I have tried one or two different cake recipes but each time the bottom of the cake and the sides end up burnt and the centre is still uncooked or partially cooked. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong or is it the oven. This has happened with both pound cake and sponge cake recipes.

ACheck your oven temperature with an oven thermometer. They are not really expensive but worth the investment. It sounds like your oven is way too hot.

I generally bake a sponge cake at 150c (fan oven - middle shelf) lower but longer has worked well for me. I agree with remment3333 - that is, to buy an oven thermometer.

Ensure that cake pans are not too big - that they are touching sides of oven.

You might also consider a maintenance check on your oven - a faulty thermostat can cause uneven baking.

Hope ths helps!

Margaret393

ur oven is too high , check the temp with oven thermometer , to make sure u have the accurate reading

its most likely your oven, so definitly check that but you can also split the batter between 2 pans, they will bake faster on the inside than a large thick layer.