Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I have tried to bake the moist chocolate cake so many times now and not once has it gone right. I have made a lot of cakes in my time but never have i had the problems i do with this recipe and i have no idea what i’m doing wrong.
I followed the videos to the letter each time and each time the cake comes out looking great and within 10 mins the middle has sunk and its so thin it would only make one layer of a normal depth cake.
I have tried changing everything, from the tin I use, to the length of time it takes to the temp itself, and each time its the same result.
Today’s cake was in the oven for 2.5 hrs at 150oc and still came out the same, with a massive whole in the middle. I’m about to give up trying as its getting really disappointing but i love the taste of the cake so much…any ideas what i’m doing wrong?

I use Lindys chocolate cake recipe google it it should come up. I had problems with sinking but realised not to over mix and this solved the problem. Tried to send the link but did not manage it.
Everyone says it is lovely and stays moist for days

Dear Clarabelito,

Firstly do you have an oven thermometer if not you can pick one up from Amazon for a few pounds. It may just be that your oven is not reaching the correct temperature in the given time. if you are following the instructions to the letter it must be that your oven is taking a very long time to reach the optimum temperature. If you are still h having problems with the chocolate cake with an oven thermometer I have a brilliant no fail recipe for a chocolate cake. It is similar to Paul’s but it is softer and more moist and will last until all decorations are complete even if it takes you a week or so. Kind regards, Ozzym

Dear Clarabelito,

Firstly do you have an oven thermometer if not you can pick one up from Amazon for a few pounds. It may just be that your oven is not reaching the correct temperature in the given time. Please let me know if this helps.

Ozzym

Kind regards,

Ozzym

Hi,
Could you ask a friend/relative for the use of their oven, and bake the cake there to see if it makes a difference. Then you can eat the cake with them and have a coffee or tea. just a thought.

Hi Clarabelito

There are many useful comments on this recipe under the heading ‘popular questions’ and I wondered whether you have had the opportunity to read some of them. In this blog http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/baking-the-perfect-cake-why-things-go-wrong there are further comments which may be useful to you. The most
frequently missed instruction in the ingredients has been the eggs size which should be large. The temperature 150c is for a non fan assisted oven, fan assisted oven temperatures should be reduced according the
manufacturers recommendations or by between 10- 20%. As suggested in the above answers it might be worth
checking out whether your oven is reaching the correct temperature. Jackie’s suggestion is a great one!

hi i have had problems with this recipe, its always hit and miss with me. Try typing ‘Paul’s moist chocolate cake’ my feed back in the question box and see if there is anything there to help you x

There are many chocolate cake recipes that are very similar to the one on the website e.g. Lindy Smith or Jane Hornby – each of these is a similar moist dense cake suitable for carving. If you have made many cakes in the past without any problems then it seems to suggest that your oven is okay. I have made the cake a couple of times and (although it tastes great and is moist it always sinks in the middle and there is a hard crust that has to be cut away probably because of the high sugar content) Happy baking :))

Thanks for all the feedback. I do already have an oven thermometer as it’s a gas oven but i prefer to make sure i know the temperature in oC.
I have tried it in my mums oven as well and it did the same sinking thing, although that is fan so maybe I could try it again and turn down the temperature to see if that makes a difference.
I always measure my eggs in grams, I was taught a large egg would be 60g out of the shell, therefore that shouldn’t be the problem I don’t think.

I’ll have a look at the blog as well and see if anything in there can help. However, ozzym if you do have another similar recipe i could try that would be great…could you email it to me please [email protected].

I’ll also have a look at Lindy’s cake…I’m determined to find a nice rich moist cake that i can still carve and tastes delish like Pauls one!

There is also the chocolate mud cake recipe in this blog http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-make-chocolate-mud-cake. This a long shelf life recipe used in Australia for wedding cakes and also good for carving.

I would def have a go at MIWL and Headrabbits Mud cake – its fab and I had no problems with sinking x

Hiya

I also had big problems with sinking and crusting when I first tried it. However with some tinkering I finally get a result that I’m pleased with every time. Firstly I only used 650g of sugar which reduces the crust significantly but doesn’t effect the taste. For the sinking, I put a flower nail in the middle of the tin and I find that helps bake it in the middle more evenly. (2 or 3 nails for large cake). It still dips a little but nothing that can’t be cut away easily.
I also put a rack with a baking tray on the shelf above the cake as I find this helps reduce the crust further.

Hope that helps 🙂