Somebody help me please !!!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bostonterrierlady 

I have made three sheet cakes in three days.  They have all sunk.  I made two WASC cakes.  They failed.  Also sunk.  Made another one today With the the cake mix recipe on the back with an added box of pudding.  It sunk and is over done on the bottom.  I" recently baked a pund cake and it is perfect.  What in the world is going on?  I had to make this and freeze it.  I am leaving town and need to decorate when I get home.  My oven is o.k.  I am done after this cake.  Or I need to go to scratch.  Can Someone help me.  It sunk.  Then when I turned cake out of the pan it was also sunk on the botton.  I also used two flower nails. This was for a oging away cake for some friends.  I am going to have to call another friend I will not be able to bring a cake for the party.  I think I just need to quit doing this.  I have baked cakes for years as a hobby.  Always used Betty Crocker.  Made a 50th anniv. cake awhile ago and it was fine.  I just cannot do this anymore.  I have to give this up.  My frustration level is over the top.

Hmm.. don't get worked up... I use WASC all the time... it works out fine.. Lets see:

* What temp are you baking? I bake at 325.

*Also, do not open the oven door for the first 40 minutes or so.

*What kind/brand of pan are you using? It helps to bake in a quality pan.. I prefer Magic line..

*How about using an oven thermometer.. to make sure your oven is heating evenly..

Found on the net..

Some Reasons Why Cakes Sink or Fall In The Middle:

Cakes will sink or fall because:

1). Overbeating – too much air is incorporated into batter.

2). Underbaking - Oven temperature too low and/or too short a baking time.

3). Over or under measurement of liquid or under measurement of flour.

4). Using too small or large of a baking pan.

5). Moving or jarring cake before sufficiently baked or opening the oven door before cake sets.

Note: Only open oven door if absolutely needed, one-half to three-quarter's way through baking.

6). The most common error has to do with the oven temperature. Make sure you have an oven thermometer to test your oven for accuracy.

7). Depending on the recipe if you fold in egg whites, if not beaten fully or folded in too harshly, the cake could fall.

8). Even creaming the butter and sugar too much or too little can cause problems.

Do you think you are under baking?

Sometimes when cakes fall it's because of not enough protein structure. You can try reducing the sugar or use a higher gluten flour (I like king arthur all purpose). I am at 7000ft so I have to adjust every recipe that I try. Good Luck!

If you're sure your oven is accurate, you might want to take a look at your mix. BC has reduced the volume of the product by about 2 oz. I use DH but all the major brands have gone this route. I made a Devil's Food pound cake from the recipe on the side of the box (as I've done FOREVER with great results) and it failed miserably. Even though the mix is less, the rest of the ingredients i.e. liquid, pudding, eggs etc.  has stayed the same based on the old 18.25 oz. mix.  My cake shrunk away from the sides of the pan, shriveled on top and was about 1 inch high.  There was a thread on this topic but I can't seem to find it. CC members mentioned that, along with the reduced volume, BC has also changed the formula of it's product and it essentially sucks.

I read that many people who bake in the 9 x 13 pan use this cake extender below for boxed mixes which makes the cake cook perfectly and it is not that low on the sides of the cake. Don't know if this will help your situation but here is the cake extender below. I am trying to use up the boxes of cake mix that I have bought in the past but in the future I will mix mine up from scratch after that since all the cake mix companies have short changed all of the people by making less in their cake boxes. I have heard a whole lot of complaints about the new cake mixes with this very same problem. I have tried this cake extender and it bakes up beautifully mixed with a cake mix.

Cake Mix extender

Ingredients

• Prepare cake mix as per package directions. In addition to this add,
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 250 ml (or 8 oz.) sour cream or yogurt (I prefer to use low fat yogurt)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla or other suited flavoring

Instructions

Bake as per pkg. directions

Fat content will vary depending on whether or not you use full fat sour cream or yogurt. I’ve used them all including low fat sour cream, yogurt etc…. and the results are great each and every time.

remnant3333....is that AP flour for the extender recipe?

Yes it is. The salt in recipe makes it rise. I use the full fat sour cream when I have done this.
 

You keep saying your cakes sunk in the middle. Is it a smallish dip or a lg sink hole? Does this develop while baking or after it is taken out of the oven? 

This often is from using the wrong size pan for the amount of batter one has.  If you are making a 9x13x2 sheet pan you need:

1 cake mix (the new small size)

1 cup all -purpose flour

3 lg or 4 med eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar (this can be reduced to 2/3 cup w/o problems)

1 cup liquid (can be milk, water, juice or whatever)

Mix all together as usual.  I always time my mixing for 2 minutes.  This is the perfect amount of batter for the 9x13.  I baked one this week and it turned out perfect in my 12x9x2 Magic Line pan.  I baked at 325 for abut 30 minutes (don't remember just now exactly).  (I have a new oven & it seems to be a bit on the cool side so I don't know if it is accurate.)  I do NOT use a flower nail nor wet/bake even stripes.