I have no problem making vegan cupcakes where you just combine wet and dry ingredients, but if I make either vegan or non-vegan cakes that require the creaming method I never have any luck! They either barely rise at all or rise, then sink (this happened yesterday to a recipe that called for adding 3 raspberries to the batter in each liner).

I've tried using room temperature butter and butter that's still chilled, creaming the butter and sugar together for several minutes on low speed (2 on my KitchenAid), creaming at higher speed (4), folding the flour in manually and adding it in via the KitchenAid, but I just can never get cakes that rise properly!

I'd be really grateful for some ideas on where I'm going wrong - thanks.

This is a wonderful site for those who want trouble shooting solutions - have you ever read it - if not - hopefully your answer might be here for you... Joy of Baking - creaming method.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/ButterCakes.html#Creaming

Hope this helps.

Bluehue

Bluehue: Thanks for the link!!!