So I am just starting out baking and decorating cakes. I tried using a wet towel wrapped around the cake pan instead of the bake even strips. I kept testing it and at about 60 mins the tester came out clean so I took it out of the oven and as I let it rest the cake sunk. After it raised like crazy. So I was hoping that I could save it and still use it but the middle was undone even after I tested it in a few places. Any ideas on what I did wrong?

What size pan did you use? There are several possiblities.

1. Your oven's tempature could be off. Invest in an oven thermometer.

2. Depending on the size of you cake you may need a heating core or need to stick a flower nail it the center before you pour the batter so it heats through the middle to cook evenly.

3. Your recipe could have a lot of liquid of pudding so it is very moist and needs to cook at a lower temp for longer. But I would know that unless I knew what recipe you were using.

HTH

It was an 8in round. It calls for 1/2c. milk and 1 c boiling water. Other than that no liquid.

How early did you start opening the oven to test? (much before the end of the baking time the recipe recommended?) If you open the oven too early it can cause cakes to sink sometimes because of the change in temperature.

It could also just be a bad recipe! I've had recipes that just sank every time no matter what I did.

Other option is - sometimes cakes test as cooked and aren't. I had that happen a month or so ago - it's a massive pain but it just can't be helped sometimes!

I first tested it after the 45 mins that was the longest end of the recommended cooking time.

Unless this was a pound cake recipe I don't understand why an 8 inch would take and hour to bake. How deep was the pan? If it is a pound cake recipe what temp did you bake it on? When I make a pound cake I bake it at around 325 degrees just so it has time to bake.

I think it just wasn't my day for cakes. I haven't had any issues with the temp so far but I am probably going to look into getting an oven thermometer. I have made this recipe before no problems until I put the wet towel around the pan.

It is 2in deep. It isn't a pound cake. I'm thinking its a German Chocolate Cake recipe. I don't know for sure because it's been handed down on my husband's side thru 5 generations now ( his great great grandma). I thought I might take longer for the cake to bake because of the wet towel. It was my first time and didn't know what to expect from it.

I would post pictures but it keeps telling me it is too big to add as an attachment.

I think my oven is off. I'm trying to bake just a standard Pillsbury box cake and the middle of this is one isn't being thoroughly cooked either.

Sorry to hear you;re having so much trouble baking up a cake It does sould like the biggest problem is your oven. Make sure when you get a thermometer to invest in a good one - not those dinky little ones usually available at grocery stores. Those can be sooooooo very unreliable

I had this happen a few weeks ago. I was making my first ever tiered cake for a baby shower and wanted to do a trial to make sure it turned out ok. My trial cake turend out awesome. Both the 6 and 10 inch cooked up beautifully. A few days later when I went to make the cake for the actual shower (same cake mix and all) both of my cakes rose over the pan and started dripping into my oven and when I took the smaller one out it fell. The only thing that was different was the weather. On the day I made the trial it was cool and rainy. The next time it was dry and warm. The amount of moisture in the air and temps definitely make a difference. Good luck.

What kind of flour did you used? That happens a lot with self-rising flour

Also you only open the oven door towards the end - there is a crucial time you aren't supposed to open it

I used all-purpose flour. And it didn't open the door til the 45 mins were up.

For me the weather was the opposite. It was cool and rainy when the cake fell and when I made the first cake on Sunday it was sunny and gorgeous out.

For some reason I have this problem a lot with chocolate cakes. Every other cake I make comes out beautifully. Now for my chocolate cakes, I don't pull them out until they start pulling aways from the sides of the pan. I've read others saying this means the cake is overdone, but it's the only way I can keep them from sinking.