Hello everyone! I'm going to try and keep this "story" short and sweet, but we'll see how it goes haha :) 

So I have this chocolate cake recipe that I love to use, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. It has a tendency to seem like it is done cooking, but once it comes out of the oven, it has sunken in in the middle and seems too soft and not spongey enough. I did the toothpick test and the "press" test, and it seemed fine. Now, I have three pans of chocolate cake that I need for tomorrow that aren't quite where I want them to be. I think that I might have overfilled the pans (this recipe rises A LOT) and it had just too much to bake, and it baked unevenly. The flavor is good, but I'm worried that it won't make a sturdy cake. (it will be on the tall side, too). Tomorrow, I'm going to level the cake and hopefully get a better idea of how the inside of the cake looks (right now, I'm guessing a bit dense/fudgy. My fingers are crossed that it resembles a brownie and not a mildly-undercooked cake!) Then, if necessary to keep it from breaking due to its unbaked-ness, I'll freeze it before working with it.

I guess I just need your thoughts on this situation. What can I do to avoid this? Why did it happen? How should I work with the cake that I have right now? Any and all suggestions are welcome! I will be more than happy to clarify any confusion or questions you have about my situation. 

Sorry the message was a bit long and the question isn't straightforward, I appreciate all your help! 

Charlotte Kelly

Just in case it matters-

I am filling this cake with peanut butter mousse and covering with chocolate ganache. Rich cake, I know! If the three layers were too thick, I was going to split them layers in half so that I would have six and I thought that would be really pretty. What do you think stability wise? 

Again, thanks!

Hey...sorry that happened to you.

Who is this cake for and do you sell it or is it a freebie? 

If it's a cake order you get paid for I would honestly rebake it. You can't sell an underbaked cake. It might spoil your reputation and people might get sick on top of it.

Where did you find the recipe and could you post it?

Some recipes are cooperative and you can double and triple them, overfill pans and just bake them for longer and they still turn out okay...others don't.  

I tested all my recipes for different cake sizes and know the exact amount of batter for the pan and baking time. A toothpick test is tricky and sometimes unreliable  when it comes to moist cakes like chocolate or fruit cakes so rather test and write it down as a reference for next time.

With regards to the filling and ganache I don't see a problem as such. Although it's rich it should be alright as long as your cake is...so basically what I said in the beginning...you might need to rebake. 

It's like a house...you can't make up for a poor fundation with a pretty roof :/