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did pastry nail cause cake to crack?

post #1 of 11
1/24/10 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
i made a white duncan hines cake in a twelve inch pan.
the white mix was a first and so was my using a nail in the middle to avoid having it be underbaked.

it's a quake cake. was it because i used the box only or was it the nail?

i'm going to try the doctored wasc recipe that everyone likes and hope i have a better result.

oh, i went to get eggs and got a flat tire and had left my cell phone on the counter because it was going to be a quick trip to the store.

thanks in advance for your pity and advice.

go vikes !!!
LL
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post #2 of 11
1/24/10 at 1:39pm
I had a cake crack the same way once. It had a decent sized dome and I didn't shave it off before I turned it out of the pan. It cracked because of the dome hitting the cooling rack first and the sides slumping to reach the rack.

I don't know if this is what happened to you but I'm sorry it did. Sounds like a rough day all around. I'm sending sugary good cake karma your way. icon_smile.gif
-Expedition Eat (Dina Krohne)
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post #3 of 11
1/24/10 at 1:57pm
Ditto what dsilbern said about what caused it. It doesn't look like the nail did it cause it didn't break where the nail was. Also it looks really crumbly like it was really dry which may have contributed. I also use the nail but use towel strips ( home made baking strips) and bake at 325 instead of 350 and they don't get domes and they bake evenly. Maybe if it was domed if you would have flipped it right away a second time onto a second cooling rack so it could cool on the flat bottom might have prevented the cracks. Just my guess though. I wouldn't think the cake mix alone caused it either. A combo of bad luck! Ditto go Vikes! Hope you got your phone back and tire fixed without much trouble. At least it isn't freezing cold today!
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post #4 of 11
1/24/10 at 2:11pm
hmmm... I have seen cracks that were caused my my nail also. I think it happened because I use a heavy amount of flour/baking spray. When the cake is poured into the pan and goes around the nail, I have had times were some of the spray is pushed up into the center of the cake when the batter loops around and meets back up around the nail. Not sure if this happened for you or not...
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post #5 of 11
1/25/10 at 5:14am
Assuming you greased the pan well enough. It looks over baked.

Mike
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post #6 of 11
1/25/10 at 5:30am
I agree w/ previous posts about the dome being the issue. A dome on top of the cake causes the sides to be 'suspended' in air when flipped onto a rack. Cake doesn't levitate too well!! So the weight of the suspended cake caused it to crack.

I never pour batter around the nail. I pour, THEN add the nail in the middle, making sure to wiggle it a bit to confirm that it is touching metal at the bottom and not just floating a little in the batter.

Good luck!
Audrey
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post #7 of 11
1/25/10 at 7:25am
Thread Starter 
i tried again with the wasc recipe and got the same result
i did overfill the pan and the cake had a sizable dome. duh!
thanks everyone for giving dumbdoglady a much needed lightbulb moment.

i'm going to back off the cake mix as the batter's texture is new to me and i don't know what to look for.

third time is a charm?!?

ouch vikes.
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post #8 of 11
1/25/10 at 9:39am
If you get another dome this third time, try cutting it down some before flipping the cake out of the pan. OR do what I do - I have TWO cooling racks ready and flip the cake out onto the first one, then flip again onto the second one, so that the cake now rests on its flat bottom.

Hope this helps!
Audrey
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post #9 of 11
1/25/10 at 9:41am
Use bake even strips. And what temp are you baking at?
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post #10 of 11
1/25/10 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
i bake a cake of this size at 325.
i'm going to try it again tomorrow and use the "double flip" method that audrey suggested.

thanks !
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post #11 of 11
2/3/10 at 9:33am
I have used the "double flip" method as well and it works great. I also agree the cake could be over done or you might have put too much batter in the pan.

Jen
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