Ok so here I am it's 2:30 in the morning and I baked a second cake I need for a cake tasting at 10am. They want a white chocolate cake. I first tried a doctored cake mix adding white chocolate to it,but after completeing it I really was not happy with the taste results I got. I was really wanting to try a doctored mix using pudding. Yes there is another but, BUT I cannot find white chocolate pudding here where I live ! So I decided I would try a scratch recipe that gets great reviews on an internet site with tons of recipes. Well to make a long story short the cakes overflows in the oven and for some reason sank in the middle as soon as I took them out of oven. I was so optimistic but now Im just so fustrated I dont know what to do ! I followd to a "T" or at least I feel I did. I must have messed up some where. Does any buddy have any suggestions, Thanks. Sorry so long!

The recipe I used was called: White Chocolate Cake from Dede Wilson's 'the Wedding Cake Book'

8oz white chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups unsifted cake flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 teas. salt
4oz unsalted butter, at room temp.
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 lg eggs
2/3 cup whole milk

1.bake at 350 for 30-40
2.prep two 6" pans
3. melt white chocolate
4.sift flour, baking powder, salt and set aside.
5. Cream butter in mixer bowl with paddle attachment
6.Add sugar gradually and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes--scrape down once or twice and beat in vanilla
7. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Scrape in melted chocolate and beat until batter is smooth
9. Add dry ingredients alternating dry with milk into 3 batches.
10. Pour into prepared pans.

I have the book and the recipe you posted is correct as per the book. Unfortunately, I have not made the cake so cannot tell you how it worked out for me

A couple of things I can think of:

Did you cool the chocolate to room temperature before adding to the rest of the batter?

What type of chocolate did you use?

That sounds like a lot of cake batter for 6" pans...... were they 2'' deep, or 3" ? That could make a difference too.....

There are three main reasons a cake will fall in the center.

1) Too much or too little baking powder.

I'm guessing the recipe was written for 9" pans. Maybe the recipe was written for a multitude of pans, and you placed all the batter in the 6". Rule of thumb: never fill a pan regardless of height more than half full.

All things being equal, small pans need more baking powder. You want the cake to rise quickly, since the pan is so small, the heat will penetrate quickly and set the structure. Too little BP and the center will sink.

2) CHECK YOUR OVEN TEMP. A slow oven is essentially the same as too much BP. The heat won't penetrate the batter quick enough to set the structure. The batter will rise too fast and then sink. Check your oven temp.

3) Undermixing. It is entirely possible you undermixed the batter given this mixing method and the use of cake flour. Also cold butter, eggs or milk can exacerbate undermixing. Were all at room temp? Basically, undermixing doesn't develop enough structure (gluten) in the cake batter even if the BP or oven temp are correct. Result: sunken center.

I know this is a little "simple" but I use Betty Crocker cake mix, add an extra egg and I add an 11.5 oz of ghiradelli white chocolate. The thing with the chocolate is that I melt it completely in a mini crockpot (chocolate maker) and then just pour it in.

When I was just chopping them, the cake wasn't that chocolately to me. But then I melted it and I get it got mixed in a little better.

Also, I would use a strong white chocolate...the baker's squares and brands like nestle are not flavored enough. To me the ghiradelli is stronger in flavor.

Good luck and HTH!

I have tried that recipe several times and it always sink on me. It is SO frustrating!!!

I have gotten the good results from the white chocolate whisper cake from the Cake Bible. Those recipes are pretty finicky though. Most recently I tried just adding white choc to my vanilla cake recipe and reducing the sugar a bit. It okay but I am still working on adjustments to make it better.

I hope you found something that works for you!

grama_j- the recipe does say that it is for 6" pans does not say 2" or 3". After thinking about why the poster said they over flowed and after I had baked them I thought maybe they ment 3" pans.Oh well!

AsburyArt--You may be right about not mixing long enough. I was afraid of actually over mixing!! Aughh!

liapsim-- Thank you so much for the alternative. My first try was a Betty Crocker white mix with chocolate, but recipe said not to melt chocolate so I didn't. I feel the same way about the tast as you did. Now I know that I really need to melt the chocolate before adding to the mix.

Thank you everyone for the pointers. I'm taking my first cake to the tasting as I am way out of time to try any new recipes. I will take what all you said for the next white chocolate cake I try!!!