My in-laws use the same cake recipe every time they make a cake. But that recipe, and all versions of it, give me the biggest problems!!

They call it the Hershey's chocolate cake recipe, but it's not the one you can find online (they don't use boiling water) but every version I've tried of this recipe, it only works in 9x2" round pans, and only with non-stick spray and wax paper on the bottom.

I have tried it in taller pans, but I think it fails in those because it's soooo thin. I just tried it in a 6x4" pan, filled it halfway, and it only got to about 3" and somewhat sunk in the middle (I spaced on the bake even strip).

I'm going to give it one more try, but if it still behaves badly with the bake even strip, someone is just going to get a lot of cake balls.

Thanks for reading!! All my husband does is say, "What do you want me to do about it?"

hmmm - I would say that not all cake recipes are able to bake in say a loaf pan. My favorite chocolate cake sounds similar in that it is very runny - it needs heat to make it rise.

have you tried inserting a flower nail or heating core? That might help. Do you need to bake a 4 inch high cake all at once? Unless its the ball pan, bear pan etc could you not bake in 2 2 inch pans and stack?

A couple of things you can try that work really well for me.

1. Before I start mixing I stick my baking strips in cold water and then lay them in the freezer. I stick them half frozen around my pans, it makes it easier to wrap, and then I feel like they are still cold by the time I get dont messing with them.

2. Try the homemade pan release! I'll admit I was a skeptic, I know, shame on me, but OMG! I have NEVER had a cake come so cleanly out of a pan before, you batrely need to clean it! The recipe is equal parts of flour, oil, and shortening. I do one cup of each and mix it together and store it in my pantry until its gone in an airtight container. Just apply with a pastry brush, making sure to get really good in those corners!

3. Even though I use the bake even strips, I also use a flower nail turned upside down, sprayed with lots of PAM, and set in the middle of my greased cake pan. It does the same thing as a heating core, but you arent losing the middle of your cake. When you flip out your cake, just pull out the nail, but be careful, it WILL be HOT.

Try those, and see if you dont get better results.

i'm with dinas on the whole...not all cake recipes are for a larger pan.

I am curious to see what is in this recipe to help you out. other than that all the other advice is what I would do first.

Cakes sinking in the middle. If it sinks as it cools, it was underbaked. If it sinks in the middle as you are baking it, you may be using too much leveling agent. I am asuming you are using either the Black Magic or Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate cake. The Killer Chocolate Cake listed in the recipe section is another variant on that recipe. I had Black Magic recipe sink on me once when I baked in an 9x13 pan. I suspect that it was under baked because I didn't use bake even strips and the sides were becoming over baked and the center was rising too much.

Thanks so much for the advice. I managed to get enough cake out of two batches to make a 6"x4" cake. I'll post pictures later today.

I will definitely mark down all the advice for future reference, lol.

Also, the recipe I used was the Dark Chocolate Cake recipe which is VERY similar to my in-laws recipe in taste and texture (it comes out very thin too).

At least the cupcakes were YUMMY. Got great compliments on those.


Have a lovely Saturday!!

I know you said it wasn't the cake recipe on the Hershey's can, but that sucker *always* sinks in the middle for me. I'll have to try some of these tips out and see if they work!

Glad you managed to salvage something out of it