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cakesmade4u
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Posts: 233
Location: CO
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 Posted:
Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:35 pm |
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CAN ANYONE HELP MY CAKES HAVE BEEN CAVING IN THE CENTER LATELY.. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY OR HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM? CAN IT BE FIXED? I USUALLY BAKE MORE THEN ONE CAKE IN THE OVEN AT A TIME DOES THIS HAVE SOME THING TO DO WITH IT? TFL |
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kakeladi
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 6252
Location: Northen Indiana
Birthday: Aug 11
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:42 pm |
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That usually is an indication that the cake was not baked enough. Are you baking by time only? Do you have an electric oven? If so, one of your elements could have burned out so the temp won't be right.
Another thing is you are at a high elevation. Have your made the changes necessary for that?
Are you a box or scratch user? Have you changed brands of ingredients or anything else different?
We really need more info to help further. |
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Justbeck101
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 17, 2008
Posts: 467
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:52 pm |
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I am not positive, but I think sometimes if you are baking a large cake if it has many eggs you can add one less and see how that works for you. Sometimes you just need to add a heating core to the center, I use a flower nail for this. Maybe try adding less batter to the pan
Just some thoughts |
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cakesmade4u
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Posts: 233
Location: CO
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:23 pm |
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I DON'T BAKE JUST BY TIME I USUALLY LOOK IN THE OVEN AFTER 45 MIN AND I DO USE NAILS FOR THE CORES. I ALSO BAKE BOTH SCRATCH AND BOXED MY OVEN IS ELECTRIC BUT IT DOES'NT ALWAYS CAVE IN JUST EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE. I DO LIVE IN HIGHER ALTITUDE COLORADO WHAT CHANGES COULD I DO FOR THAT? NO INGREDENT CHANGES AS FAR AS FLOUR SUGAR EGGS . I'M ALSO HOPING TO GET A NEW OVEN MAYBE THIS COMING YEAR. CAN IT ALSO BE CAUSED BY HAVING 2 MANY CAKES IN AT ONE TIME? THANKS FOR THE RESPONDS. |
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LanaC
Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 02, 2006
Posts: 800
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:36 pm |
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Are you opening the oven door to take a peek before it's done? My mother used to say the cool air will make it fall, but I dont know if that's genuine or just her way of keeping me out of the oven. |
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cakesmade4u
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Posts: 233
Location: CO
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:54 pm |
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I ALSO HEARD IF THE KIDS ARE RUNNING IN THE HOUSE THE CAKES GO FLAT TO. I THINK IT COULD BE POSSIBLE. AND I DO OPEN TO PEEK I HAVE A OLDER OVEN THAT YOU CANT SEE IN SO I HAVE TO.. |
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kakeladi
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 6252
Location: Northen Indiana
Birthday: Aug 11
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:59 pm |
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As for having more than one cake in the oven. that shouldn't make any difference as long as none of the pans touch each other or the oven wall. It will mean the whole baking might take longer - how long depends on how many, what size etc you are baking.
For high elevation baking you need special recipes. There are several web sites that offer them. And on every box of mix there is info on what to do....usually decrease liquid &/or add like 2T flour or something like that.
If you open the oven door frequently, especially in the 1st 1/2 of baking time it could cause problems but after it has risen and looks done it shouldn't contribute to problems.
BTW A suggestion for you. Typing in all captial letter is hard to read and is considered shouting. |
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cakesmade4u
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Posts: 233
Location: CO
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:31 pm |
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I DO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS FOR HIGH ALTITUDE ON THE BOX BUT AS FAR AS THE PANS TOUCHING THAT COULD BE POSSIBLE IN SOME CASES THAT I HAVE OVER LOOKED. I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME SPECIAL INGREDENT THAT WOULD BE NEEDED FOR HIGH ALTITUDE LIKE HIGH ALTITUDE FLOUR I MAY TRY AS WELL. AND I'M GLAD YOU TOLD ME ABOUT LOOKING FOR DIFFRENT HIGH ALTITUDE CAKE RECPIES I WOULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT TO TRY, BEING IT HASN'T BEEN THAT MUCH OF A PROBLEM WITH THE CAKES I'VE MADE IN THE PAST. IT DOESN'T HAPPEN ALL THE TIME BUT SOMETIMES. I ONLY OPEN THE OVEN 45 MINS OR MORE. AND SORRY ABOUT THE ALL CAPS I DON'T WANT TO OFFEND YOU IN ANYWAY SOMETIME IT'S A HABBIT.  AND I THANK ALL FOR THE RESPONDS  P.S HOPING FOR THE NEW OVEN. |
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kakeladi
Forum SuperStar!
Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 6252
Location: Northen Indiana
Birthday: Aug 11
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:37 pm |
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.........HEARD IF THE KIDS ARE RUNNING IN THE HOUSE THE CAKES GO FLAT TO..........
In this day & age that should not be a problem. Usually that would be if you live in a very old house where the floors are not real sturdy. |
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adonisthegreek1
Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Posts: 907
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:02 pm |
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I had this problem with a couple of batches of cupcakes recently. My cupcakes baked so beautifully, but after they cooled they all sank in the middle. Either your oven temp is too low or you did not let it bake long enough. When I baked them at 350 for the minimum time, they did not sink. The other batch I baked at 325, but let them bake an additional 2.5 minutes after I would have normally taken them out of the oven. No problems. |
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sayhellojana
Forum Fanatic
Joined: Aug 08, 2008
Posts: 1320
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
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Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:25 pm |
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| kakeladi wrote: |
BTW A suggestion for you. Typing in all captial letter is hard to read and is considered shouting. |
I don't mean to be rude, but I agree. I have bad eyes and have to stare really hard to read all caps.
So far as your falling problem,
Are you using whole milk? If so, try reduced fat or skim, or half whole half reduced fat or something like that. A high concentration of fat can keep a cake from rising.
Has this been happening to both scratch and boxed cakes? If its just the boxed ones, it would be from adding things like pudding mixes or not enough leventing to support added ingredients.
Too low bake temp can also cause it. Use a thermometer and test your oven. You can get probe thermometers for around $14 at grocery stores. It's not an oven thermometer, but it will be fairly accurate. That is what I use.
Are you beating your butter enough? Its hard to tell the difference, so if your just going by look, you could be getting it right sometimes and not the others, thus the sinking.
HTH |
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AsburyArt
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 09, 2008
Posts: 33
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Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:00 am |
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There are a couple of reasons the cakes could sink and they are all interrelated.
1) the heat could not be high enough to set the cake structure. Have you checked your oven temp with a thermometer? Even if your batter is mixed properly, if your oven is slow, the batter rises too fast for the oven heat to set the structure.
2) too much baking powder. This is especially a problem with large pans. Reduce the amount of BP for your larger pan sizes (12 and over) Too much BP causes the batter in a large pan to rise too quickly before the heat can get to it and set the structure... leading to a sunken center.
Heating cores are a nuisance for anything 16" and under. Nine times out of ten you can control the bake with the BP
3) Undermixing. The least of the problems, but combined with a slow oven and too much BP, the cake will sink.
This all assumes you are using the type of flour called for in the recipe. Subbing cake flour for AP can sometimes cause the same problems. |
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cakesmade4u
Frequent Member
Joined: Feb 05, 2008
Posts: 233
Location: CO
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Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:28 am |
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EVERYONE THANKS SO MUCH YOU ARE AWSOME AND I WILL BE LOOKING INTO ALOT OF THE SUGGESTIONS TO FIX THIS PROBLEM.. I WILL HAVE TO GET A THERMOMETER TO CHECK THE TEMP IT IS AN OLDER OVEN SO MAYBE THAT COULD BE IT. I'M SO GLAD I HAVE ALL OF YOU TO HELP ME OUT.. I'M SURE I WILL BE ASKING FOR MORE HELP ALONG THE WAY.. THANKS HAPPY BAKING... SORRY ABOUT THE ALL CAPS AGAIN |
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