Sinking Disaster! Need Help Urgently..kinda Long...
Decorating By SweetBellina Updated 1 Dec 2006 , 4:11am by SweetBellina
hey guys, i was trying to find the forum about cakes sinking in the middle..i couldn't so maybe u can help me. i baked one box of BC triple chocolate mix, added one box of instant fudge pudding, then used the cake mix extender recipe from this site..i used 4 (or maybe 3?)-8 inch pan and i put the excess batter in a 2 -6inch pan..the middle of the 8 inch pan did not cook at all after 30 minutes (325F), had to take it out coz the top and the sides are hard and overcooked already. i was thinking i just forgot to use a heating core (flower nail) right?so, i baked the remaining batter in the 6 inch pan and same thing happened! the middle sank, and i mean sank! it was like a half inch from the bottom of the pan..my daughter's bday will be on saturday and i need help guys..thanks!
I don't know if this will help. But when I was working on my Pumpkin cake. Which is a Butter recipe yellow cake with a pumpkin spice pudding added. I decided to lower the temp of oven to 325 and cook longer and that helped me. LOW AND SLOW worked for me. I just keep checking with toothpick and sight and touch. It took my awhile to figure out how to make it raise and not sink 
But I hope this will help you 
Is it possible that you overbeat or underbeat the batter? This will sometimes make cakes sink, also. Especially after you take them out of the oven.
Theresa 
kaychristensen,i did bake it in 325, and i was willing to bake it longer but the top was overcooked already.do u think lowering the rack might help? so i had to take it out..theresa,i just realized that yes, maybe i did underbeat the batter..it got so thick and i was using my hand mixer instead of the stand, and i did not use a timer and i was on the phone!
I would think alot of factors would be your problem. I would retry and be aware of everything you do. I did alot of trial and error on my cake. And this is weird my 8 inch pans sunk more than the rest. Try lowering the rack. Are you electric or gas stove ?? that also could make a difference. And hand mixer might not be as strong as my stand mixer. What speed did you have on your mixer?? I always use a timer especially when I am busy or on the phone. I hope this helps.
I have a suggestion you may want to try. I always beat my scratch cakes the way box cake mixes are suggested - 30 seconds on low to stir, then 2 minutes on medium (unless otherwise directed).
I have found that if I put the pudding in too early, the batter comes out extremely dense, and I have problems with it. Now I stand there and time it, and pour the pudding mix in at the last 45 seconds. It works better for me, and since the pudding hasn't set yet, it is easier for me to bump the bubbles out of it.
Try it and let me know if it works better for you.
Theresa
It sounds like your oven temp is off. Invest in an oven thermometer. They are only $4-5 at wal-mart. It sounds like your oven might be off by about 50 degrees.
Also, my doctored 8in cakes normally take at least 45 minutes to cook and I do use a flower nail too. And don't be tempted to open the oven door too soon as this will cause a mix cake to sink as well.
It sounds like your oven temp is off. Invest in an oven thermometer. They are only $4-5 at wal-mart. It sounds like your oven might be off by about 50 degrees.
Also, my doctored 8in cakes normally take at least 45 minutes to cook and I do use a flower nail too. And don't be tempted to open the oven door too soon as this will cause a mix cake to sink as well.
Yes, it could be the oven temp....I had to get a themometer, my oven was over by 30 degrees...I dont have anymore problems now.
Denise
Dodibug, an oven thermometer is a great suggestion, but I had trouble with the one I bought from WalMart. I had bought one there when I moved into my apartment, because my oven is probably older than I am. I had trouble getting the first one to work at all. I exchanged it for another one, and had trouble getting that one to read anything but 500 degrees (even I knew the oven wasn't That hot). I returned it completely, and went to Bed Bath and Beyond, and spent the 15 bucks on a digital with a long wire and a probe on it. That's how I found out that my oven was working at 75 degrees hotter than it was supposed to.
The best part about this thermometer is that now, I don't have to open the oven door to see what the temperature is, which also keeps the hot air from rushing out when I open the door.
Have a great day!
Theresa
THANK YOU EVERYONE! i am compressing everything u said in my brain and i know that all of it will make a difference.mixing in the pudding later is new to me.i always dump everything in the bowl and mix it all at the same time.and i would use my stand mixer tonight when i practice again..
Mixing the pudding in last is new to most people. I just figured it out about a year ago, myself.
Let me know if these tips work for you.
Theresa
You're welcome. It has worked for me so far. The batter is not nearly as thick as it gets when you beat it in at the beginning. I just put it in slowly, so it incorporates well.
Theresa
happy birthday too theresa! another question though 
, if i am going to use the cake mix extender recipe, should i mix it at the same time as the cake mix (except for the pudding)?
I do not use the extender recipe, so I cannot help you there. If you choose to use it, then I would not deviate from the way the extender recipe is written.
Theresa
THANK YOU EVERYONE! i am compressing everything u said in my brain and i know that all of it will make a difference.mixing in the pudding later is new to me.i always dump everything in the bowl and mix it all at the same time.and i would use my stand mixer tonight when i practice again..
Marj..
Why are you using both methods? Chocolate cake is a very moist cake that sometimes feels and looks a bit undercooked. Adding pudding to the chocolate cake mix is just making a moist wet cake wetter.
From my understanding on the cake extender recipes, you eighter use ONE or the other but not both.
So, if you are adding the extra cup flour and extra cup sugar and the extra egg...and adding the 8 ounces of sour cream or yogurt...the yougurt/sour cream will act as your extra moisture and the extra egg yolk will add fat ( so you wouldn't need to add any more oil )
Try your cake again...using one or the other method and let me know how it works for you.
HTH
ok everyone, i tried it again a few nights ago and it sank again! and my dh made me realize how stupid i was and how i forgot to mention one itsy bitsy detail about the recipe i used..i added 1/4 cup of chocolate syrup!!! 
and when he saw the bottle of syrup i used he suddenly said,i know what went wrong with your recipe..and he was right! the final cake i made for my daughter's bday was perfect, but i followed all your suggestions so it helped too with the final product!!! so thank you guys and hopefully u do not get tired of my stupidity...
hmm...now the mystery deepens.. 
...i tried baking the cake for 70 minutes with a heating core..but it also sank. 
...i would probably try it again with a scratch cake and see what happens..it was only with the chocolate cake, the white butter cake i baked after that was fine.
I used DH Devil's Food with the cake mix extender (no pudding, no chocolate syrup) and my cake rose than sank horribly and then had an incredibly dense texture that bordered on yuck!! This cake was for family so luckily not a paying customer but I was extremely frustrated. The only thing I could think of is that I filled my 8" cake pans too full (3/4). I think I'll try some of the good scratch cakes on this site!
so it is probably the cake mix...maybe the more they try to make it moist the more the possibility of shrinkage..
When you add pudding into the mix, do you use instant or cooking type?
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