Morning all,

Ok, so baked 3x 10" victoria sponge layers last week.  Cakes came out beautifully, perfectly flat on the top, happy days.  They were left to cool, wrapped up and left on the side for about 12 hours.  Come the evening, I went to fill and ganache them and all seemed well.  I know some suggest crumb-coating a cake and then leaving a weight on in overnight but I have never done that so didn't this time either (maybe the cause of the problem?).  Anyhow, cake got its dam, filled, ganached (using the upside-down method), fondant and all was perfect and a lovely 4" depth.  I came to it the following afternoon and I could have sworn that it was sinking a little in the middle.  Not dipping a lot, maybe just a couple of millimetres - I was helping a friend decorate it and she could barely see it but I know it was there.  There were no air bubbles/coming out the sides (that was my first thought) and no other sign of 'cake distortion', but this dip in the middle.  The only decoration on top was effectively a mini cake (which had dowel supports) and some lettering so that can't have been the problem.

Any ideas as to what could have caused it?  I guess 'cake disaster' is probably a bit over exaggerated but I was really worried that it would continue to sink (had a nightmare that my friend would open the box and would effectively see a cake doughnut!!) and can't for the life of me figure out what could have happened.  I've to a few big cakes coming up over the next few weeks/months so really need to figure it out…would appreciate any thoughts?

Many thanks xx

AProbably just your filling starting to be absorbed into the cake layers. I bake, let settle like you did, dam and fill, [B]let settle again[/B], ganache. Try settling after filling, and then ganaching. Some use a weight on top to settle, I personally don't, but I do leave them overnight so it's quite a while.

Hi there, thanks for your response, it makes perfect sense.  I will add that into the process next time!  Thankfully it didn't continue to dip as per my nightmare and everyone loved it *says she wiping her brow with relief!* :-)