Falling Cakes

[Armandio]

This may be dumb, but what causes cakes to fall? I just baked a jam cake and followed the Fanny Farmer recipe to the letter and all seemed fine--then when I took the cake out of the oven, the middle sank like the Titanic!!

 

[jkath]

Sometimes a recipe will not be completely correct in a book - really! Have you baked this particular cake before? Something as small as a typo, making 1 t. into 1 T. is a huge difference!
Another thought: In the case of some cakes, if you check the cake by opening the door (common if your lightbulb is burned out) before the cake's structure was completely set up, and a draft goes into the oven, the tiny bubbles on top can burst, .....and then your cake falls.

Hopefully someone else has some ideas for you...keep checking back!
Oh, and welcome to our site!

 

[Michael in FtW]

Not knowing the recipe ... there are 3 main reasons for a cake to fall:

1) Undercooked
2) Too much baking powder or soda
3) How the egg whites are handled

Altitude is another factor.

 

[Armandio]

Thanks, folks. It took about 10 minutes longer to bake this cake than the recipe stated, so it may be that when I opened the oven door to, hopefully, take it out, that's what did the damage. (Oh, what a gift 'twould be to gi'e us, to have an oven with a window!!) My oven keeps perfect temperature, so there is obviously something wrong with the recipe. Fanny is not always right--I have a few of her recipes that I've crossed out of the book because they fail miserably. I'll try this one again and just leave it in the oven, unchecked, for an extra 10 minutes.

Thanks again.

 

[luvs]

my Mom and Grandma always said if you stomp on the floor too hard while you're baking, your cake will fall.
dunno if it's an old wives' tale or not.

 

[Constance]

When you are checking on your cake, be sure not to move it around in the oven or slam the oven door. After you take it out, be careful not to slam it around or let anyone rattle around the kitchen too much. It was probably underdone a bit...even though your oven is right on temperature, conditions still vary, so you may have to experiment with the timing a bit. I'll bet it still tasted good.
What was the name of the cake? I'll look it up in my Fanny Farmer.

Daisy, thanks for the cake guidelines...I have pasted and saved it.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Thanks Daisy!!! Ditto on the cut and paste to save for future reference.

 

[Armandio]

Thanks, Daisy. I, too, have preserved your words of wisdom!!! The name of the cake is Jam Cake in Fanny Farmer. Ended up with a crevasse in the middle--both layers. So I simply split each layer, making four, and filled them with the same jam I used in the recipe and put some quasi-Portsmouth frosting in them. Gave one to a friend, and ate one myself. Tasted delicious, albeit a bit depressed!!!