Why do my cupcakes always break on top?? Its like they are not cooked all the way on the top. I bake at 325. I dont understand why they always do this. I use a doctored cake mix...pretty much the wasc. This is irritating me!! Does anyone else have this problem?

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Have you tested your oven temp. You can get oven thermometers pretty cheap. We just tested my moms oven and it is running 75 degrees over temp. She thought she was poising her mind burning everything.

Also does this happen with all recipes? My choc cupcakes sometimes split but my wasc don't normally split.

Yeah I do have a thermometer and it pretty much is spot on as far as the temp. It doesnt do this for all my recipes....but for sure the choco wasc, and today I tried the RV WASC and boy did it split!! I just wanted to know if any one else was encountering this same problem.

But why does it do that?

325 is too low for cupcakes. They are baking unevenly. Because of the low temp I can't think of which is baking first, inside or outside.

Up your oven to 350 at least. Or you can preheat to 400, for at least 30 minutes before you put in the cupcakes of not more, then after 5 minutes lower it to 350.

Or you can start at 350 to begin also. Turning up the heat and then lowering helps the cupcakes to dome.

Both ways will take about 20 minutes to bake.

And like the previous OP said, get an oven thermometer. They cost about four bucks at your grocer.

Is it just the red velvet ones? I have never had that problem with WASC before. As far as 325 being too low for cupcakes, why is that? I always bake mine at 325 and I have never had a problem with them baking unevenly, they always come out great.

ETA: Sorry, just read that you said it happened with choc and rv. Oops! I should make sure I have read all posts before I ask a question!!

I can't tell you why 325 is too low. If you do research on cupcakes recipes they are all done at 350 degrees.

If it works for you don't change it. All ovens are different. Obviously for the original OP who has a problem with HER cupcakes, it isn't working. What works for one will not necessarily work for others.

Have you tested your oven though? It could be that your oven runs high and you are actually baking at a higher temp.

And I'll be haughty taughty and say I don't do mix, I only do scratch. A mix box will have emulsifiers in it to help that could possibly help prevent this problem at the lower temp. Scratch doesn't. So before I guess any further a better question would be to ask this.

What is the recipe you used?

I have a thermometer and the temp is prett much right on. I have always baked at 325 but I'm gonna try it out at 350. I use macmsom choco wasc and for the rv I use the basic wasc subbing the white mix for rv, using buttermilk instead if water. They are good...just hate that splitting on top!! I don't know if it's because of a mix??

I can not answer of this happens because it is a mix. Unless you are not mixing enough and this is a result of separate ingredients. But seeing how I don't make cakes from a mix I will leave this question to those that do.

In the meantime, just cover with lots of delicious cream cheese icing and no-one will know

In my years in the industry (33 years) I can tell you that the common factor in Red Velvet and Chocolate cake is that they both have Baking Soda. White cakes do not, generaly, have baking soda, only baking powder as a leavening agent. When you use cocoa you need to have BS added because of the process that is used in making cocoa.
If I had to give advice on how to reduce cracking on top of these cakes... I would suggest 2 things.
#1. cut down a little on the BS. It is a necessary ingredient but you don't always need the amount called for in a recipe.
#2. OR... Sometimes cracking is caused by steam. Steam produced by either too much moisture in the batter or too high of as baking temp. Sometimes you will not get a good peak on a batch of muffins because the oven is not hot enough, same thing in reverse. Try reducing the liquid and/or reducing the temp too.
It is hard to troubleshoot a recipe without actually seeing it. Most recipes can be changed alot without changing the integrity of the batter.
Hope this helps.