EntriesCakes usually sink when the cake batter is not completely cooked; everyone’s ovens are different so you need to find the optimum baking time for you oven. Also towards the end of baking test the cake repeatedly to see if it is fully baked. If a skewer inserted into the cake does not come out clean, then bake the cake for a little longer.
However other things can be the problem, here are a few:
- Over beating the batter and incorporating too much air – the air can then cause a collapse.
- Temperature of the oven is too high causing the cake to rise too rapidly. Tip: Invest in an oven thermometer to check your oven temperature.
- Opening the door to check on the cakes before the batter is set can cause the cake to sink, as can closing the oven door too sharply in the early stages of baking.
- Placing the baked cakes to cool in a drafty place.
- Poor recipe, baking is a chemical reaction so the proportions have to be correct.
But generally most cakes sink because their outer edges were fully cooked but the centre was not!
Hope you find this helpful
Lindy
Tags: baking, Cake Inspirations, Tips
30 Comments
Hi Lindy,
Not sure if you can advise what to do, however I seem to have a problem with my cakes were I think the fan in the oven is too strong as one side is always higher than the other or do you think the mixture is too runny – this is for a chocolate and vanilla sponge cake. They are flat when they go in the oven so the fan is the only thing I think is the problem.
Thanks for your help – your blog is great.
Andrew
Hi Andrew
It certainly sounds as if your oven is not heating evenly, can I suggest that you try turning your cake whilst it is still cooking to even out the baking – its cheaper than buying a new oven! Anyone else experienced this problem?
Lindy
Since getting a new oven a few months ago I have not been successful with my fruit cakes. The fruit sinks to the bottom almost every time although the cakes rise and look perfect on the outside, I have tried dusting the fruit with flour and altering the temperature but nothing works. I have made cakes successfully for years and not experienced problems like this. Please help.
My cakes also sink in the middle but i thought it maybe that the tin is too big and actually fills the oven. i have tried cooking at various temps and the same thing happens. This only in different shaped tins, not my round one.
I also have an electric fan oven. what temp do you suggest for a 13″ square cake.
Hi Andrea
The trick is to allow the cake long enough to cook in the middle without the edges and top browning too much.
To do this, I protect the edges with folded up newspaper, tied in place with string (this is exactly the same technique as for fruit cakes). The top can be protected with a piece of foil. Allow the cake to cook normally and towards the end of the cooking time check the centre with a skewer until it comes out clean. Bearing in mind you are slowing down the cooking, the cake will take alot longer but please don’t worry, your key test is when that skewer comes out clean!
Lindy has also started stocking the heating core which can be placed into the centre of a cake to assist the cooking process in the middle.
I hope that this helps
Andy
Lindy’s Cake Team
MY CAKE SINKS IN THE MIDDLE AND ITS GUEWEE IN THE CENTER HOW CAN I FIX THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN BAKING CAKE
FOR A LONG TIME AND I DIDNT HAD THIS KIND OF PROBLEM
Dear Jo
We are not sure what recipe you are using but we have found Lindy’s fruit cake recipe (found in all her books) to be reliable.
Generally, dried fruits are heavy and will sink if a cake mixture is too soft and wet. If the fruit has been washed, spread it out to dry well on a cloth before adding it to the cake mixture. Glace cherries are particularly heavy and covered in sticky syrup, so always wash, dry and quarter the cherries to make them lighter.
If you find the fruit still goes to the bottom of the tin, toss it first in a little flour or ground almonds. This technique should help to spread the fruit evenly throughout the cake.
Don’t forget too that you should always use hard butter and not the soft fats.
I hope that this helps
Andy
Lindy’s Cake Team
Hi Josepjine
I’m sorry that you have struggled with your cake not cooking properly in the middle.
The trick is to allow the cake long enough to cook in the middle without the edges and top browning too much.
To do this, I protect the edges with folded up newspaper, tied in place with string (this is exactly the same technique as for fruit cakes). The top can be protected with a piece of foil. Allow the cake to cook normally and towards the end of the cooking time check the centre with a skewer until it comes out clean. Bearing in mind you are slowing down the cooking, the cake will take longer but please don’t worry, your key test is when that skewer comes out clean!
Lindy has also started stocking the heating core which can be placed into the centre of a cake to assist the cooking process in the middle.
I hope that this helps
Andy
Lindy’s Cake Team
Hi Lindy,
I have been looking at the heating core in your online shop. I thought it was like a probe but on research it seems to be quite large.Have you had much feedback on its success/ease of use etc.
I would be interested to hear of the experience of others who have used the core before I buy it.
Hi Marion
The heating core is cone shaped – you place it in the centre of your cake and place a small amount of the cake mixture inside, we will add a photo to our shop in due course. I’ve not used one myself but some of my studdents have very successfully, which is why we started to stock the product.
Hope this helps
Lindy
Tell me more about the Heating Core n the newspaper round the tin my cake is always hard on the sides and flat in the middle i make only eggless cakes
Jane, my workshop co-ordinator, is planning to write a blog next week about how she has mastered the art of baking madeira cakes so watch the blog for her post – I think it will answer your questions.
having discovered that my xmas cake is not quite done in the centre, is there any way that I can rectify it?
Help
My daughter wants me to make her weding cake for 250 people. She wants the pink / white wonky cake with stripes & flowers as copyrighted by you in 2005. Do you have a step by step guide for this cake. I intend cooking 4 tiers of fruit cake and having a maderia cake to cut separately. I have you cakes to inspire book so think I can manage the cutting but the icing of stipes etc I might have problems with. I have you DVD also but not so good at watching would rather read and digest!!!
I hope that you can help.
Hi Maggee
The stripes are covered in the DVD, in the decorating section. Tip: Make sure you roll the pastes out using spacers so that they are all cut from the same thickness of paste.
Hope this is a little help
Lindy
Thanks I will keep my fingers crossed.
These are all great ideas,,however, my problem is with a cranberry & chop nuts topping that is put on top of the cake batter before cooking,,,it always sinks! Can anyone help?
Thanks,,,,,Connie
Hi Connie
You don’t say what recipe is used for the cake, but I guess that the topping will work if it is added say part way through baking once the cake batter is firm enough to support the weight of the cranberries and nuts.
You’ll nead a bit of trial and error – why not experiment on cupcakes first
Happy Baking
I think my cakes sink “because their outer edges were fully cooked but the centre was not!”
What should I do to avoid this?? Take a bigger baking dish…?
Thanks
Shelly
Hi, i have this terrific chocolate cake recipe and it tastes great. But as soon as i take it out of the oven it sinks. its usually over cooked on the outside. it is cooked in a very low oven temp. 150 c for an hour and 20 mins.
I hate it sinking! what do i do. it has 2 cups of sugar in it and 250gr sour cream. Hope you can help. Should i leave it oven to cool first?
Cheers, hope you can help.
Hello Shelly,
Take a look at our Cake Chat and Recipes and look at “Baking the Perfect Madeira”.
Jane
Hello Gina,
It sounds like it is not cooked in the middle. Why not use some of our tips on Baking the Perfect Madeira in Cake Chat and Recipes.
Jane
Hello Jane,
Thanks for the tips. Will let you know how my cake comes out next time.
Shelly
Hi,I’m having trouble with a cake recipe that I’ve tried a couple of times and the same thing happens each time, which is the cake mix sinks in the middle while it is cooking. The recipe uses melted butter, and with icing sugar and caster sugar, it states in the book to beat these ingredients together with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes,which I do for about 3mins, which it then looks light and fluffy, to me. It is then cooked for 35min in a fan oven.
Can anyone help
Thank you
Hello Susan,
It is hard to comment on a recipe which we have not seen.
Usually a cake with a sunken middle means that you need to increase the cooking time.
I take it you are not opening the oven during cooking – as this temperature change can also cause the middle to sink.
It may be worth testing the temperature of your oven with a thermometer – or trying a different recipe!
Hi Jane,
I tried the same reciepe again but this time in a loaf pan. And bingo!! It didnt sink. I think my baking dish was too small last time..
Thanks for your suggestions.
Shelly
Hi Susan,
I had a similar problem.. Though i am not an expert but you can try using a smaller baking dish. I used a loaf pan and my cake didnt sink.
Hope this helps..
Shelly
Hi Shelly,
Thanks for your suggestion, I’ve tried a smaller cake tin and put in an extra teaspoon of baking power in the plain flour mix and hey presto it worked.
Susan
Hi, I have seen in many shops these cake tester probes which I’ve believed to be nothing more than a skewer – is there anything more to them? The reason I ask is that I am never 100% confident that the cake is cooked even when the skewer has come out clean as I have had a few instances where it’s still be slightly undercooked in the middle. Thank you for your wonderful cake recipies, they work a treat every time, in fact I’m just trying the carrot cake recipe as I type! yum yum!!
Hi Emma
Hope the carrot cake was a sucess. You are, in my opinion correct, cake testers are glorified skewers. Another trick to see if a cake is baked is to listen to it, this may sound strange but next time you bake listen closely….!!!!
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