I can't figure out what the problem is with my chocolate cake. Ppl rave about it but honestly... It's so problematic. It sinks (no matter what I do), so I am always baking extra, to fill the centers. I've raised the heat, messed around with levening, added less flour, less milk... I've narrowed it down to:
It's sinking because....
* I'm mixing Dutch and Natural cocoa powder.
*The levening is off.
My recipe is:
2 cups ap flour
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¾ cup or 75g cocoa powder (I like to mix half dutch and half natural)
1½ tsp baking soda
2 tsps Baking powder
½ cup hot water
your sugar to flour ratio looks interesting and no eggs. Also, why do you use half dutch half natural cocoa? The mixing of the cocoas would not effect the leveling. Sugar not only sweetens the cake but helps with structure and can be counted a liquid because of moisture. Adding eggs might give you the result you are looking for.
my advice is find a recipe that works already -- look for one with those same basic ingredients -- because flavor is flavor -- all you need is correct proportion and it's already out there, no need to sweat it -- using one from any of our famous cake designers like colette, or toba garrett etc. would work every time -- the one on the back of the Hershey cocoa can is "perfect" 
ha, see what I did there --
also I'm guessing your peeps like a fudgey cake, I think maybe toba's is fudgey but I didn't double check --
the wheel is out there why stress trying to reinvent it -- just my feelings on fixing recipes -- the reason I say 'don't stress or sweat it' is because if it was me, I would be loathe to waste ingredients if one of my attempts failed -- obviously I'm projecting that onto this advise here not at all on you though --
happy baking --
also one other thought if you bake short layers Texas sheet cake is very fudgy but it doesn't bake well for me in larger round pans --
best to you and merry christmas 
and that leads to another idea/question for you -- what happens if you put less batter in the pan and use a baking core or upside down rose nails to help conduct an even distribution of heat?
ok that's it i'm shutting up now -- just put in a quarter and I can blather about baking forever
sorry my attempt to assist someone upset you K8memphis. To me it sounded like bakedbymommy was set on using the recipe she has but wanted alter it. I think picking another recipe is an excellent idea, but if she really does, for whatever reason, want to alter the recipe she already has, that's her choice I respect and support that to.
littlejewel -- no no no no no -- I apologize for any misunderstanding -- your post was great -- solid advice -- I'm not upset with you in any way -- awkward sentence there maybe -- idk why exactly you think I'm upset with you -- I meant within My rambling advice i was projecting potential stress about her fretting about her recipe -- not anything about what you said --
sorry
little jewel, i was talking to op not to you in my original post -- you out there?
Sorry, I totally forgot to add "2 large eggs"
I mixed the the cocoas once (didn't have enough of one) and it resulted in a beautiful color and rich flavor. So I stuck with it.
Quote by @littlejewel on 2 days ago
your sugar to flour ratio looks interesting and no eggs. Also, why do you use half dutch half natural cocoa? The mixing of the cocoas would not effect the leveling. Sugar not only sweetens the cake but helps with structure and can be counted a liquid because of moisture. Adding eggs might give you the result you are looking for.
K8memphis I feel silly now. I should have known that doesn't sound like you
I totally agree! It makes like easier! But I'm not trying to tweak someone else's recipe. I used to experiment on recipes a few years back and for the most part, I have a decent recipe book, but this cake...is always problematic. Due to the fast rise and then deflates
I've tried flower nails, still sinks. Cupcakes bake well with little to no sinking. I'm testing it now with heat (325° F on convect). I have a new oven and I think maybe I'm setting it too low
That's exactly it, I'm fixated on this recipe
BakedbyMommy I thought you mixing the cocoas to get the rich flavor and save money because dutch is expensive. Looking at the complete recipe, I don't see why your cake should have any problem. I would think it's the ingredients, the mixing, the oven, or the filling of the pan that is causing the problem. A few years back I discovered my husband would open the oven door and peek at my cakes when they were baking, stopped having a deflating problem. I agree with K8memphis if you try another recipe you might find one you like better. The Hershey's chocolate cake is easy to get right,.........K8memphis I have a Toba Garret decorating book, just used it for decorating techniques, trying that fudge cake tomorrow
I'm ready to throw in the towel and look into these other recipes
It's like the center just doesn't want to stay lifted, especially with cakes. It was nice and rounded on top, then fell. The cupcakes baked at 320°F on convect but the pans were at 325° on covect. I have two thermometers, both had temps of 335F-350F.
bakedbymommy -- you can still tweak the recipe to make it yours -- but doing it from a well regarded recipe that works solidly for most people saves the most headaches -- once it's made as written and works, you know you can deviate and if the changed version doesn't work you can tweak again if you want but you're assured of the solid base -- and as you know, not all recipes work in all the different sized pans, etc etc etc --
i know a girl who has made thousands by taking a betty crocker cake recipe and developing it to include variations and techniques -- it's so done all the time --
and how 'bout this one -- sylvia weinstock has two yellow cake recipes -- this one Classic Yellow Cake Recipe (make-fabulous-cakes.com) calls for two and a Quarter cups cake flour -- i typo'd it and wrote two and a Half cups -- it always works great for me -- but i tweaked the eggs and the technique too -- but it is a little more precarious without that extra quarter cup of flour -- so much so that an online friend couldn't make it work as written and she's a degreed pastry chef -- so all that to say, not all recipes work for all peeps -- there's a million variables -- for example the water in new york city is what is said to make their pizza crust so special -- who knows right?
so a bit of extra flour might bale out your original recipe too, now that you got the eggs in there 
my mottto has always been, "one baker's never ever do, is the next baker's", i swear by this"
littlejewel -- save me a slice of the tg choco cake
BakedbyMommy -- i just couldn't resist teasing about the eggs -- totally jk jk jk jk jk
i panicked once when i left out an ingredient on an egullet post when i was writing a 'how to' about doing a tier cake from home -- lots of peeps were following the posts as i was writing including pastry professionals -- idk --
BakedbyMommy
Your cake recipe is sooooo similar to our fav family chocolate cake. And I’ve never ever had a failure. And I’ve baked 100’s. It’s actually a tweaked scratch cake from a 1950’s Sunbeam cookbook. Only difference is I add instant coffee to the water. Have you checked your oven temp? Maybe your oven needs calibrating? If temperature isn’t regulating, perhaps there’s spikes in temperature? Do you have a oven thermometer? I swear by mine. I check my oven every couple of months. I also remember reading a post from a decorator on one of my cakey forums on fb that was having a similar problem. Was the flour. Brand she was using had changed the formulation. She switched to another flour, problem solved. Have you checked your baking powder is still “active”? That’s all I can think of. Have you had problems with any other bakes? Other cakes?
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