OK, I've been using wasc and doctored mixes for 2 years now... I wanted to try a scratch recipe.
Here's the culprit... and even a 'for dummies' video to go along with it as well as a reference to the woman herself, Rose Levy B and made with Martha's endoresemtn.. can't go wrong, you'd think, right? WRONG-O!
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/billys-vanilla-vanilla-cupcakes

OMG, these things smell to-die-for while cookie, the batter was super easy to make and the video and recipe were super simple to follow (aside from conflicting measurements of baking powder).

My cratercakes are disasterous... unless I decide that I meant for them to look that way and just fill in the pit with some sort of filling! lol

Help, help!

I had that happen to me and I was already planning on filling them. I plucked the center out with my cupcake corer and filled and replaced the core. That helps, but I have found several thing that people tell me to do to make that tops dome:

Bake at 375 instead of 350
Preheat to 400 and then turn to 350 when you put them in
Add flour and baking powder

I haven't tried any of these yet but I hope someone more experienced can answer your question.

Christy

Thanks for the reply and suggestions! My problem was not with them not doming... they actually sank in the middle to about halfway down inside the cake... and there was cooked cake all over the top of the pan. Like they overflowed then sank... if that makes sense.

I'm going to try it again later this week... I had 2 measuring cups my my bowl and I want to make sure I didn't grab the bigger cup and use the wrong sugar measurement before I totally trash this recipe..

I used to have this problem ALL THE TIME, and only with cupcakes made from scratch! Then, I read something somewhere that said when a cake sinks, you need to turn up the heat on your oven. I figured it would work with cupcakes too. So, now I bake all of my cupcakes at 365 instead of the recommended 350, and they come out beautifully! You may have to play with your temperatures a little, but it sounds like this is your problem.

HTH!

Meagan

I had this problem and found that playing with adding extra flour helped a lot, but the recipes were ones that sank even in cake pans. I ended up adding nearly half a cup of flour to my chocolate recipe and still tinkerin with the carrot cake, but it defintely helped.