delicately adorn it as well. Giving it a simply crunchy sweet texture, one that just perfect offsets the smooth, batter of the cake base of the treat.
As you bite into the cupcake it does not crumble, but stay together firmly. It is not as tough as a fudge bar, but not as light as a piece of angel food cake. Its perfected consistency lies somewhere between the two, thick enough so that every bite can be savored meaningfully. Because it is moist each bit melts easily in the mouth and leaves a light stickiness on your fingers. It is rich, but not overpoweringly so. It is best with a tall glass of milk, maybe two, to accentuate the decadence of its flavor.
XOXO
Little House of Dreams