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Toba Garrett's chocolate fudge cake

post #1 of 16
8/29/08 at 1:52pm
Thread Starter 
Why does this keep sinking in the center?? I love the taste of this recipe, but cannot seem to have it come out consistent.
Any tips for me? icon_sad.gif
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post #2 of 16
8/30/08 at 4:11am
I have the same problem. I've found that baking it longer helps somewhat.
I'm following this thread for more tips.
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post #3 of 16
8/30/08 at 5:39pm
I too love this recipe -- I've decreased the liquid slightly, and use a flower nail on mid-sized pans. Also, decrease the oven temp slightly as well.

On the large tiers for a wedding cake, I add up how much batter I'd need for two 2" layers (like say a pan needs 6 cups and 6 cups). Then I bake 3 smaller layers instead (so, in this case, I'd put 4 cups batter in a pan, and bake 3 layers). I find I don't even need to level them. Just fill and go.

I know this doesn't solve your problem entirely, but that's how I work with this yummy cake. thumbs_up.gif

Perhaps someone else has a better solution...!
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post #4 of 16
8/31/08 at 6:48am
Well I tried making it again today. It rose beautifully, very level, and then it started sinking while still in the oven!! aaaggghh. Then when I took it out (after 65 minutes) it sank even more. My skewer came out clean 10 minutes before I took it out but I gave it more time because it has a tendency to sink. icon_sad.gif didn't help.
It was a 20cm by 28 cm cake with 2 flower nails and about 1,5 inch of batter.
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post #5 of 16
6/3/09 at 3:01pm
I have been making this recipe lately. Until today I had no problems with it! I have baked it twice now and it has sunk as you described. It starts in teh oven but then even more when it is out of the oven. arg. The first time I thought maybe I had opened the oven too much, but the second time I kept it shut.

The other thing is that both times I had it start to over flow the pans, only to have it ultimately be rather thin and sunken. I did try and multiply the recipe by 1.5 (though I have done it before). I also creamed the butter with the sugar (not as directed, but again as I have done before.) so perhaps I should follow the directions icon_confused.gif

I was reading to perhaps cut back on the levener?

any more suggestions?
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post #6 of 16
1/18/12 at 5:12am
I realize tjis is a 2-3 year old thread...but....I thought I would resurrect it because I'm having the same problem! Gah! I baked it in an 8in pan, it rose up beautifully, tested done than sank like a pancake after it was out of the oven. I'm going to try to lower the temp & use bake even strips to see if that will help. Has anyone else had this problem & resolved it?
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post #7 of 16
1/18/12 at 5:23am
I ended up having so many problems with it that I stopped making it altogether. I did actually bake it last week and it turned out OK, but I am not sure I'd go back. I even asked Toba about it and she emailed me back and said the recipe could be a bit finicky. I feel it has something to do with the leavening and perhaps teh mixing method, so you might want to cut back on it by a tsp and see what happens.
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post #8 of 16
1/18/12 at 5:29am
Springlake - Can I ask what recipe you're using then? I really, REALLY love the fudgy, dense structure of Toba's cake but do not like having to re-bake it just to be able to have a lovely cake go out the door. I'm totally bummed as it really is a super yum cake. icon_sad.gif
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post #9 of 16
1/18/12 at 5:49am
I know i had a hard time giving it up too! I have been using the chocolate cake from Sky High book (now i can't think of the actual name of the recipe). I also had to adjust baking soda amount on this cake as well. Less is better. I read the reason they fall flat near the end of baking can be because of too much leavening. The bubbles can only expand so much and they can burst and deflate the cake after the initial rising. I am not expert though!
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post #10 of 16
1/18/12 at 6:53am
Is this it?
http://www.howtoeatacupcake.net/2009/09/cake-slice-presents-triple-chocolate.html
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post #11 of 16
1/18/12 at 6:55am
I LOVE this recipe.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Double-Chocolate-Layer-Cake-101275

I have also heard the Scott Wooley Clark chocolate recipe is awesome. Search for the chocolate scratch off thread and I think it's in there somewhere.

Annie

The Dude abides.

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The Dude abides.

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post #12 of 16
1/18/12 at 8:36am
yup, that is the one. I still have some kinks to work out of this recipe too. I add the cocoa powder to the milk/water. Otherwise it just doesnt blend well. I also reduced the soda and powder.
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post #13 of 16
1/20/12 at 5:32am
I think I may have figured out the problem...or at least I'm going in the right direction. I've made 2 more since my 1st post.

1st time followed the recipe to a T, but used bak even strips in an effort to give it a little more back time to get the center to really set. It looked likes things were going great!! Theeennn, I took it out of the oven. It sank like a brick and when I flipped it out of the pan it was all crumbly on the edges. Needless to say - that mess will be made into cake pops.

With my 2nd time I began to think about the 1st few times I made the cake and WHY was it a success then? The only thing I did differently was not watch my time for mixing (the book states 3 minutes) - so...I just I balled it. I probably mixed it for 1-1.5 minutes, just until it looks "right". Baked it as directed and it came out fine! Maybe it was just an issue of over mixing...
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post #14 of 16
1/20/12 at 6:21am
Hmmmmm! I do not know what to suggest, because I make this cake all the time using weights, and I have never had a problem with rising or sinking. I even make cupcakes with it too and no issues there. It is VERY rich so I use it for adults mainly, but it is nice.

I do whip my ingredients per her instructions. If only I could get her butter cake to work that well for me.
I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!
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I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!
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post #15 of 16
1/21/12 at 6:15am
i love this cake.
I had trouble with it in the beginning. Lots of sinking and not being done when it looked like it was.

What I do now is make thinner cakes and bake longer.
I've also found that chilling the batter before baking makes a more level cake. This came about because I have a tiny oven and one batch of batter makes at least 2 8"cakes. I stored the batter in the fridge and the second always came out better. It does take longer to bake.
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