Just few of the questions I’ve been asked over the years.

1. My cake has peaked in the middle and is cracked.
This happens when there’s too much raising agent in your mixture or it could be the cake tin was too small for the recipe or even that your oven temperature was too high.

2. My cake is overcooked and thin but the texture is good.
This happens because your cake tin is too big for the recipe you used.

3. My cake has a gooey centre.
This is because the cake hasn’t been cooked for long enough. When checking the cake before removing it from the oven, a skewer should come out clean and the cake should feel the same in the middle as it does around the edges when gently pressed with your finger. It should also spring back when pressed.

4. My cake is flat and has large air bubbles on the top.
This is usually caused by one of two things, firstly, you left the cake batter standing in the tin before placing in the oven and the bubbles are the carbon dioxide produced by the raising agent (Baking Powder, etc) which have formed before the cooking process started. Or it may be the oven was not hot enough when the cake went in.

5. My cake has sunk in the middle.
There are three main reasons for this: the most likely one is you opened the oven door early in the baking cycle. Never take a peek at a cake of any sort until at least half way through the baking time. It may also be that the cake didn’t go in the oven as soon as the mixture was ready or if you used too much raising agent.