What happened to my cake?

What happened to my cake? - Person Holding Stainless Steel Fork and Knife Slicing Chocolate Cake

I have used the same pound cake recipe in the same pan for years. The last two times I made it; the cake was a hot mess. The cake overflowed the pan onto my my freshly cleaned oven. It was very giggly. I continued to cook it, and when finally done, it sank.

6 large eggs
1 cup butter
1 cub buttermilk
3 cups all purpose flour
1.2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1.4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter, then add sugar, add eggs one at a time and beat for one minute after each/scrap sides, add lemon peel, juice, and vanilla, add flour and buttermilk alternately, start and end with flour. Bake 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees.



Best Answer

Over-rising and then sinking sound very much like a cake made with too much leavening.

Since you cake is made with the creaming method, and baking soda, there are two sources of leavening:

  • The baking soda, as a chemical leavener, will react with the acid from the lemon juice and butter milk. Have you changed brands or amounts of any of these items that might change the acid ratio?

  • Creaming the sugar with the butter causes the sharp edges of he sugar to cut air bubbles into the solid butter phase, which serve as the seeds of the leavening. Has anything changed here, such as starting to use a stand mixture?




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What are the cause of failure in baking cakes?

Top 10 Causes of Cake Failure:
  • Cake Falling: Too much shortening or sugar. ...
  • Undersized Cake: Too large a pan. ...
  • Moist, Sticky Crust: Too much sugar. ...
  • Thick, Heavy Crust: Over baking. ...
  • Peaks or Cracks on Top: Too hot an oven. ...
  • Soggy Layer or Streak at Bottom: Insufficient mixing. ...
  • Heavy, Compact Texture: Over mixing. ...
  • Dry Cake:


What happens when you overmix a cake?

Dough can get aerated, which means too much air can be incorporated into mixtures. Mixing goods for an extended period of time can also result in extra gluten development; which means that overmixing will give you cakes, cookies, muffins, pancakes, and breads which are gummy or unpleasantly chewy.

Why is my cake dense and not fluffy?

Your cake is too dense Solution: Make sure you're using wet measures for wet ingredients and dry measures for dry; check the freshness of your baking soda and powder, and check your oven temp to make sure it's hot enough. A cake that bakes too slowly takes longer to set and may fall, causing a dense texture.

How do you fix cake disasters?

How to Fix Cake Disasters
  • If your cake sticks and breaks in half coming out of the pan or a large chunk breaks off \u2013 Use icing or lemon curd to \u201cglue\u201d the cake back together. ...
  • If your cake falls or has a sink-hole in the center \u2013 A. ...
  • To frost a broken cake \u2013 You will frost the cake twice.




  • Top 5 Cake Baking Mistakes! | Preppy Kitchen




    More answers regarding what happened to my cake?

    Answer 2

    In addition to what SAJ14SAJ said (good comments all) could it perhaps be the size of your eggs? Going from medium sized to extra-large eggs (US standards) can add the equivalent of an entire egg when the recipe calls for six eggs. An entire extra egg could easily cause the problems you describe.

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