Why did my sponge cake sink ?

Andy Birkenhead · 30/11/13 - 02:59

I am making a Birthday cake which consists of two layers of sponge.
I used the following recipe for each of the layers :
480g of butter
480 g of caster sugar
8 eggs
480 g of Self Raising flour
I baked them in a tin measuring 11 x 9 x 2 inches.
I baked them at 160 for about 50 minutes (until a skewer inserted in the cakes came out clean.
The first one was fine, but the second one sunk in the centre, so I baked a third one, which also sunk in the centre.
Any ideas why this happened ?

Andy Birkenhead · 30/11/13 - 15:52

I have just used my cake leveller to cut the top of the cakes. I tasted the cakes and they taste slightly damp

Not happy.

[Deleted User] · 01/12/13 - 01:47

Did you open the oven door early? Or if they're a little damp, they might be under baked

CBFreak · 01/12/13 - 02:08

Sorry, I sunk your battleship

Pamthehound · 01/12/13 - 02:11

Take yer , out of it thats was stopping it rising

[Deleted User] · 01/12/13 - 04:03

8 eggs ? lots of eggs in it :eek:

turquoiseblue · 01/12/13 - 04:10

4 teaspoons of baking powder.

Andy Birkenhead · 01/12/13 - 04:21

Pamthehound wrote: »

Take yer , out of it thats was stopping it rising

What ?

Andy Birkenhead · 01/12/13 - 04:23

Orangemaid wrote: »

8 eggs ? lots of eggs in it :eek:

I normally make a mixture using 240g of butter, flour and sugar and use 4 eggs, but I wanted twice the amount of batter, so I just doubled all the quantities.

[Deleted User] · 01/12/13 - 11:49

Opening the oven door too much causes them to sink. Cooking at too high a temp can cause it to sink also.

Janey B · 01/12/13 - 12:44

It probably wasn't cooked enough. I usually test my sponge cake by gentle pressing it with my finger if the indentation springs up the sponge is ready. Also the sponge cake will have shrunk slightly from the edge of the tin.

Lois · 01/12/13 - 13:08

Like others have said...

under baked, over beaten or you've opened the oven door too often. Is your oven temperature correct?
Might be worth investing in an oven thermometer to check your oven temperature. I did and my oven was reading a lower temp' than the dial said. So I just go by the thermometer when baking now.

Incidently, the skewer method of testing if a cake is cooked is best used for fruit cakes. For a sponge cake you should go by the colour, that it's springy when touched and that it shrinks slightly from the sides if the tin.

I do think that is most likely the reason why, to use the skewer method, you are opening the oven door for too long and lowering the temperature.

molliepops · 01/12/13 - 14:06

Any of the problems already suggested or could be too wet (too many eggs) or too much raising agent.

turquoiseblue · 01/12/13 - 14:08

turquoiseblue wrote: »

4 teaspoons of baking powder.

As per the great Mary Berry!

Andy Birkenhead · 01/12/13 - 14:27

I only opened the oven door twice, each time to test whether the cake was cooked. The oven door was only open long enough to remove the cake.
The skewer came out clean at the second attempt and the cake was golden brown after 50 minutes.
Anyway, the cake has been completed and I will be taking it to its' venue later.

Hey there!

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