A few tips to keep the cake from collapsing

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to prevent a cake from collapsing, but there are a few tips you should keep in mind when baking a cake. Some of these baking tips help ensure that the cake really turns out well and becomes nice and fluffy.

A few tips to keep the cake from collapsing

• Do not open the oven during the first 20 minutes.
• Never let the finished cake cool down abruptly.
• Put cakes that contain baking powder and beaten egg whites into the oven quickly.
• Do not use eggs directly from the refrigerator; let them reach room temperature first.
• Do not melt the butter completely if the recipe says it should be soft. Otherwise it will soak up the flour.

Important tips to help the cake turn out well

When baking, you should always stick to the recipe, because unlike cooking, it is difficult to improvise here. If you do, unpleasant surprises can occur: the cake does not rise or cannot be removed from the pan, the surface is too dark, the fruit has sunk, or the dough has collapsed. However, if you follow these tips, your baking will turn out much better!

Prepare the batter

Weigh the ingredients as accurately as possible and have everything ready when it is time to prepare the batter. Work the batter quickly and make sure that everything is at room temperature.

Also use a good flour for the baked goods. Type 405 flour is very suitable for sponge cake and pound cake batters. Types 550 and 630 are ideal for good strudel and shortcrust pastry dough.

The right temperature

Whether convection, top heat or bottom heat – which function is suitable for baking also depends in part on the dough. Sponge cake bases and muffins turn out best with top and bottom heat. Cream puffs and cookies bake best with convection. Yeast doughs and cake batters, on the other hand, are fine with any function.

Note: the oven should always be well preheated. If the temperature has not yet been reached, the heat distribution for the cake batter is too uneven.

Pay attention to baking pans

There are numerous baking pans with different coatings and shapes available for purchase. The different types of baking pans have no influence on the taste of the baked goods, but only on the browning of the dough and how easily the cake can be removed from the pan. For example, doughs in tinplate pans brown better and faster, but they also take longer to bake through. Black metal pans, on the other hand, conduct heat better, so the cake is done faster.

Baking instructions

The baking pan should ideally always stand on a rack. Cakes that are meant to rise high belong on the lower rack, while flat pastries belong on the middle rack. However, always keep an eye on the cake and check the baking process, because the times given are only rough guidelines, as every oven heats differently. If nothing is specified for the oven temperature, top and bottom heat is meant.

If the cake has become nicely browned toward the end of the baking time, cover it with aluminum foil, if it is not yet done on the inside. To find this out, simply insert a wooden skewer into the center of the batter: if the skewer is still wet with batter, the cake needs a little more time. If the skewer is clean, the cake is fully baked.

After baking

After the baking time, you should not take the cake out of the oven immediately (except for sponge cake bases), but give the batter a little rest. Let the cake sit in the switched-off oven for another five minutes, then place it on the table and carefully loosen the pan after ten minutes. Now place the cake on a wire rack.

Caring for baking pans

So that the next cake also turns out well and you can enjoy the pans for a long time, you should remove cake residue immediately. Baking pans made of sheet metal do not belong in dishwashers; they should be cleaned by hand. Use a cloth for this (no sponges or wire brushes with a hard surface!), lukewarm water and a little dish soap. Steel wool or scouring cream, on the other hand, are not advisable. If something is burned on, soak it immediately with a little water and dish soap.

Silicone baking pans can usually be washed in the dishwasher without any problems.

Images by Janine & Sabine, meinhaushalt.at

Read also: When is the cake fully baked?