Cupcakes - is it worth it to fold in the flour?

[werenotreallyhere]

I'm trying to make cupcakes for my daughter's birthday party, I made a load following Luisa Zissman's book (in my defence that was the only book I could see quickly in the library and my daughter was moaning at me), and I was in a rush and put the flour in with the butter and sugar at the beginning. They tasted fine, is it worth it to try again but fold in the flour this time to make them airier? It looks a lot of faff....thanks!

I confess I have never folded in the flour but to get them extra light I beat the butter and sugar together until very pale before adding in flour and eggs at the same time (stops it curdling)

Ah fab, that sounds like a good plan, I will try that next. I'll be making 36 for the party and the idea of folding in flour 3 times in one evening was making me feel.....weepy. Thank you!

I prefer creaminess butter and sugar then adding eggs, followed by folded flour. All in one is just not as light a finished product.

I am going to try this folded flour way just to see what I'm missing another time.

Can you not just make 3 x the mixture in one go, no need to mix it three times?

I'm a bit of a baking thicko and I'm not too confident on how much mixture to put in each case, and I only have 2 x 6 muffin trays, so I would end up 1/3 teeny cupcakes! Plus I'm not sure I have big enough bowls.

To be honest the only way I make cupcakes now in the hummingbird bakery way, where you mix the butter and sugar into the flour with a mixer until it resembles fine sand. Here is the recipe, it works every time, very nice texture and springiness. Great with this cooked frosting recipe which has to be tried to be believed it's so light and silky.

I was just about to post the hummingbird bakery recipe but james beat me to it. Perfect every time and nicest tasting too. I used this recipe to make 120 for a wedding.

You just have to fill the cases about 2/3 full to allow for them to rise

tigerdog try the cooked frosting recipe too then, it's lush.

Thanks james and tiger, I'll try that recipe next, fingers crossed it works for me. And thanks costa for the technique advice, I may be back for more later