Hi Everyone

My DS has asked me to make his wedding cake. Ive made many christmas cakes from my DM recipe over the years, but this one is going to be 12" round, never made a cake that large before.

It took 7 hours to cook on low heat, the middle was a bit of a pain as it too ages to cook, but i had wrapped the sides with double greaseproof paper and covered the top.

When it was cooked the middle had sunk a bit, but i put that down to my paranoid poking with a skewer to check it was cooked.
I turned the cake out onto a cooling rack and it wasnt too bad, as i thought i will slice/level the top of the cake (which will then be the bottom) and left to cool overnight.

I get up this morning and the cake has sunk in the middle :`

The cake is sitting on its top, as i turned it out upside down - so its the bottom of the cake  that has sunk while cooling.

Can anyone tell me why this has happened :( and if it can be put right? as i dont want to throw it away and start again unless it absolutley cannont be saved.
The cake will be covered in marzipan and then fondant iced, it will also have 2 sponge tiers on top (as its a 3 tier cake).
i know that the 2nd tier may cover it but its going to be seen when my DS and FDIL removes the 2nd tier plus i have to use dowels to support the 2nd tier im worried they wont be
able to support it now as the dowels will end up sitting near the sunken bit.
For info the sunken bit is approx 5 inches dia and about 1/2 inch sunken......after cooling for 8 hrs the middle is still slightly warm this morning.

Any suggestions will be welcomed x

AI never had problems with fruit cake sinking in the middle, did you cook your cake with a bath of water to offset the long cooking time,what temperature did you set it at, did you use baking strips besides grease prof papers? I also add almond flour to the mix to keep cake from getting too dry.

Hi thanks for replying

This was nearly 2 weeks ago (my thread on here got delayed and has only just been posted by admin for some reason)

So i have baked another since then. There was nothing wrong with the 1st cake that sunk, it was moist but cooked and tasted lovely (as i cut it up and passed it around family )

But for the record, i baked the second one with exactly same ingredients, but this time i put a petal nail and metal skewer in the middle of the cake, and i wrapped the whole cake in several layers of damp newspaper (the 1st was only wrapped in 2 layers of greaseproof paper).

When the cake was cooked i left it in oven to cool for 2 hours (the 1st one i got straight out)

this 2nd cake is perfect in shape with absolutly no sink holes....just hope it tastes as good as the first x

I have never heard of that happening.  My fruit cakes tend to be stuffed with lots and lots of fruit so them actually colapsing wouldn't be very possible (atleast to such an extent)...in this case, I would suggest cutting the cake in half and having a look to firstly make sure it is cooked all the way though.  If all is well, you can jam the layers together and just carry on.  I always allow my fruit cakes to cool in their tin...I did a 12 inch the other day and it took the best part of 15 hours!  Nutsy...but yummy :-)

AI'm with snowflake bunny (stuff it with fruit, cool in the tin etc). Never known a fruitcake to sink, I actually think they're the easiest cakes to make cos they're so reliable. Another thing I do is wrap a double layer of newspaper round the tin and put newspaper in the bottom of the oven. Definitely cut it to see if it can be saved before you start again tho. I don't know if it would help but can you show us a pic?

Sorry to everyone about this, i would love to show you a pic but its taking nearly 2 weeks for my post/replys etc to be put on as they are going through moderation :(

If things quicken up i will get some pics etc on

*this reply has gone straight on for some reason - but there is a reply for everyone re cake due to appear as soon as its been moderated :(

AKeep posting, the more you post the quicker they'll stop moderating you. :-)

I've never made a fruitcake however, cakes usually will fall in the center as they are not done there.  If you remake your cake use 2 metal flower nails and after you have all your batter in the pan, insert each one upside down (point sticking up) and just wiggle them until you feel that they are stable.  Then cook as you normally do.  The upside down flower nails act as a heat conductor and will help the center areas bake as the sides do.  Any cake over 8" needs something to conduct the heat to the center so the sides do not over cook and the center gets done.. Try this and you should have a perfectly baked cake. 

thanks, i have made another just like you said a week and half ago...but as im new my first couple of posts are in a mod queue :(

2nd one turned out perfect...the1st one ive cut up and passed around family...but it was beautiful, not underdone at all.

It wasnt to do with the lack of fruit as my recipe has 7.6lb of fruit!

The only things i done differently on the 2nd one was cooked 2nd with a petal nail and skewer around center and i left it to cool down completely in oven (2 hrs) before i turned it out.

So thankyou all for your comments, its just a pity my first post took nearly 2 weeks to be put on as the cakes were all sorted a week later and a pity my first couple of replys are still held up in a mod queue :(

I have had the same issue with my fruit cake. It also sunk slightly in the middle. 
I was poking it few times just to make sure it's baked inside and it seemed fine. 
I trimmed it to level it (as top will be the bottom) I covered it with marzipan and I'm waiting for it to dry. 
But now when I've read your comments I'm completely freaking out. 
I thought it was "normal" or at least not "unusual" for the cake to go this way, as I've never baked one before. 
Do you think I should take of the marzipan, cut it in half, take a look to make sure it's fine and then glue it back together with jam and cover it with marzipan again? The wedding is on Saturday, so I would still have enough of time to decorate it. 
But would it be bad, to do the jam thing? All words of help would be greatly appreciated!