I'm doing white DH with a box of cheesecake pudding added along with an extra whole egg. Twice now it's done this, altho this time isn't quite as bad. The ones I just took out of the oven I did the same except no extra egg, and it was a little better yet but still caved in. It never rises, cooks like this the entire time. I'm filling my pans about 1/2 full, baking at 325, have checked my oven temp and its accurate.

Any ideas?
Terri

I would suggest and not being the best using a rose nail in the middle upside down and see if that helps. The nail will conduct heat and cook more of the middle for you. Let me know what you end up doing and how it comes out.

Thanks and good luck!

The picture is telling me that your cake in the middle is not completely done or too much air. You definely need a heat core in the middle. Click link below if you never heard of it. It's a real plus for me. It's called Heating Core and cost only $3.99.

http://fantes.com/cake_baking_helpers.htm#core

This is only a 6", do you think it's still in need of a hear core? I'll definitely try the nail head in it to see if that helps.
Thank you very much!

I asked the same question. It has happened to me 2 times in a row. I also made an 8 inch with the left over batter, both times and it sunk in the middle too. Sorry, I'm not any help, but here's a bump for you, because I'd like to know too.

Seems to me like you arent cooking it enough. I make 8" cakes 4 inch deep all the time and dont have that problem, Is your oven temp correct?
Also how much water and oil are you using? For thicker cakes you onyl need 1 tablesppon of oil. I would try to bake it longer.
Good Luck

Did you at any time open the oven door to check on your cake? One time awhile back I opened my oven door to check on a cake and when I closed it my cake fell in the middle. Like I said this only happened once. It seemed like it had something to do with the stage the cake was at and the force with which I closed the door. I'm not entirely sure this is what is happening in your case, just thought I'd share my experience, for what it's worth.

Looks and sounds like to me that you are not baking it long enough. How long are you baking them?

bj

You can definitely try a flower nail. I wouldn't use the heating core on a 6" but a nail should do the trick. And I agree that it probably needs to bake longer.

You may need to adjust your oven temperature. Usually if the diameter is smaller than the directions call for, you need to RAISE the temp. For larger cakes, you need to LOWER the temp. Also make sure you are not over mixing your batter and that you are using the correct size eggs. Using extra large eggs in a recipe that calls for large eggs may alter the results.

6" cakes really need to be baked at 350 degrees. An oven at too low a temperature can cause the center to fall. Some other possible causes:

Over or underbeating too much or too little air is incorporated into batter.

Underbaking - oven temperature too low and / or too short a baking time, not thoroughly cooked.

Over or under measurement of liquid or too much sugar.

Too small a pan.

Excessive jarring or moving of the cake during baking.

Opening the oven door before cake sets.

Too much baking powder or baking soda

Excessive mixing of the batter.

Beaten egg whites - When you beat egg whites, their proteins unwind and join together loosely, making them very unstable. Make sure at least one of the egg whites is not beaten, but added with the liquid ingredients instead, to help stabilize its structure.

Edencakes - I am impressed with your technical knowledge !

I make cheesecakes. Hundreds of cheesecakes. (Although a cheesecake isn't really a "cake," it's actually a baked "custard!")

And, Edencakes is right. When you add the extra pudding mix into the cake mix, the ratio of sugar/mix goes up drastically. When you have too much sugar in any mixture that is to be heated, what happens is that the sugar only gets hot enough in your oven to make a "syrup" type thing in the mix. You can just imagine trying to bake a cake with a cup or so of corn syrup poured into the middle of your mix!

I'd suggest trying the mix without the pudding and extra egg it calls for. And, check the oven temp, and bake at 350. Use the flower nail.

I'm sorry to preach. I really don't mean to come off that way! Best of luck to you!

--Knox--

I would get an oven themometer and check your oven temperature... Do you test your cakes before taking them out? I bake at 325 and bake a little longer.

Thank you all for your input. When I levelled and torted the 6" last night it was done in the middle. As for the ingredients, I just go by what's on the box. The only change I made was the first batch I added the extra whole egg like I've read here and the 2nd batch I didn't. I think the first this I will try is raising the temp back up to 350 and see how it does.

Wow Edencakes that's alot of things that can go wrong! As much as I wanted to I did refrain from opening the oven door and peeking until the timer went off lol. I was careful to mix for the 2 min it said on the box, so I don't think I over mixed it. I used the paddle on my KA. Now the eggwhites...... it called for 3 whites and I used the carton whites (as read about on CC and oh so convenient), do you think that might have made a difference?

Thank you all so much, now I'm off to fight with the MMF some more, that stuff is hard to get the hang of!

just not long enough. when you add pudding and extra egg it usually takes an hour to bake . just give it time. I know about 40 min into it; it will be looking very golden and you will think it will burn to leave in longer; but it won't and it won't be at all dry. Mine are the moistest cakes ever and i have gotten used to seeing it this golden at 40 min. that cake is ver very light; so i don't think it was done. If the sides are rising faster; are you using bake even strips? maybe the sides are cooking faster too and rising and you are taking out before the center is done.

Baking with the nail in the middle has really worked out for me.

well after levelling them they weren't so bad after all. Here they are with MMF. Since DS graduates Thursday night I thought I'd turn it into a graduation cake. I'll sure he'll love the scrollies

Doing the MMF on the 6" today was much easier than the 8" last night. I think maybe I rolled it out to thin. Then I just took ideas that I had seen and liked ( the lace and swiss dots) and added them. The entire cake is kinda pitiful looking compared to all I've looked at, but I guess not to bad considering I haven't picked up a decorating bag in 16 years. My hand was starting to cramp by the time I got thru the lace lol.

All suggestions welcome! (except for take a decorating class, there aren't any until July )