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Hi guys I've been baking for over a year so I'm still an amateur lol! 

Ive done some research on the appearance of my cupcakes and altered the recipe/sifted but I am still left with these holes at the top of my cupcakes

any idea why they look like this from the top?! My cakes (6/7/8 inch) also take longer than an hour to bake and always crack from the top after rising then reduce in size when cooled down! My oven can't be too hot since I have it at the average temperature.

i hate attached photos from two different bakes

Please help! Thanks in advance

I have never heard of a cupcake taking one hour to bake. As to what is causing holes, I have no idea.  Do the cupcakes taste moist? Have you switched to different brands of anything lately?  When using sugar make sure it reads cane sugar on it.  I am assuming they are from scratch since you say you altered the recipe. Did you switch to a new recipe? Just a few questions that others will probably want to know in order for them to determine what is happening. 

Hopefully, others here with more experience will step in and give you reasons why these cupcakes are taking so long to bake and why all the holes in them. 

No my cakes are the ones that take longer than the hour to bake, not cupcakes!  

The cupcakes do taste moist and are always tasty and delicate! It's just the top appearance that I would rather fix if I could. I shall double check the sugar, the flour I alternate between but I find it does it with any flour I use. 

In regards to recipe, yes I have been switching but this only affects taste/texture and not the top! 

I didn't mention actually, that the inside texture of the cupcakes never have any holes, it's perfect, except the top surface! I've tapped the tin/bowl to release any possible air pockets too! 

Thanks for responding

I almost bet it's the oven temperature. My cupcakes look exactly the same when I bake the at the 180/200 setting. And the inside is fine. Since I adjusted the temperature to 160 they are fine on top. I think it has to do with the top being exposed most baking and expanding too quickly...

Regarding the cakes...do you bake different layers or do you bake one batter- one pan? The more batter you put in a pan the longer it bakes. I bake my 3 inch in 2 or sometiimes 3 pans (2-3 layers) and they take 25 mins so I guess if I would try and bake all in one pan it would take an hour too.

The only other thing I can think of if you are sifting the flour is to make sure you are creaming the sugar and butter really well.  I have found that some brands of sugar have grains that are more coarse and need to be beaten with butter longer.  The softness of the butter has an effect too.  I've made the mistake of the butter not being soft enough and the creaming takes forever.   You probably know all this, just trying to think of what would be causing the holes.  Sure hope you get it figured out...and let us know!

Lighten up!   Lots of people (including me) would be thrilled if my cupcakes looked like that every time AND tasted moist AND didn't have air bubbles inside.

Your cupcakes are lovely.   Don't try to fix what is not broken.

@Apti ‍ is very wise.

What type of recipe are you using for the cakes and cupcakes?  If it is the creaming method, then many times the cakes fall due to mixing on high speed after the creaming of the butter and sugar.  If you continue beating on high speed with the batter, then you are incorporating more and more air into the it which causes a pretty rise, but the baked cake structure cannot sustain and it ends up falling.  

Also, it could be something simple as too much baking soda or baking powder which will also cause too much rising without any structure to support it.

Cracked cakes is usually too high baking temperature.  What temp do you mean when you say you bake at an average temperature?  I bake most of my cakes at 300-330° F and they sometimes take up to an hour or more depending on how deep they are, but they come out fine on top.  I notice that when I preheat them, they shoot way past 330°F on a oven thermometer and I have to let some of the heat out before I put the cakes in.  

Hope some of that helps and gives you a starting point to start tinkering with the recipe.  Or like Apti says, just cover them up with icing and enjoy!! haha