I'm having major issues with my square sponge cakes sinking!
I don't know whether my measurements are correct?
My oven temp? There's so many factors?
The strange thing is,it never happens with my round ones!
I havn't changed my method of creaming butter/sugar etc gradually adding eggs,sifting flour and so on....I just don't get it?
I've been asked to make 2 x 12" square cakes for next Saturday and am panicking now as my 2 x 10" square ones baked last night for my sister sank!!

Welcome to any suggestions/recipes at all!

Thanks x

What recipe do you use?

In my 10" ones last night I used 8oz of butter/lurpak,caster sugar and self raising flour and 3 eggs, per half cake. I have two tins the same size so instead of cooking all the mixture and slicing it I bake the two halves seperatley and then sandwich them together. I also put 1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder in each half and 1 tsp of vanilla essence in each half.

Is this wrong?x

Not sure of your recipe, but, are you sure you are supposed to be using self-rising flour? Self-rising flour already contains leavening and then you added baking powder per your recipe. Typically, sponge cakes use sifted Cake Flour.

So its's just kinda like a pound cake right?
That doesn't need any bakingpowder, if you cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix well before adding the flour (and salt!)
Make sure you don't bake it too hot (150 degrees C).

The mixture doesn't raise much while baking, because all the air was added while mixing.

Good luck!

I'm thinking that the additional 1 1/2 tsp baking powder is your problem, too. Self-rising flour has the leavening already incorporated. When you added extra, it did its job too well, leaving big pockets of air and no structure to support the shape.

In fact, it doesn't even need selfraising flour, plain cake flour will suffice. I never use anything else
It all depends on the mixing.

In grams, I would use 500-700 grams of everything for each layer, depending on how high you want your cakes to be.

Thankyou will give this a go!

have fun

linziloo84, did they ask you to do a sponge cake?

You're saying you're using butter, and sponge cakes are usually a mix of flour, sugar and eggs (no fat).

Chiffon cakes are flour, sugar, eggs and oil.

There's no butter involved in those.

You usually make a sponge cake by beating the eggs with sugar and then adding the flour. And yes, it's a little bit harder than other cakes as you have to be careful in folding the flour so that it doesn't deflate the eggs.

Maybe you're calling it something else? Maybe you're making a pound cake instead? Not sure where you took the recipe from.

Have you tried putting a core in your cake or I use a rose nail in the center..if it's sinking it's because the cake isn't done in the center..if the batter is thick you need something to conduct heat in the center. Also square pans have more servings per size than round so you may need to add more cooking time!

Just in case your client does ask you for a sponge cake, you can make a genoise. Here's a video from Julia Child's Baking with Julia PBS Series. I've made it and it works.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1174158883/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Génoise_cake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge_cake

Moscovisch is made with cold butter, genoise is made with melted butter and the definition of sponge cake isn't that clear.
Usually it does mean eggs, flour and sugar, but I've noticed lots of people say sponge cake to other cakes as well

Amen to that

Moscovisch is a dutch term, I don't know what it's called in English....

Moscovisch. Something like this? Maybe I'll want to make it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoyachubby/3491681069/

OK, I'll go away; lol; don't want to hijack a thread.

The cake itself could be moscovisch, not sure...
But the filling and fruit is a creation of the baker

Interesting to realise that our assumptions can change the meaning of things. To me a sponge cake is one made by the victoria method, that is by creaming butter and sugar then beating in eggs a bit at a time then gently folding in the flour so the air is kept.

Any sponge without butter[or oil] would have to be identified as a fatless sponge and has to me at least a different texture.

In this case I'd guess the extra liquid and raising agent sabottaged your cake. I hope you've cracked it now anyway.

Yous Aye
Puss

So funny! Where I live, a sponge cake means you aerate the egg whites , gradually adding sugar. Fold in the yolk/.sugar/flavoring/oil mixture, then bake. That's a "snow" cake or a "sponge" cake in my parts!