It seems like every time I add melted butter to a cake, it both "fries" (gets a really hard thick crust on top) AND sinks in the middle AND is way too "spongey".

A few weeks ago, I bought a butter recipe yellow cake mix and made it according to the package directions (I was just making quick cupcakes for my sons). When they were done cooking, the tops were really bumpy and hard.....and after 20 minutes of cooling had sunk to the same level as the tops of the cupcake liners.

This AM, I made the Super Enhanced Cake from the recipe section in a Wilton Star pan because I was going to torte it and cover it w/fondant...so I wanted something stronger, especially in this heat.....I might be able to salvage it, but the same thing happened again....the top is bumpy and "fried" (and I cooked it at only 325) and it is sinking in the middle before my eyes...LOWER than the cake pan top

ANy suggestions? I have to make a batch of cupcakes AND a cake for tomorrow's last day of school for my son (I was going to make the teacher's cake in the star pan and write on it something like "From the Stars of Room 3" (anyone have any better wording for that?)

HELP!

Unless the cake recipe or the mix specifically says that you cannot use margarine, I will use margarine instead of butter. I just cut the amount of salt required in half (if necessary). It seems like maragarine works so much better especially if the recipe calls for melting it first. My cakes have always turned out fine without sinking, but when I used real butter, they sank horribly in the center. I'm not sure if the butter had anything to do with this, but you might try using margarine and see how it turns out. Maybe someone with more experience would have a few other ideas. Good luck!

I tried mine with margarine...and it sank right before my eyes as well...and below the cake line..... they were beaurifully raised in the oven before the time was up to be done... I don't know what could be the problem either.... when I bake a DH cake from the directions on the package....BEAUTIFUL....no problems...as soon as I use an extender or butter/margarine....down it goes....and this last time i used the leveling by placing my cutting board on it..... and the cakes sank below the caked pan line... and really shrunk.... they got soggy too...and I didn't leave it like this for very long either...just til cool enough to turn out of the pans....the cake was kind of chewy also....
HELP!!!!
cakegal

question-why are you melting the margarine??

I always thought that if I needed butter or margerine in the cake mix that it was to be creamed in and not melted. I don't know if melting does something to the chemistry of the cake. Just a thought.

I always melt my butter when I use my DH cake mixes and have never had a problem. I also make sure that I do not open the door to the oven for at least 35 minutes.

If you don't melt your butter you will have little lumps all in your cake. Creaming it will help too. But you have to make sure it is mixed very well.

I think maybe the temp of the oven needs to be turned down. That might be the problem everyone is having. The cakes are rising too fast & that's what causes your cakes to sink & even crack on top too.

Like cakeconfections said, don't open the oven door till the cake has been in the oven for more then 30 min. Opening the door too soon will cause your cake to sink everytime even if it isn't a butter cake.

I use butter in all my cakes and I don't have that problem. What heat are you baking at? I wonder if you are baking to high to fast kind thing. I don't know. I also melt the butter before adding it. Goes in with all the wet stuff. I bake all my cakes at 325

I guess maybe I will try to lower the oven a bit....I don't think I have opened the oven before 30 minutes, but I'll check the timer <grin>

I DID discover one thing about the cupcakes though.....it may be a problem with my cupcake pan. I use the Pampered Chef stoneware cupcake pan and last night I had to make the batch of cupcakes for today's party. The first batch, I pulled out of the oven and let sit in the pan to cool for 10 minutes.....before the time was up, they had sunk like a stone. The 2nd batch....I pulled out of the pan as soon as I pulled them out of the oven and they kept their shape. Perhaps leaving them in the stoneare for that extra time caused them to continue cooking to the point of falling.

But the star pan is what really got me. Since I had a flat first cake (using the Super Enhanced Cake resipe at 325) I decided to torte it and make another cake and make it a (hopefully) really tall cake. I used the Super Enhanced recipe, this time with a chocolate cake mix (I put chocolate in between the yellow layers) and a flower nail. I figured that the star pan was "borderline big" and perhaps a flower nail would help.....this one NEVER rose in the middle, even when the outside was almost burning....

I always get good results when I just use the cake mixes plain....I'm just not having good luck with "doctored" cake mixes <sigh>

Oh - I was able to salvage the star cake to the point where a bunch of "non-decorators" will probably think it is good <grin>....will post pictures later

You know--I never use butter in cake recipes because the resulting cakes always have an underlying "burnt butter" taste to me. I have found that plain old veggie oil works best.

However--I have never heard of melting the butter first. I always used it really soft and then creamed it before adding in the other ingredients.

I say if you have good luck using a "regular" mix--why bother with the doctored one? Why mess with a good thing?

Oh, and putting the cutting board on top of a cake for leveling--I put a rack on it and then a cast iron fry pan and only leave it like that for a few minutes. I've never had a problem doing it that way. I'm thinking because you left the cutting board on it--the steam didn't have any place to go and cause your chewy cake problems.

Lisa

you don't have to melt the butter, just make sure it is soft before adding it.

When I use butter mixes I usually use I can't believe it's not butter, and never had a problem. Recently, I have switched to using yellow mixes and I add butter or butternut extract along with mexican vanilla. It gives the cake a great flavor and then you do not have to use all that extra butter. You can save the butter for your icing!
traci

You shouldn't melt the butter, just leave outside the fridge for a couple of minutes until it's room temperature. This week I made a cake recipe that had double the butter and was way better. Maybe you could also check if your oven is cooking at the right temperature with an oven thermometor.

Wandy