I baked a ?third (11 x 15) sheet cake, following the recipe from R.L.B Cake Bible -- used the yellow base cake formula x 5, scaled out the recipe exactly and used her level 6 formula to figure out the baking powder. The cake tasted great, but the middle was sunken in a little. Now, I am a very amateur baker -- can't use mixes because one of my kids has a severe nut allergy. I usually never make sheet cakes, but I'm preparing for a large b-day party. I also used those magi-cake strips around the pan. Please -- any ideas what might have caused this problem?

The middle was probably a little underdone. I would use a rose nail in the center of the pan. Invert so top of nail is down on your pan. Grease and flour it like your pan. Then pour the batter into the pan. Middle won't sink anymore.

Or....did you open the cake or disturb the cake during the first 15 minutes of baking? I think the underdone scenario is more likely.

Thanks, I'll try the rose nail. I opened the oven door after 40 minutes to check doneness, then let the cake cook another five. I read that anything longer than 45 minutes, you had to cover with aluminum foil to prevent the crust from burning. Any truth to that?? I will try to give the cake an extra five minutes next time.

I just baked my first 14" round. It looked so big I put 3 flower nails(spaced evenly from sides and each other) baked at 325 for 50 minutes, turning carefully half way through. It came out PERFECT!! When I flipped the cake out to cool, the flower nails just popped up and out! It's might not be a big deal to you guys that do it everyday but I got a HUGE kick out of it!!

I LOVE it when good things like that happen! I am always so surprised by the little 'secrets' that get passed around here! Newbie or fanatic, we all love to hear examples of GOOD!