Struggling with muffins

[startercook]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this site and also not a keen pastry cook.

So i'm trying to make a simple muffin but cannot get a good rise and inside the cake is tight and not fluffy.

Can someone kindly provide some tips. Below is what i use according to a website recipe i found.

Many thanks,

Startercook

plain flour, butter, eggs, bicarb soda, sugar, natural fat-free yoghurt, apple cider vinegar. The muffin was raspberry and white chocolate

 

[retired baker]

It's tough when you're at the mercy of the internet for recipes.
I prefer YouTube because the results can be seen.
I like to use baking powder instead of soda.
Recipe is below the video.
Cut the recipe in half unless you want a lot of muffins.

 

[startercook]

thanks for the reply. FYI - i used both bicarb soda and baking powder. But will check this video!

 

[DesperateWife]

Also if you're new to baking, it's the one type of cooking I've found where winging it doesn't work well! Measuring precisely, and following the directions exactly is almost always required. Most common mistakes I see: measuring dry ingredients with liquid measuring cups, using table spoons rather than measuring spoons, using baking powder instead of soda and vice-versa or skipping one when both are called for, skimping on butter or oil, substituting butter for oil (sometimes ok, try the recipe as directed first). The biggest mistake (and most common)? Filling measuring cups by pouring or scooping in with a spoon rather than the "dip and level" method.

Dip your measuring cup in the the dry ingredient bin, completely overfilling it, and then using the flat side of a knife (or a flat baking spatula), swipe off the excess. It's easier to do this with good quality measuring cups and spoons - stainless steel with straight sides and no lip. I have some basic ones too that don't have a clean top edge, and unfortunately I've found they don't give me a consistent measure.

If a recipe calls for sifting, some need sifting before you add the dry ingredients. Some recipes call for pre-sifting and then sifting the ingredients together, and some call for triple sifting. Measure before you sift either way, and don't skip it. I have a small spin sifter I've owned forever; an inexpensive tool that comes in handy especially for pancakes and cakes. And though I'm sure there are substitutes, if it calls for cake flour, use cake flour.

Lastly, I make a recipe first using all of the directions, and then see what I can get away with. For example, cookies and muffins are often more forgiving than cakes, but as you've found, not always. I took a banana bread recipe, and over time added bran, whole wheat flour (50-50 with white flour), applesauce instead of 1/2 the oil, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, and half of the banana to make "morning muffins," which I then froze in a huge baggie for grab & go or packing in lunches for my kids. Had I not tried the primary recipe first, then made subtle changes (like adding the nutmeg, adding more veggies, reducing the banana) one by one, I wouldn't have known what worked and what didn't. Adding nuts, for example, didn't freeze as well.

Enjoy!

 

[Norcalbaker59]

No do not use a measuring cup. Use a scale.

I don’t care if you dip and sweep and how much care it taken with the cup. Volume measurement is inaccurate and produces inconsistent results.

A measuring cup is a measure of how much space something takes up. That has absolutely nothing to do with baking. Americans are the only ones who use this system.

No matter how much care it taken every time you dip that cup in you pull out a different of weight of ingredient. When scooping flour you can fill that cup with anywhere between 120 g to 160 g of flour.

not every recipe developer uses dip and sweep method. Cooks illustrated uses dip and sweep. But King Arthur flour uses spoon and level. Milk Street uses dip and sweep. But Sally's Baking Addiction uses spoon and level.

Most everyone at Serious Eats uses the dip and sweep method. But their main pastry chef, Stella Parks, went back to spoon and level.

The baker who uses volume measure has no idea what the ratio of ingredients to flour because they are using a system of measure that has no relationship to what they are baking.


Further, volume of ingredients are different. A “cup” of granulated sugar weighs 200 g. significantly more than a “cup” of flour because sugar granules are much larger than flour.

There is also no standard for a cup of flour. It can weigh between 120 g to 145 g depending on the recipe developer. For instance, Cooks Illustrated uses 145 g as the standard for a cup of flour. But King Arthur uses 120 g as the standard for a cup of flour.

So if you are using a recipe from King Arthur flour that calls for 300g flour, how do you know you have 300g flour in the bowl by using a measuring cup? There’s no way to know.

Baking is a chemical reaction of all the ingredients to temperature and time.

Baking is done by the ratio of the weight of ingredients to the flour. The weight of the flour is always the constant. You must always weigh your ingredients.