Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hello

I’m having difficulty when baking cakes of 11″ and larger, whether round or square. I keep finding them uncooked in the middle.

I prefer my cakes to have 3 layers of sponge and 2 filling layers. Each sponge layer about 1″ deep. I have been baking the whole lot in one tin and then slicing the layers. Would it be better to do 2/3 of the recipe in 1 tin and 1/3 in another tin?
I can’t seem to find a reliable way to do it and have wasted so much time and not to mention ingredients!

Does anyone have any particular sponge recipes that work well for larger cakes? My 11″ round vanilla sponge uses 800g butter/sugar/flour and 16 eggs. Is there something wrong with the quantities that could be causing the problem?

Thank you in advance.

i had this problem too until I switched to Mrs Jones Vanilla recipie. Use the cake calculator to work out how much to use. If only one tin half the required mixture and make two individual cakes and bake seperately.

Thanks for replying Jackie. I’m not a paying member – do I need to be to access Mrs Jone’s recipes?

Hello AnnaFrancesca

To access Mrs Jones’ recipe you do need to be a paying member. However the blog section is free and that is where you will find two tools which can help you scale up any recipe.
Use either my ready reckoner or the cakeometer here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/how-to-work-out-what-size-cake-tin-to-use/
Deep cakes take a lot longer to set so it is advisable to reduce the temperature and bake for longer. Remember baking times are only a guide as all ovens vary. Some bake faster than others so you are the best judge of how your appliance behaves.
A heating core will also help distribute the heat in the batter. When baking one deep cake I use three metal royal icing nails or Ateco heating cores like this:
http://www.thecakedecoratingcompany.co.uk/heating-cores-set-of-4-by-ateco
If you are having consistent problems with large cakes baking through it may be better baking the recipe in two halves. It is also advisable to have an oven thermometer to compare the internal temperature of your oven to what the external dial is reading. If the oven is not calibrated properly for temperature it will affect baking times and doneness. If you have time, take a peek at my blog here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/baking-problems-solutions/

Please could you say whether you are using large or medium eggs. I would suggest that you weigh the eggs still in their shells and then weigh out all the other ingredients to the weight of the eggs.

Hope some of the above helps. If you need more help or information please post again.

Thanks you madeitwithlove, that’s really helpful. I will invest in some heating cores and check my recipe against the ready reckoner.
I use large eggs. I will definitely weigh them and check how it corresponds to the weight of the other ingredients. Perhaps I should change to medium?

I can’t afford to pay the monthly subscription at the moment for the Paul Bradford school. When I can, I will definitely join. I find the free elements so useful. And this Q&A section is invaluable and full of knowledgeable people like you!

Many thanks again x

I would think the problem lies with the size of the eggs. Medium eggs weigh around about 53g – 63g and large eggs between 63g – 73g. Weighing the eggs will give you a better idea againt the other ingredients for how many eggs to use. Use either size as long as the weight ratio balances out with the rest of the ingredients. I used mixed sizes and weigh my eggs out of the shells for a more accurate balance. However the majority of recipes are written up in how many eggs and not how many grams….. shame! Having said that recipes can tolerate approxiamtely 10% – 20% adjustment without compromising texture depending on what other ingredients are being added.
When you do join up to the premium membership, I know you’ll love it! x

Hi Anna
I had a similar problem in February this year when I was doing my first wedding cake. I found anything larger than 9″ diameter was best done in 2/3 batches. I had 4 layers so basically cooked one cake 1½ times the ingredients to create a deep cake – good 2″ height – which made two layers. I haven’t thought of using heating cores – good idea MIWL.
I’m just about to join as over the last 3 weeks I have exploited all the freebies. I will pay monthly initially because I want to be sure I will use the site enough and the fact that you can cancel whenever w/o a contract is a plus. Worth paying a couple of months at least to get access to the more advanced stuff etc. Give it a go!

I think you are absolutely right about the eggs Madeitelthlove. I weighed the amount my recipe stated and they were way heavier than the sugar/butter/flour weight. Thank you so much for drawing my attention to it. I have also ordered the Ateco heating cores.

AnnieLaurie, that’s a great idea about joining and paying monthly initially. I think I shall do that.
Could I just check with you – to get your 4 layers of sponge, did you bake the entire recipe x 1.5 twice? And this gave you 2 layers each bake? Just trying to getting head round it as I’m baking a wedding cake 11″/9″/7″ round next week and really don’t want to mess it up! Thank you for commenting.

I was doing a 10″ round lemon drizzle cake (Mich Turner) recipe. Initially I cooked it in one go and it sunk in the middle and was not that high on the sides. I then added another half of the ingredients to the original recipe, then halved this and baked in two halves using 6 eggs for each half. These came out deep enough to split in two. Hope this is clear 🙂

Perfectly, thank you very much.

If you’re looking to increase the depth as well AnnaFrancesca, take a peek at my very simple answer here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/deep-vs-shallow-cake-tins/
I hope it will come in useful.

@ AnnieLaurie Some members have had similar problems with the Mitch Turner recipe. It’s great to have the additonal information from you. It’s going to be very useful to other members.

Happy baking to you both xx

That’s fantastic, thank you very much x