Loss of baking confidence due to curdling

[SiriusStar]

I love baking but have become more and more anxious each time I bake as it always seems to curdle. I have started keeping eggs in the cupboard in the hope this will help. I have tried both leaving butter at room temp to soften and heating slightly in microwave.
I have tried adding eggs one at a time as well as mixing first and adding tiny amounts.
I use golden caster sugar and wonder whether this is the problem but I have used this for years and the problem has only been the last year or so. I usually use the cheapest own brand of butter and not spreads etc. the only way that stops me from getting cross is be adding the egg, then a bit of flour, then a bit more egg etc.
I just don'tlike doing it as much as I get stupidly cross, in the same way as when I can't find something or my hair goes wrong :)

Any ideas?

Do you cream the eggs and sugar first? Are you mixing by hand or do you have a hand/stand mixer?

it doesn't make a lot of difference imo

You are less likely to have a curdled mix if you

a) cream the butter and sugar together properly
b) keep everything at room temp
c) mix each egg in individually and thoroughly
d) add a small spoonful of flour with each egg.

Also I have given up using butter for sponge cakes....and now always use Stork.

Always use medium eggs unless it says otherwise, your doing the right thing, egg with spoonful of flour, but beat in really well after each egg, cant see why it should be curdling at all.

If you dont have enough butter and sugar for the size of the eggs it won't hold them as you add the egg and it will curdle. What recipe are you using?

Sometimes my mix curdles, sometimes it doesn't. It always looks and tastes pretty much exactly the same when it's cooked!

What exactly do you mean by curdling? I have made hundreds of cakes in my time and have never noticed the mix curdling... which makes me wonder if you are worried about something that isn't a major problem?

This is something that bothered me a lot, for a long time. Eventually I decided (i) I was being paranoid and mistaking sugar crystals for curdlage, (ii) it didn't seem to make a great deal of difference and (iii) beating the mixture for a really long time between each addition created the moussy texture and high rise that I was looking for. How long is a really long time? Well, longer than you think. I haven't timed it, but try the following three steps. 1: beat until you can't see any egg; 2: wait for the note of the mixture to change slightly; 3: beat a bit longer.
I really hope this helps.

Been away. Thanks for the replies.
I usually mix the sugar and butter first. I get annoyed because it hasn't always gone this way and I get irrationally cross about it in the same manner as when I can't find something. I will keep doing the method adding flour a bit at a time but it feels like I am not doing it properly.

I never add an egg at a time. I put all the eggs in a separate jug and mix them up a bit, ensuring the white and yolk are mixed together. I then add it to the creamed butter and sugar gradually.

It takes longer but it never curdles. The only time it ever gets near to curdling is if the egg isn't mixed properly and a big glop of egg white falls in in one go. It never seems to be a bother with yolks or the mixed whites and yolks, iyswim.

Sirius, have to be honest i add eggs one at a time with large spoonful of flour and i never have this problem, one thing i do differently is after adding each egg i beat with my mixer really well and i always use a spatula to fold the flour in, never have any disasters any more thankfully.