I just made a chocolate poundcake from Warren Brown's Cakelove book. It took forever to bake and is sinking in the middle. The middle on the surface is hard and crusty, but the rest of it seems to have a nice texture. Does anyone know why this happens?

Could be under done. Could be to much leavening. Are you making the cake in the size pan recommended in the recipe? Are you baking at the correct temperature? Are you at a high altitude or a low altitude? all these things can make a difference in the way a cake bakes, especially a scratch cake that doesn't have the stabilizers that a box mix has.

I was concerned because the recipe says to use a bundt pan. I did turn my oven to 335 degrees, but I always bake at a slightly lower temp in it...I think the temp guage is incorrect......Probably the recipe did not go with the pan. The batter rose really high, but it was very liquidy still .....

Thanks!!

I Have had the same thing happen in the past. I had no Idea what went wrong.