Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A
Cake sinking
I know this topic has been covered before but it’s just happened to me for the first time! I tried to make two mud cakes, one 6 in and one 8 in. I prepared the batter of both cakes separately. Prepared the wet and dry ingredients of both cakes and combined only at the end. I had a double lined cake pan, and put both cakes in the middle of the oven on the same shelf. The 6 in turned out perfectly fine but the 8 in wasn’t finished cooking thoroughly after the allotted time (1 hr & 40 mins), although the height was levelled, at this point. So I cooked the 8 in for 20 mins more, and that’s when it began to sink. Also, the oven wasn’t opened throughout the allotted time. Can’t understand why the 6 in turned out perfectly and the 8 in sunk! Any suggestions on the necessary cooking times for mud cakes? I’ve got to make a 10 and 12 in as well!
I know this topic has been covered before but it’s just happened to me for the first time! I tried to make two mud cakes, one 6 in and one 8 in. I prepared the batter of both cakes separately. Prepared the wet and dry ingredients of both cakes and combined only at the end. I had a double lined cake pan, and put both cakes in the middle of the oven on the same shelf. The 6 in turned out perfectly fine but the 8 in wasn’t finished cooking thoroughly after the allotted time (1 hr & 40 mins), although the height was levelled, at this point. So I cooked the 8 in for 20 mins more, and that’s when it began to sink. Also, the oven wasn’t opened throughout the allotted time. Can’t understand why the 6 in turned out perfectly and the 8 in sunk! Any suggestions on the necessary cooking times for mud cakes? I’ve got to make a 10 and 12 in as well!
Hi Fay28
I’m guessing this is the moist chocolate cake and not the mud cake recipe in the blog.
In my experience it doesn’t pay to place two different size cakes in the oven together. Each cake has a different finish time so your six inch cake timed out correctly but the eight inch hadn’t had enough time for the centre to set causing a collapse when the oven door was opened. Baking it on doesn’t help because the leavening is heat dependant, the drop in temperature ceases it’s full function preventing the cake rising any further.
Hi Fay28 I had the same problem with the 8″ cake. Half way through the coking time the cake looked great and had risen well. When it had been in for 2 hours I took it out only to find it had sunk and wasn’t completely cooked! This was a big disappointment even though it was my first attempt. In total the cake had 2hrs 45mins in the oven. I am going to try it with less sugar next time and I’m going to invest in a oven thermometer to see if that helps. On the plus side the cake does taste yummy!!!
Strange isn’t it?
I’ve made the 8 in square cake again this morning, and thank God, it seems like it turned out fabulous! It’s nice and levelled in height although it took 3 hours to cook! This was the recipe for the mud cake from the blog, which says it only needs 1 hr & 40 mins. I also put an oven thermometer in while baking to make sure it was at 160 degrees. I guess that’s what the problem was for the last cake, the oven temperature was way off. And I remembered to cover the cake with foil, which I thought would help it cook faster?
Madeitwithlove, is there a chart for baking times depending on the the size of the cake? Any suggestion for how long a 10 and 12 inch cake might take?
I really appreciate your input! It’s so nice to be able to discuss these things with experienced bakers.
Hi Fay28
First apologies for late reply, I’m on holiday in the backs of beyond and don’t have reliable internet connecction.
The mud cake recipe in the blog is for 8 inch round cake not square and bakes in the given time 160c or 140c fan assisted oven. An 8 inch square cake has approx 25% more batter and takes longer to bake. Approx baking times for 8 inch square 2hrs/2hrs 10 mins, 10 inch square 2hrs 30/40, 12 inch square 3hrs 30 mins. All ovens are different so you’d need to use your own judgement for your oven. For the larger cakes I would recommend that you use cake strips or about three upturned royal icing flower nails in the batter to encourage an even bake.
i did the chocolate cake with the recipe that one of the members had given for a 9″, and it came out great. today i tried pauls recipe for the 10″ and the 6″. the 10″ sank in the middle, still waiting for the 6″ to come out. very dissapointed the the test run went so well and the actual cake is a flop. any suggestions of what i can do to salvage the cake and not have to redo the whole thing?
