Cake and cup cake experts - question please

When making cakes or cup cakes, is it correct that you add the flour last and just fold in, as if you mix for too long they can taste bread like! Mind never work because of this yet some recipies say put everything in a bowl and mix together for 3 mins! Any advice would be appreciated.

Folding the flour in lastis to keep the cake light.Traditionally the flour would be sifted.This adds extra air into the flour, but also removes any lumps.Personally I've not noticed a problem with lumps in flour. In much earlier days there might have been more call for removing lumps.

In a traditional sponge cake recipe much of the lightness comes from adding air to the eggs when beating it.As you go to more solid cakes gentle folding is less important.

Oh I see, so do you think I am perhaps adding too much flour (ie my measure cups may be wrong then)! which is why it tastes bread like!

I thin it may be your recipe

Thanks, I will have a look through old recipe threads for a new one!

Here's the Edmonds recipe I use for cupcakes.

125 gm butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup milk

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence.NB I have seen people who think they should melt butter to cream the butter and sugar.The correct way is to have the butter at a soft consistency at room temperature.Caster sugar will be absorbed more readily, but you can use ordinary sugar and leave the beater on creaming it a little longer.
Add eggs one at a time.If the eggs come straight out of the fridge your mixture will curdle and the result won't be as good.Have the eggs at room temperature.
Sift flour and baking powder together.At the very least add the baking powder to the flour before you add it to the mix.A cup is 250 ml measing cups are cheap or thesmoky arcoroc coffee mugs we all used to have are the right size.The cup should be filled level, not heaped and the flour should not be packed in.
Fold into mixture.Stir in milk.Put into paper cases that have previously been put into a muffin tin, or use silicon cases.

Bake at 190c for 15 minutes.

Makes 12

Thanks Olwen, can I use SR flour instead of plain and baking powder!

I think that the qty of bp is more than in sr flour.I'd be adding a teaspoon of bp to sr flour for this recipe

Excellent, thank you.

My basic recipe for cakes of most types is:
125g butter or marg
125g sugar
2 eggs
250g flour
1tsp baking powder (heaped)
few drops vanilla essence.
Method: cream butter and sugar add eggs and essence if using. sift flour and any other dry ingredients into mix and gently fold in (mix). If the mix appears dry/stiff add a little milk or water about 2Tbsp at a time, would possibly need about ¼ cup all up. Its been awhile since I made one so would need to check exactly how much I use.
Into a cake tim or muffin/cup cake papers and cook at 180C until cake leaves side of pans and springs back to touch. Its 20mins for cupcakes/muffins.
(here are the variations I use)
Chocolate: add 1 heaped Tbsp cocoa powder and a little milk if mix dry can use peppermint essence instead of vanilla.
Coffee use 1Tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1Tbsp milk and 2Tbsp warm water, I add this with the flour.
Banana add 2-3 mashed banana's before the flour and mix well.
Fruit, add approx 50g sultana's or other fruit with the flour can also add walnuts at this stage as well if liked.
If you want an orange cake add orange juice and grated rind, same with lemon. Can also add food colouring.
Fresh/frozen/tinned fruit add with the flour.
If you want to do a muffin with cream cheese in it all I do is half full muffin tins/papers then add a dollop of cream cheese and then more mix.
Ones kiddies love is smarties/pebbles mixed through before baking, Can use choc chip as well.
Self raising flour should be fine to use as well although as I do bread I don't tend to have any in the house so have not tried it.

mac81 I use the Edmonds recipe as well but use s/r flour NO extra baking powder and they come out perfect every time, I always put the milk in before the flour as you do not need to beat as much this way. hope this helps

recipe needs¼cup milk or water, made it up as a coffee cake, was a little dry. Baked 180C for 30-40mins. I put it into a deep 8" cake tin. It wouldn't take as long if divided into two tins. It looks devine and smells yum will cut in half later and fill with coffee cream and dust top with icing sugar.