My cakes are shrinking and I can't quite put my finger on why.
I always bake from scratch, my vanilla and white cake recipes call for whipped egg whites, there are many times they come out looking great and then shrink so much I have to go hurry up and make another batch for another layer just so the cake doesnt look skimpy... so frustrating.

Not sure what i'm doing wrong, I love the recipes and would hate to change them. The cream of tartar is mixed in with the dry ingredients, not sure if I should be mixing it with the egg whites. I am gently folding in the whites and all my ingredients are room temp.Does it have anything to do with greasing the pans? (although I always do it the same way)

If anyone has any tips on this tecnique I would be greatful.

Cake troubleshooting charts:

http://tinyurl.com/42lrgvm

http://tinyurl.com/2p5bdu

http://tinyurl.com/32goqe

http://tinyurl.com/6c745g

http://tinyurl.com/6lpjww

http://tinyurl.com/yay22w

HTH

what great sites, thanks you. Does anyone know when I slhjould really add the cream of tartar? The recipe says to mix with dry ingredients. But I am finding maybe I should put it in when whipping the egg whites? Afarid to try it.

The COT goes in after the egg whites have been whipped a bit. Adding it to the dry ingredients does nothing, you want the effects in the egg whites themselves. What recipe are you using? Sounds like it could be one of mine, but not with instructions like that.

I use the WBH white cake. It shrinks so much. I love the recipe but never know how its going to come out.
I also use the Martha Stewart vanilla cake that has the same method but hers does not call for cream of tartar, still shirnks

Try pulling them out of the oven a couple of minutes before you usually would. Shrinking could be from over baking...even a minute makes a difference.

They are probably slightly overbaked. You can also try not greasing the pan sides (run a knife to release after baking) so they climb and hold instead of releasing prematurely (heh heh)

I just tried using wax paper around the sides 3" tall and added extra batter, so I actually got a 2" high cake for the very first time, however my 9" ended up to be closer to 8" and my 6" around 5" so the sides still shrunk, so they still shrunk after they started cooling out of the pan.
I will try these tips next time. and see what happens I would hate to change my recipe, so frustrating.