General Baking Guide
Trouble-shooting - Fruit Cakes
PROBLEM | POSSIBLE CAUSE |
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|
Fruit sinking to the bottom | Low oven temperature which may cause the cake to |
| take longer to set, allowing the fruit to sink. Or, too |
| much liquid, or raising agent. The fruit may not have |
| been properly washed and dried. |
Cake sinking / dipping in the centre | Too much raising agent in the mixture. Too hot, or too |
| cool an oven. Or, not enough liquid or insufficient |
| creaming. |
Surface cracks | Too small a tin, or too much mixture in the tin. Too |
| much raising agent in the mix, plus not enough liquid |
| or insufficient creaming. The oven may be too hot. |
Hard outer crust with a damp patch inside | Oven too hot, therefore the cake baked too quickly. |
| Too much sugar, or insufficient liquid. |
Burnt outside | Oven temperature too high. Oven too small for the |
| size of cake. Insufficient protection around the tin. |
| Cake baked on too high a shelf. |
Texture with pronounced holes. | Too much raising agent. Flour unevenly mixed. |
|
|
Texture too close and cake insufficiently risen. | Not enough raising agent. Not enough liquid. Too |
| cool an oven. Insufficient creaming. |
Cake crumbles when cut | Not enough liquid. Baked for too long. Not enough |
| sugar. Too much baking agent. |
Too dry | Over baking. Insufficient egg or liquid. Too much rais- |
| ing agent. |
|
|
| - Sponge Cakes |
Domed top | Insufficient creaming of mixture. Cake baked on too |
| high a shelf position, or at too high a temperature. |
| Paper liners can cause the outer edge not to rise and |
| the centre to peak. |
Hollowed / sunken top | Too much raising agent. Oven temperature too low, or |
| incorrect shelf position. Cake removed from oven |
| before it’s cooked. Use of soft tub margarine. |
Very pale, but cooked | Oven temperature too low. Baked too low in the oven |
|
|
Overflowing tin | Tin too small for the amount of mixture |
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