Rectangular shaped cakes and a dip in the middle
Hi Everyone
This past weekend I baked a 9 by 12 inch rectangular shpaed cake, but each cake I baked was a little sunken in the centre, I had to stack the 3 cakes and add extra buttercream to the middle, to make the cakes level.
does this happen to you? what could the reason be for this?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by June Kowalczyk on
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Sometimes Carlette if cakes are large they can sag. Baking is a science, and everytime we bake, depending on our oven, even the way we prepare, can change the outcome. I have had large cakes sag in the past, but when they did, like you, added a bit of extra buttercream.... no one is the wiser. Still tastes good and no one is judging the "naked cake". Now the science behind the "Why"? Sometimes it is the wrong flour. Good old fashioned all purpose flour is the best. Cake flour can be too soft. Also too much leavening agent...baking powder. The larger the cake, the less baking powder per cup you need. This is because the distance from the sides of the pan to the centre are greater so that the batter needs a stronger structure to support itself. I am quoting Rose Levy Beranbaum. I have her book..."The Cake Bible". You can also go on her website. Huge wealth of info on baking.
But I do a couple of things where by this doesn't happen so often. Sometimes I doctor cake mixes. So, your baking powder is already in right? Can't change that. So, I use rose nails in my cake pan to help distribute the heat evenly when baking. I place my cake on a pizza stone, which also helps distribute heat. The bigger the cake pan, the more rose nails I use. The cake you baked I would have used minimum of 4 rose nails in my cake pan. Another thing I do, and this will make most bakers shudder. As soon as I take the cake out of the oven, I place a heavy clean hand towel over the cake, & with my oven mitts still on, I press down on the cake with even pressure all around the cake. It flattens out and condenses quite a bit. I tend to overfill my cake pan because I do this. Easier to cut away cake after the fact anyway then to doctor up with buttercream. This sounds scary, but where is the cake going to go????....... no where, cause it is held in place by the sides of the metal pan. And, crazy as it sounds, it works!! I find almost 99.9 % of my cakes never sink after that. A very old, wise, and I am sure deseased, cake decorator taught me this years ago when my children were very young. She owned her own shop in town & I took my first lessons from her. Heck, fondant didn't even exsist then.
Hope this helps. :o)
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Permalink Reply by Sandra I. Vazquez Lossiseroni on
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Omg... I loved your reply June...you are full of tricks...xoxo
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Thanks
Hope I didn't sound like a "know-it-all!!"...... I hate that :o)
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Permalink Reply by Dania Dobbey on
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yes this happens to me, check the baking time
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No June, not at all. I'm sure everyone appreciates your knowledge and your willingness to help us all. Thank you....
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Permalink Reply by Lynette Dlamini on
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June your answer rocked my world1 thank u soooo much for the detailed answer! I love the science of baking (even though I hated science at school haha)
Gues I will buy the cake bible after all! Have always seen it but never thought it would be worth my while..i guess I was wrong!
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I go on Rose's website too Carlette. She has a forum, and you can get some pretty good answers to some detailed questions.
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Permalink Reply by victoria Alabi on
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Thanks carlette for bringing this up and June for your reply. I will try your trick in my next large cake.. One question though, at what point do you put in the rose nail?
Victoria
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Hi June, I did the towel trick (just for the heck of it), I wanted to level the cake myself instead of waiting for it to go down slowly...Jajajaja., the whole time I was thinking about you.
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Did it work to your satisfaction Sandra????
Victoria: Here is the answer to your questiion. Pour your batter into your pan, place the rose nail in the middle. For larger pan, add the extra nails around the perimeter of the pan, but not touching the sides. After removing the nail, wash & dry well, and coat the nail with a small amount of mineral oil. This wil prevent the nail from going rusty. :o)
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Hi June, lets just say I should have added extra 'rose nails' for a 11" x 15" pan. I only used 2, I believe I should have use another 2, right? But it worked fine, thank you...
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Yes..... 11' x 15'...... I would probably have used 4. But glad the "push & shove" method worked..... hee hee
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