5 Ways to Prevent Cakes from Sinking in the Middle
- Know Your Oven. At the outset, you have to know your oven.
- Fresh Ingredients. While baking cakes, always use fresh and comparatively new raw materials.
- Creaming the Eggs and Butter.
- Precise Measurement.
- Perfect Timing.
What would cause a cake to sink in the middle?
Adding too much baking powder or baking soda can make a cake sink. When too much amount of leavening agents are added, there can be too many air bubbles develop in the batter and the cake may rise too much without enough support, then it sinks.
Can you put a sunken cake back in the oven?
Unfortunately once a cake has cooled it is not possible to re-bake it. The cake would have to heat all the way through again and the outside parts of the cake would become too dry. Also if the cake has sunk in the centre from being underbaked it will not rise again as the raising agents in the recipe will have expired.
How to Fix Sunken Cake
- Step 1: Cut the outer ring of cake. Take your fallen cake and cut the ridge from around the sunken middle, so the top of the cake is level.
- Step 2: Fill in the gap in the cake. Using the excess cake, fill the sunken middle in and smooth it out.
- Step 3: Cover with frosting.
What causes cake to sink in the middle?
The gas from the leavening agents builds up and escapes before the cake bakes through in the center. This causes the center to collapse and makes your cake layers sink in the middle. A little goes a long way when it comes to leavening agents, so it’s imperative you precisely measure them.
How do you keep a cake from collapsing after baking?
There is a trick to prevent sponge cakes like Angel food cakes from sinking: cool these cakes upside down! By cooling the cake upside down, the cake has plenty of room to stretch out of the pan, instead of collapsing into the bottom of the pan.
Why did my cake sink in the middle?
The most common reason why cakes sink in the middle is that they’re underbaked. What is this? If a cake isn’t fully baked through, the center doesn’t have a chance to set and it will sink. This creates a doughy, dense texture in the center of your cake layer.
How do you fix a cake that’s not cooked in the middle?
If it is still not cooking in the middle, place it back in the oven, covered tightly with tin foil. The foil will help to heat the cake and will aid the cooking of the inside as it holds the heat inside. Bake your cake for 10-15 minutes and check around 7 minutes in to ensure that it is working.
Will a sunken cake still taste good?
As long as the cake isn’t burnt, isn’t row, and is made with the right amount of ingredients (eg. not too much baking powder), and the batter has walked through the correct process, a sunken cake should still taste good. The texture might be a bit denser or unpleasant, but the flavor should be nice.
What to do if your cake is undercooked in the middle?
Is it just the middle of your cake that is undercooked? This is the most common problem, so don’t feel too bad. To fix it, cover the cake with foil (be careful – the pan will be hot!) and stick it back into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Follow the same guidelines as above: check it every five minutes.
Can I save my sunken cake?
When you’re cake sinks in the middle, grab an extra can of frosting to disguise the low spot. Simply add a bit more frosting or whipped cream and smooth to an even level.
How do you save a deflated cake?
Unfortunately, there isn’t any way to fix a flat cake once it is cooled. Make sure you use the toothpick method so that you can stick the cake back in the oven to cook before cooling fully.
Can a sunken cake rise again?
Can you Put a Sunken Cake Back in the Oven? Unless you notice that your cake is undercooked right after removing it from the oven, it will not rise again by baking it longer.