I Am Going To Scream...cake Overflow

Baking By confectionsofahousewife Updated 13 May 2010 , 2:00pm by bakers2

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confectionsofahousewife Posted 12 May 2010 , 9:17pm
post #1 of 11

I am seriously getting ready to gouge my own eyes out with a fondant tool. I have baked the same cake recipe THREE times only to have it overflow the pans every single time!

I am using The Cake Bible all occasion downy yellow cake. I baked it yesterday (doubled the recipe) in two eight inch pans and a four inch pan. They turned out beautifully. Perfect texture, rose above the edge of the pan so I could level it right off.

I made 1 1/3 the recipe yesterday to put into three six inch pans and they overflowed badly (I think I had an entire cake in the bottom of my oven) and then sank so much in the middle that i really couldn't use them. So I thought, okay I just over filled the pans.

Today I make the same thing again, fill the three six inch pans. This time I collared them (thinking I had outsmarted the pans this time!) and the batter rose high but did not overflow the collar but they sank just the same in the center (and the texture was WAY off on these).

Now I am baking them for a third time and I filled the pans less than halfway full and the damn things are overflowing in my oven as we speak. I am praying that they just overflow and don't sink. What the hell am I doing wrong?!?!?

10 replies
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eccl1-12 Posted 12 May 2010 , 10:19pm
post #2 of 11

I have no idea, but if that recipe is giving you so much trouble, I would retire it for a new one. Better to lose the recipe and keep your eyes. Surely there is a yellow cake recipe that will be much more compliant and get along with you better.

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chellescountrycakes Posted 12 May 2010 , 10:43pm
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I dont know- but I just had to say that I have had it happen to me in the last few weeks a couple of times.

I KNOW I ptu the same amount of batter in EVERY time, and 1/2 the time it overflows, 1/2 the time it doesnt... my oven currently smells like a burnt strawberry field that someone threw vanilla on to put it out...

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confectionsofahousewife Posted 13 May 2010 , 12:29am
post #4 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by chellebyerly

I dont know- but I just had to say that I have had it happen to me in the last few weeks a couple of times.

I KNOW I ptu the same amount of batter in EVERY time, and 1/2 the time it overflows, 1/2 the time it doesnt... my oven currently smells like a burnt strawberry field that someone threw vanilla on to put it out...




Yes! I just don't understand the problem. I had to clean the oven this morning so that I could bake more cakes without burning the house down. This last time when I noticed they were overflowing I put a cookie sheet underneath the pans to catch it. I'd rather clean that than the oven! The cakes didn't sink as bad this time. They are at least usable. But those darn six inch pans keep overflowing on me. Argh!

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bettinashoe Posted 13 May 2010 , 12:41am
post #5 of 11

Interestingly, I had this very thing happen when I doubled a recipe that I have been using for years. I discussed it with my daughter and we decided some recipes just don't work out when you increase the quantities. I made the same cake, not doubled, today and it worked fine. Don't know if that is the reason, but it worked for me!

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katnmouse Posted 13 May 2010 , 12:50am
post #6 of 11

Could the ingredient proportions be off with having cut a recipe into thirds?

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confectionsofahousewife Posted 13 May 2010 , 1:10pm
post #7 of 11

I thought about that. The first time I made it when it turned out (using two eight inch and one four inch pan) I had doubled the recipe. The next two times I multiplied it by 1 1/3 which is definitely weird but the recipe specifically states that you can use 1 1/3 the recipe. Maybe my math was bad and I got one of the ingredients wrong. The third time I did it I still had overflow even though I filled the pans less than half full but at least they did not sink in the middle. I would blame the six inch pans because they are small but I baked in a 4 inch and it domed up nicely and didn't overflow. I don't know, I'm just glad I got three usable six inch cakes finally!

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LindaF144a Posted 13 May 2010 , 1:20pm
post #8 of 11

How much leavening did you put in the 1 1 /3 recipe.

Have you tried tasting these? Maybe I am doing something wrong. I just made cupcakes with this recipe. They were good that night fresh from the oven. The next day the crumb was beautiful, but we felt like we were eating slightly sweetened bread, not enough sweetness. Maybe it was so the frosting could shine through, but overall it was not a keeper. I still have 18 out of 24 cupcakes sitting here.

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jenise11 Posted 13 May 2010 , 1:25pm
post #9 of 11

I don't know the answer, but you may be able to go on Rose Levy Berabaum website "Cake Bible" and ask there. Everyone there are pretty helpful and you may even get a response from Rose. Hope this helps.

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jandrmom Posted 13 May 2010 , 1:34pm
post #10 of 11

I don't make regular cakes, just coffee cakes. One time I had six cakes going at the same time, and they raised nicely then fell right before they were to come out. Turned out I had mistakenly used a bag of self-rising flour. Along with my regular leavening, it was just too much to hold itself up. It was a sad, sad day at my house.

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bakers2 Posted 13 May 2010 , 2:00pm
post #11 of 11

my experience with this same recipe is that I have to cut the baking powder by 1/3 to gain a more consistent result.... HTH

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