I made two 10" Dark Chocolate Cakes from the CC recipe files. The cake had a 5 star rating so I thought it would be a safe bet. The flavor of the batter was excellent, and the cakes looked perfect when they came out of the oven. The toothpick came out clean, so I assume they are done all the way through. Within 5 minutes of taking them out of the oven, they started sinking in the middle 
Now that they are cool they are only about an inch high in the middle and two inches on the sides. I made the cakes for a friend, for her birthday tomorrow night. What am I going to do now? I don't have time, or the ingredients to make 2 more cakes. Can I salvage these, and just make a very short cake? Or is this normal for this recipe? Help, I need all you wonderful experts "out there" to help me make this right.
Thank you, Denise
Unfortunately, it sounds like the cakes are not done. I have had this happen sometimes on cakes, especially chocolate/red velvet, where it appears to be done with the toothpick, but sinks after getting it out of the oven, and the cake is mushy.
Personally, I wouldn't serve that cake, I would stick it back into the oven (depending on how long it has been out), and make some cake balls or something.
Try it again, make sure you use flower nails in the center, this is key. I also use strips around the pan. Also, instead of using the toothpick. Use your finger to press onto the cake, if it springs back up, its done. I have found that testing the cake too early with a toothpick interrrupts the baking process and causes the cake to collapse.
I recently had this problem and it was me -- trying something new and not paying attention. Here's what I did wrong. I used too much coffee creamer, my oven wasn't hot enough, my baking time was too short.
My toothpick did come out clean. I was able to salvage some cake scraps. I don't know about a whole cake. It is probably not done in the middle. You could tort it to see how much of the center is not cooked. You could cut the cakes in half and make a semi circle cake whose base is the cut edge (does that make sense?) That way it wouldn't look short. and four thin layers would look okay in that format - it would be twice as thick as a full circle cake. You may be able to salvage the edges and make a rainbow cake and put a little pot of gold, a leprechaun or something under the arch.
Thank you for your advice, I will try again and see what happens.Quote by @%username% on %date%
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