AHi I'm wondering if anyone can help me baked a cake today, skewer came out clean when I tested it I came to cut it to fill it and I had a ring of hard under baked cake in the middle and the outsides where nice and spongy how am I suppose to test cakes if the skewer comes out clean also sank a little in the middle :-/

Maybe try using a flower nail? You can buy these at any cake shop around or maybe a supermarket. What you do is put it at the bottom of your tin in the middle (grease the nail) and then pour the batter over it. It helps the heat distribute evenly throughout the whole cake.

You can also try the baking strips but personally I like the nail better :)

AANNA, I have heard of this and always wondered if it works.

Gem, that drives me nuts if ever it happens to me, but I've changed the way I make them In as much as I bake whatever size cake I'm making in 2 stages, soon much better, well for me it is anyhow.