Cake having a mound in the middle
Any idea why my cakes never bake evenly? They always come out having a mound in the center.
Appreciate any responses.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa on
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What temp are you baking them at? I usually bake my cakes at 325 and get a very very little mound; once its out of the oven I immediately take a papertowel and press gently down on the cake. I almost never have to level my cakes. If I want a mound; such as for cupcakes I bake them at 350.
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Permalink Reply by jeri c on
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I agree... lower the temp and bake for a longer time. It does take longer to bake them but the mound is gone and they come out without so much air in them. And be sure your oven is preheated too... sometimes that makes a difference.
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Permalink Reply by denette lynch on
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They bake higher in the middle because the outside of the cake, by the edge of the pan, is exposed to more heat. So the outside bakes and is done before it has risen a bunch.... while the middle, protected from the heat by cake, is still rising and baking. Prevention includes baking at 325 instead of 350 (lower heat, longer baking gives the outside a longer time to rise before being done), a heating core or flower nail ( directs more heat into the center of the cake therefore speeding up the center of the cakes baking), purchased or homemade baking strips (insulates the outside of the cake slowing down the outside baking allowing the edge more time to rise). Probably others but I do these three things and no longer have a dome and don't have to cut off any cake to level. They bake flat.
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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Thanks a lot for the responses. I will try out these suggestions and will let you all know how it turns out. @Melissa - I have been baking my cakes at 350... whatever the temp the recipe calls for; will switch to the lower temp and see.
@ Denette - I will use the flower nail and baking strips as well and will see the difference it will make to my cakes.
Thanks!
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I also use a flower nail but only on cake 10" and bigger. I have even had success on baking them at 335. Good luck & let us know it works out!
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On which oven rack do you bake your cakes on? I am going to bake a cake today and was wondering about that. I bake on the middle (3rd rack).
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My oven has six adjustable slots to put the rack and I put the rack on number 3.
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Thanks Melissa!
Melissa said:
My oven has six adjustable slots to put the rack and I put the rack on number 3.
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I nearly baked the first flat cake in my life... :) I learned some good lessons today...
Lesson 1 - do not bake cakes in different sized pans at the same time.... one pan will finish off baking sooner than the other :)
Lesson 2 - when checking if a cake is baked (toothpick test), do not take the cake out of the oven... if it is not done, the center will deflate :)
Lesson 3 - When a recipe states grease the baking pans, they mean, grease it and line it with parchment paper (not sure if this really is a lesson, but my cake stuck to the bottom of the baking pans even after greasing them!!!)
Oh, I have a long way to go... at least my sense of humour is still intact!!
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Judy, glad you have a good attitude and aren't getting too frustrated. And three good lessons to learn. Just to clarify, you can bake different sized cakes at the same time, but they will require different amount of times to bake so that needs to be taken into account, each cake needs to be checked separately. I have 2 different brand pans in each size and I have to keep in mind that they may take different times to bake even though the same size. Definitely good to keep the pans in the oven to test not only to not jostle them but also taking them out of the oven to test leaves the door open longer and more heat loss from the oven. To prevent sticking you generally need to grease with shortening and cover lightly with flour, use homemade pan goop that is a blend of shortening, flour and oil, use a baking spray or spray with parchment. I think those are the usually methods I read about. There is often a bit of variety in how long to let it cool before removal as that can effect it sticking. I use spray and parchment and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Glad you are making progress!
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Permalink Reply by Patricia Sweetland on
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Denette What is flower nail and baking strips ??? I made some cupcakes and they sink in the middle whay is that..????
Thank you all for this info..
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You can take a metal flower nail, like what you use to form a rose on, spray it with non-stick spray and put it upside down in a cake pan. Usually 8 or 10 inch or larger. That helps conduct heat into the center of the batter. Or you use bake even strips, available from Wilton, or make your own with an old terry cloth towel, wet it and pin it around the pan. That helps insulate the outside of the batter from heat. Both help the cake bake flat. I am not sure about why your cupcakes sink in the middle. Are they fully baked?
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