I made a cake in a heart (wilton) pan that will not rise and I don't know why.
It was a white box cake,3-egg whites,1 can bacardi (thawed,undiluted),2T. oil.
It's very thick when I pored it into the pan if that means anything.
It rises around the edge but not in the middle....grrrr.
I didn't open the door before it was done.

I made it again today. Once again it didn't rise.

Any ideas why? I am a beginner and this is so frustrating.
Thanks sophie

Cakes will sink or dome for a number of reasons:

Overbeating too much air is incorporated into batter.
Underbaking - Oven temperature too low and/or too short a baking time.
Over or under measurement of liquid or under measurement of flour
Using too small or large of a baking pan
oven temperature


Since you said it is very thick I think you may not have the right proportion of liquid. Plus adding the bacardi (the frozen mixer it sounds like?) adds a bunch of additional sugar that may throw things off too. I would try using whole eggs too. If I were in your situation my next try would be to emulate the WASC receipe and add an egg white (or use whole eggs), an extra cup of flour (but no more sugar because of the bacardi), add water (if necessary) to the thawed bacardi mix to make 1 1/3 cup, & add 1 cup of flavored yogurt or sour cream.

Did you thaw the Bacardi mixer until it was room temp? Or just until it was mixable? If it was still too cold it might solidify any fats in the cake, making the batter thicker than usual. Then the batter might have been too chilled for the heat to reach the center in time, and thoroughly enough to make it rise before the edges are done.

Adding too much sugar can cause that problem (the bacardi mix) Try adding 1 tsp baking powder to help. I started doing this to any cake mix that I enhance or add anything to and have no trouble.

This recipe sounds dispropotionate to me. I would use the ingredients listed on the mix, plus add 1 egg, 1 cup flour, the bacardi mix, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking powder.


Stephanie