Hello everyone -

wow! what a welcoming and helpful bunch you are! I hope I won't be losing too many hours of my life to this forum but am not too hopeful 

Thanks so much for all the advice. I did suspect I might have over-mixed as the bad cakes happened when I was in a hurry (I haven't changed flour brands and do have a temperamental oven but have already got a thermometer in there).

Next time I need a cake I will try the ILB recipe that several of you mentioned; I also like the suggestion of using the butterfly to cream the butter & sugar. Another thought I had recently is to use the reverse function so it's mixing with the blunt sides of the blade... not sure how much difference that might make.

Also, thank you so much for the suggestion about weighing the MC - that's genius! And simple, like most genius ideas. Will definitely always do that from now on.

I should probably also say a few words about me... I got my TM after I was made redundant while on mat leave and got a bit of a payout. Luckily for me I was employed again within 3 months (which is when I would have returned from mat leave anyway) so my TM is a lovely little bonus, and it makes having two toddlers sooooooooo much easier. I use it every day (in fact it's in the dishwasher right now) and have given away about 4 kitchen appliances to my SIL since I never use them anymore! I was always a from-scratch kind of cook, and I love all the things the TM makes easier and saves time on.

Looking forward to sharing things and benefiting from all your experience and wisdom!

Thanks again for all the helpful replies.