{"id":5688,"date":"2016-03-10T16:31:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T21:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/?p=5688"},"modified":"2023-04-12T10:48:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T14:48:01","slug":"cake-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/cake-collapse\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do cakes sink?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Did you bake a cake only to discover the cake collapsed in the oven? Or maybe your cakes sink when you take them out of the oven? Find out why cakes sink and what you can do (or not do) to stop cake collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" data-pin-description=\"Why do cakes sink or collapse? Find out all the reasons why cakes collapse so you can avoid this the next time you bake a cake! #kitchenhealssoul #cakecollaps\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-skip-lazy class=\"wp-image-13394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-720x1080.jpg 720w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-360x540.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-180x270.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Why-do-cakes-sink-in-the-middle-and-how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-150x225.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n[feast_advanced_jump_to]\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-causes-a-cake-to-sink\"   class=\"wp-block-heading\">What causes a cake to sink?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The cake collapses because your oven isn't hot enough or your cake is under-baked<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Your cakes may collapse if your oven temperature is too low. I always keep an oven thermometer in my oven to make sure that my oven is properly preheated before I put cakes in to bake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The oven thermometer never leaves my oven. I shift it from one rack to another, as needed, but I rely on the thermometer to tell me what temperature my oven is. I like to use a <a class=\"thirstylink\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"ChefAlarm\" href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/recommends\/chefalarm\/\" data-shortcode=\"true\">ChefAlarm digital thermometer<\/a> with an <a class=\"thirstylink\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Oven air probe\" href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/recommends\/oven-air-probe\/\" data-shortcode=\"true\">air probe attachment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The heat of the oven is vital for encouraging <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/what-is-baking-powder\/\">baking powder<\/a> to react so your cakes rise but also for the structure of the cake to set. If there's not enough heat to set the crust and the crumb inside, the cake may rise and fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1920\" data-pin-description=\"Make this easy apple bundt cake based on a 1-2-3-4 cake recipe with sour cream, and serve it with homemade caramel sauce.\" data-pin-title=\"Apple bundt cake\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan.jpg\" alt=\"Freshly baked bundt cake still in the cake pan\" class=\"wp-image-19849\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-720x1080.jpg 720w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-360x540.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-180x270.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sour-cream-apple-bundt-cake-freshly-baked-in-bundt-pan-150x225.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, if you didn't leave your cake to bake for long enough, your cakes will also sink. For butter cakes, like this vanilla butter cake, I look for <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>certain signs<\/strong><\/span> before I remove them from the oven. Here are a few <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/how-to-check-if-your-cake-is-done-baking\/\">ways to check if your cake is done baking<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>the skewer test<\/strong>: I poke the centre of the cake with a cake tester (like this one\u00a0from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/Chef-Aid-10E01901-Chefaid-Tester\/dp\/B000TAVU00\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?&amp;s=kitchen&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1486685266&amp;sr=1-6&amp;keywords=cake+tester&amp;&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=kitheasou-20&amp;linkId=08add1101fe36518c9e9c400c843b60a&amp;language=en_CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Amazon<\/a>) to see if it's still wet inside. If the tester comes out clean, the cake should be done (although some cakes are sneaky and may pass the skewer test but still require more oven time... that's a whole other story).<\/li><li><strong>the edges<\/strong>: I look at the edges of\u00a0the cake, which should be nicely golden brown all around, especially in the area closest to the pan. The edges of the cake\u00a0should have pulled away from the sides of the pan, a telltale sign the cake is baked through.<\/li><li><strong>the tap\u00a0test<\/strong>: I give the top of the cake\u00a0a light, gentle\u00a0tap\/poke with my hand. It should feel a little bouncy and possibly even spring back. If you press the cake and it makes a dent and it feels very \"delicate\" in an unset\/wet cake kind of way. The cake isn't done. It's hard to explain, but when you press a cake that's not totally baked through and then you press it again when it's properly baked, you will feel\u00a0that when the cake is cooked, it takes on a certain firmness and strength, though very delicate.<\/li><li>the temperature: use an instant-read thermometer like the <a class=\"thirstylink\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Thermapen One\" href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/recommends\/thermapen-one\/\" data-shortcode=\"true\">Thermapen<\/a> or the Thermoworks <a class=\"thirstylink\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Thermopop\" href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/recommends\/thermopop\/\" data-shortcode=\"true\">ThermoPop<\/a> to measure the internal temperature of your cake. When it's done baking, it should read 100 \u00baC or 212 \u00baF.\u00a0<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1641\/25018346763_49cc87d9d3_o.jpg\" alt=\"Levelled cake | Janice Lawandi @ kitchenhealssoul\" width=\"640\" height=\"960\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The cake sinks because it lacks structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don't include&nbsp;enough&nbsp;structure-building ingredients in your recipe, the cake may collapse on itself. As the cake bakes, pushed&nbsp;upwards in the pan from&nbsp;carbon dioxide and steam, the cake needs support to maintain that volume and to set the height in place. If not, the cake will collapse on itself. This can even happen in the oven. There are a couple reasons a cake can lack enough support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>not enough gluten<\/strong>: I've noticed this from playing around with gluten-free cake recipes especially. Gluten plays an important structural role, even in cakes. And so, when I develop gluten-free cake recipes, if I don't add a structure-providing ingredient, like extra egg, some xanthan gum or even ground chia\/flax to compensate for the lack of gluten, the cake collapses on itself. This can even happen in the oven, before it's done baking (particularly tragic!). The cake can't support all that air and height and it falls, leading to a sunken, sometimes greasy cake that isn't very tasty or appetizing. I wrote about the process of <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/developing-a-gluten-free-cake-the-process\/\" rel=\"noopener\">developing a gluten-free cake<\/a> made from mashed potatoes.<\/li><li><strong>not enough eggs<\/strong>, particularly the egg whites: Eggs provide structure and support to a cake as it bakes.&nbsp;The proteins in eggs&nbsp;coagulate and help contribute to the set of the cake, allowing your cakes to hold on to the height achieved in the oven. Not enough egg means not enough coagulation, and therefore not enough structure.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" data-id=\"16710\" data-pin-title=\"Thermoworks DOT probe thermometer\" data-pin-description=\"Thermoworks DOT probe thermometer\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01.jpg\" alt=\"Thermoworks DOT probe thermometer\" class=\"wp-image-16710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01.jpg 500w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_DOT_generic-01-96x96.jpg 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" data-id=\"16712\" data-pin-title=\"Thermoworks Thermapen Mk4\" data-pin-description=\"Thermoworks Thermapen Mk4\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow.jpg\" alt=\"Thermoworks Thermapen Mk4\" class=\"wp-image-16712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow.jpg 500w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_Thermapen-Mk4_Yellow-96x96.jpg 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" data-id=\"16714\" data-pin-title=\"Thermoworks ThermoPop\" data-pin-description=\"Thermoworks ThermoPop\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01.jpg\" alt=\"Thermoworks ThermoPop\" class=\"wp-image-16714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01.jpg 500w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thermoworks_ThermoPop_White-01-96x96.jpg 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Too much of an ingredient can cause a cake to collapse<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This relates to a&nbsp;lack of structure too, but if your ingredient ratio in your recipe is off, and there's too much of a certain ingredient, this can be quite disastrous because the recipe has too much of that something and not enough structure to hold it all together. The main culprits in this case are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>too much fat<\/strong>: fat<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>adds extra tenderness to a cake, sure, but too much tenderness comes with a lack of structure and collapsing. You have to find the right balance between&nbsp;tenderness from fat and structure.<\/li><li><strong>too much sugar<\/strong>: again, if that sugar is&nbsp;not balanced out with more eggs or more flour in your recipe, you're going to have a collapsed cake, and also a crumbly cake from lack of structure.<\/li><li><strong>too much leavener<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/kitchen-geekery-baking-soda-vs-baking-powder\/\">baking powder or baking soda<\/a>): think about it, the more leavener you have, the more gas will form inside the cake, and if there isn't a growing structure to support all that extra gas, the gas will&nbsp;escape.&nbsp;The cake will rise up and then collapse back down. Remember when I did the experiment to show the impact of <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/focus-on-baking-soda\/\" rel=\"noopener\">too much baking soda<\/a>? The cakes made with less baking soda rose far more. In retrospect, that was probably because the cakes with more leavener rose and collapsed, and also because the pH affects the structural proteins, preventing them from assembling.<\/li><li><strong>too much liquid<\/strong>: again, extra&nbsp;liquid has to come with extra structure, or else there could be trouble.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, too much of certain ingredients (fat, sugar, <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/leavening-agents-in-baking\/\">leavening agent<\/a>, liquid) can lead to cake collapse, while not enough of other ingredients (eggs and flour) can also lead to cake collapse. It's so important to properly <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/measuring-ingredients-for-baking\/\">measure ingredients for baking<\/a>, but also to bake from reliable recipes that have been tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking a cake out of the oven before it's baked through is also to blame. Are there any other reasons I might have missed that you can think of?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1468\/25552405441_2e3a0f9ce6_o.jpg\" alt=\"Measuring collapse of dropped cake | Janice Lawandi @ kitchenhealssoul\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 id=\"how-to-avoid-cake-collapse-and-cake-sinking-as-they-cool\"   class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to avoid cake collapse and cake sinking as they cool?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing how to test when a cake is done baking is essential to successful baking and to avoid cake collapse. It seems obvious but, if you are baking a recipe that you are familiar with and have successfully tested before, your cake sank simply because it wasn't baked enough or because you skipped a step, an ingredient, or maybe you added too much of something. It happens.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are baking a new recipe that you aren't familiar with, perhaps there's a typo in the recipe that the author didn't catch and some ingredient is missing (or perhaps too much of an ingredient was listed by accident). This also happens a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1707\" data-pin-description=\"Whipping egg whites is an important baking basics mixing method to incorporate air into cake batters without overwhipping until they are dry\" data-pin-title=\"Whipping egg whites to stiff peaks\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake.jpg\" alt=\"Whipping egg whites to stiff, glossy peaks like a pillowy meringue\" class=\"wp-image-17022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-720x960.jpg 720w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-360x480.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-180x240.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-640x853.jpg 640w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Whipping-whites-for-angel-food-cake-150x200.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For Angel food cakes, cool the cake upside down<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a trick to prevent sponge cakes like Angel food cakes from sinking: cool these cakes upside down! By cooling the cake upside down, the cake has plenty of room to stretch out of the pan, instead of collapsing into the bottom of the pan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cooling certain sponge cakes upside down leads to a taller cake and a lighter texture. But this only works for sponge cakes baked in ungreased pans\/unfloured pans because these cakes stick to the sides of pan. A regular vanilla cake would fall right out of the cake pan if cooled upside down because of the nature of the cake and the way the cake pan is prepared before baking.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1920\" data-pin-description=\"The best basic banana bread is made from simple ingredients, and baking powder, not baking soda!\" data-pin-title=\"Perfect banana bread\" src=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda.jpg\" alt=\"Golden brown banana bread on a vintage wood cutting board with painted green trim\" class=\"wp-image-16636\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-720x1080.jpg 720w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-360x540.jpg 360w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-180x270.jpg 180w, https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Basic-banana-bread-made-with-baking-powder-instead-of-baking-soda-150x225.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A science theory about cake collapse:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You might recall, in my post about <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/5-science-baking-cooking-books-satisfy-inner-nerd\/\">the best baking and baking science books<\/a>, I mentioned reading,&nbsp;in \"The Science of Cooking,\" (available on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/gp\/product\/3540674667\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=ll1&amp;tag=kitheasou-20&amp;linkId=af3d8593b029a8d46c10271f4437ebb8&amp;language=en_CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Amazon<\/a>) that Peter Barham claims&nbsp;to prevent a cake from collapsing as it cools, you have to drop it on the counter. He writes that&nbsp;cakes collapse as they cool because steam condenses in the cake bubbles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cake bubbles shrink because air can't get into those cake bubbles to replace the volume lost. Shrinking bubbles means shrinking cake, basically, and the shrinking occurs most towards the middle of the cake because the centre of the cake is softer, while the crust is too dry&nbsp;and&nbsp;stiff&nbsp;to contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Barham goes on to offer a way of preventing cake collapse, specifically stating that \"Dropping the cake, from a height of about 30 cm on to a hard surface, passes a shock through the bubble walls and allows some of them to break, converting the cake from a closed to an open cell structure. Now air is able to get into the broken bubbles and the cake will not collapse.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, I had to test this to see for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cake collapse experiment:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I made my go-to vanilla cake recipe (that I've modified to make the <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/cranberry-cardamom-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting\/\" rel=\"noopener\">cardamom cranberry cake<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/three-earl-grey-teas-cake\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Earl Grey cake<\/a>), which happens to make 3 layers of cake. This way I could have my control sample, which is a cake that goes straight from oven to cooling rack without any jostling or dropping, and then 2 cakes that I drop immediately after removing from the oven. Fun times, I tell you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I used straws and a Sharpie marker to mark the heights of the cake, immediately after baking, and then after cooling. Then I measured the change in height. All the cakes lost a little height upon cooling, but go figure, the cake that wasn't dropped shrank the least (about 1\u20132 mm), while the dropped cakes shrank about 3\u20134 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically, there was more cake collapse observed if I dropped the cakes from a height of 30 cm. That's exactly what I was expecting and the opposite of what Peter Barham claimed. Cakes are fragile when they come out of the oven. It seems pretty logical to me that if you drop a cake when it's most fragile, it will collapse a little from the shock. Right? I made this \"quirky\" video for you to illustrate my experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1538\/25645092485_64dd177a3e_o.jpg\" alt=\"Dropping cakes and cake collapse | Janice Lawandi @ kitchenhealssoul\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 id=\"final-thoughts\"   class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, looking at the inside of this cake, we see that I had large <a href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/large-holes-inside-of-cake\/\" rel=\"noopener\">holes in the cake<\/a>, but writing this post made me realize a few things: given the big bubbles inside and the spotting that I've been observing on the surface of my cakes (look at the 1st photo of this post again), I'm wondering if I'm working with too much leavener in my cake recipe. I use 2 teaspoon baking powder for 2 cups of flour, but according to some baking references, my recipe might only need \u00bd teaspoon per cup (therefore 1 teaspoon baking powder for 2 cups of flour).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means, my working recipe might possibly have more baking powder than is needed, specifically double. I have also been wondering if I need a touch more milk\/wet ingredients in my recipe. Perhaps the batter is a little too thick and this is leading to pockets of air that can't easily be smoothed or tapped out before baking. All that to say: clearly, I need to make more cakes!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you bake a cake only to discover the cake collapsed in the oven? Or maybe your cakes sink when you take them out of the oven? Find out why cakes sink and what you can do (or not do) to stop cake collapse. What causes a cake to sink? The cake collapses because your...<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/bakeschool.com\/cake-collapse\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2028],"class_list":{"0":"post-5688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baking-science","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why do cakes sink? - The Bake School<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did you bake a cake that collapsed in the oven? 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