I have made the WASC cake before with no problems.

I made a half batch tonight and the cake got a well in the center, a big dip. The rest of the cake looks fine.

It looked fine while it was baking, started to rise nice and then all of a sudden, a crater in the center.

I have never had this happen before, anyone know why?

P.S. I made a second 1/2 batch later and the same thing happened. I even added 1/2 tsp of baking powder to the second batch thinking that would solve it and still no luck. (That's the one still in the pan).

It's not my oven because I also baked a yellow cake tonight that came out perfect. HELP!

Gee... I'm sorry that happened to you (TWICE!). I'm not sure why that would happen just on the white recipe and not the yellow. I know that cakes will "fall" if there's too much leavening, too much sugar, or moving the cake while it's baking, just to name a few. I wonder if something could've been wrong with the mix (composition of it). I don't use them too often, but since your yellow cake came out fine tonite, I'm guessing that might be the cause. ... Let's see what other's think... Good luck & I hope everything else turns out okay for you tonite.

I find that sometimes if you don't bake the cake long enough it sinks in the middle as it cools.

The only time this happens to me is if I have too much sugar. Did you add anything as a flavoring like liquor, juice or syrup to the mix. I did this just yesterday with a chocolate kahlua. I substituted kahlua for the water but forgot to cut the sugar down and it sunk. I had to remake and cut the sugar in half and it came out perfect. Also, try using just whole eggs and not egg whites. It doesn't change the color much and I find the batter to be more stable.

I find it does it when I bake the WASC at 325 .. I up the oven about 20 degrees

Some recipes just have to bake at a higher temp then the lower temp.

This exact same thing happened to me when I made the WASC. So, if it could be caused by too much sugar can you cut out some of the sugar that you add without compromising the structure of the cake in any other way? Obviously it would be less sweet but other than that what might happen?

I'm using this for a wedding cake this weekend and now I'm nervous it will happen again. I thought it was just me the first time.

I have made it before with the full amount of sugar and baked at 325 and never had the problem.

I will try again with less sugar and at 350 and see what happens.

Ugh.

I am with wgoat5, I bake mine at about 340 because I find it doesn't cook as well at 325, I have a gas oven in the house, and an electric out in the bakery, so that might be why I don't like the way it cooks at 325. I haven't ever had it sink, but I have had it stick pretty bad before.

This happened to me..so I quit putting in salt and started baking at 350..and so far its worked.

I don't know how deep you pans are, but it happens when I use my 3" pan (I wonder if it's not totally done in the center even though I use a flower nail.) Something else I did was use carton egg whites instead of regular egg whites & had no problem. If you use the entire egg (only 6 for the entire recipe) it will make it more stable, just not as "white". There are so many things that can cause it. I love this link.... http://www.baking911.com/cakes/problems.htm#Coarse%20grain%20&%20sunken%20center

This happened to me as well the other day I was pretty disappointed.

I tried clicking my link & didn't have success. Let me know if you guys are having problems & I'll type it out.

that happens t o me a lot with the wasc

I just overfill the pan, and when I level the top it doesn't cause a problem