After my fair share of sunken cake layers, I took to researching why exactly a cake recipe (even one you’ve had success with in the past!) would deflate in the center. Without further ado, here are the top 9 reasons I could gather: 

1: Your Baking Powder is Expired

Baking powder is one of the ingredients that gives your cake a beautiful rise. Unlike baking soda, which pretty much lasts forever, baking powder will expire between 6 months and one year. It’s especially sensitive to humidity and moisture, so to preserve it for as long as possible, you need to ensure it’s well stored in a cool, dry pantry.   

I always write the date that I open a new can of baking powder on the lid just to remember how long I have until it expires. If you’re not sure how long it’s been, you can test your baking powder by adding ½ teaspoon into a cup and adding ¼ cup of boiling water. If it bubbles up immediately, it’s still good. If not, it’s important that you get a new tin before baking a cake recipe. Sadly, expired baking powder won’t allow for the chemical reaction that a cake needs to rise. 

2: Too Much Leavening Agent 

If there’s too much baking powder or baking soda in a cake recipe, it can cause your cake to rise too rapidly, then sink shortly thereafter. The amount really depends on the other ingredients of the recipe.

A general rule of thumb for the amount of leavening agent in a cake recipe is one teaspoon of baking powder and/or ¼ teaspoon of baking soda per cup of flour. There are exceptions to this for sure, as not all cake recipes have both leavening agents. Some cake recipes that are ultra acidic (like a lemon cake) will require less baking powder to rise because the acidity of lemons cancels it out. See? So much science. 

3: Over-Creaming the Butter and Sugar 

The process of creaming the butter and sugar in a cake recipe is super important to the rise (or fall) of the cake. The majority of gas bubbles are created in the creaming process, and those are responsible for creating both texture and rise. A good rule of thumb is to cream the butter and sugar at a moderate speed for 2-3 minutes. Any more than that and you can end up either losing those precious gas bubbles or creating so many that the cake will rise too quickly and then sink immediately thereafter. 

I tested this theory with my vanilla cake recipe and creamed the mixture for a little bit longer (four minutes) and it’s true – any more than 2-3 minutes, or any higher power on your mixer than medium, will whip too much air into the mixture and cause your cake to fall in the oven. Be sure to follow the recipe exactly when it comes to creaming the butter and sugar, and if you’re ever curious about the time it takes for this to occur (because sometimes recipes don’t specify a time), just cream the room temperature butter with the sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium and you should be good to go. It should be “light and fluffy” after that amount of time, which looks like this: 

4: Your Butter is Too Soft 

Baking involves quite a bit of patience, and bringing the butter to room temperature is no exception. But what exactly is “room temperature”? According to the internet, perfectly room temperature butter will be 68ºF, which means it’ll be a little soft when you press into it, but not so soft that it’s easy to indent with your finger or on the verge of melting. 

If your environment is especially hot, you need to keep an eye on your butter and make sure you don’t leave it out too long before starting on the cake batter. And on the flipside, attempting to soften your butter in the microwave often results in too-soft butter. Regardless of how you ended up with butter that is over-softened, creaming it with the sugar will result in air bubbles that are frothy, hence destroying your chances of a light and fluffy rise. 

5: Over-Beating the Batter 

The process of mixing up cake batter requires beating in just the right amount of air. The air that you beat in is partly responsible for the rise in your cake, and if you beat in too much, your cake will rise too rapidly in the oven and then sink. Over-beating will also overdevelop the gluten in the batter, which will make the texture of your cake more dense. This common problem typically happens at the end of a cake recipe, when you’re adding in the final dry and wet ingredients. 

At the end of most of my cake recipes, I have the mixer on low and add all of the dry ingredients at once and wait until they just start to come together before adding all of the liquid at once. I specify to wait no more than fifteen seconds after adding the liquid, and this is specifically to make sure the batter doesn’t get overmixed. Each cake recipe will require a different process, but just know that the longer you mix the final batter, the more problematic air you’re whipping into it.  

6: Your Oven is Too Hot 

Have you ever checked your internal oven temperature? Sometimes your oven display will read one temperature, while the actual temperature is different. If an oven is too hot, it can cause the cake to rise too rapidly and thus, sink in the remainder of the baking process.

Typically, the resulting cake will have over-baked edges and will be runny in the middle. If you’re ever concerned about your oven temperature, you can purchase a thermometer to place inside your oven to ensure that it’s the right temp. 

7: Opening the Oven Door Prematurely 

I know it can be tempting to want to see what’s going on inside of the oven, but if you open the door during the baking process it lets too much air escape, even if it’s just for a second.

So as to not disturb the oven environment, you can just flip on the oven light to see your cake through the glass and be sure to only open the oven door after the specified baking time to check for doneness. 

8: Your Ingredients Aren’t Room Temperature

It’s ultra important that all of your ingredients are room temperature before you mix up your batter.

This means that your eggs, butter, and all other dairy and liquids need to be room temperature, not any colder or warmer unless the recipe specifies otherwise.

9: It’s Just an Unreliable Recipe 

There are TONS of cake recipes on the internet, and surprise, not all of them are written properly or go through extensive testing. Some common reasons why cakes sink are too much liquid in the recipe, an incorrect amount of leavening agent, or other ingredients with off measurements. Recipe writing requires lots of testing, and I thoroughly test all of my recipes before publishing them for the world to see, but not all bloggers have the time (or ambition) for that. 

Finding the right cake recipe for you means trying out a few to see which ones you love. As long as you follow the detailed instructions and spend a little time comparing, I’m sure you’ll end up with a cake you love! 

Although it’s frustrating to end up with a sunken cake, remember that you might be able to salvage it by leveling off the cake layers. And if all else fails, you can always stress eat your cake layers (like I’ve done many a time), turn them into cake balls, or just dust yourself off and try again!

Want more Cake Basics? Head here to see all of the posts and learn the methods of caking I’ve come to love over the years. I’m cheering you on every step of the way!

The post Common Reasons Why Cakes Sink appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.

To be completely honest, when I first started posting my cakes on Instagram a year and a half ago, I didn’t really think anything would come of it. My very first post was a cake I made for my niece’s birthday, and I thought starting a cake account would result in (maybe) a couple orders from family and friends every now and then. Never in a million years did I think that cake would become such a huge part of my life. It’s all very surreal and I’m so thankful for all the support and encouragement.

It’s always a good idea to stop and reflect every once in awhile, and since this past year was so growth-inducing I wanted to jot down some key moments and lessons learned. Some of these I learned the hard way, but I wanted to share them with you in hopes that it might help in your journey with cake or whatever you call your passion. Here are the things:

Learn Your Limits.

At this time last year, I was way too busy. I felt like I had to do all the things and I didn’t want to turn down anyone who needed a cake. I was working a full time job and most waking moments outside of that were spent with my good pal (and sometimes nemesis) cake. But, after a few panic attacks and more stressful weekends than restful ones, I learned that my health was more important. I still make a lot of cake for blog posts and creative projects (which I can turn around and gift), but not tackling huge wedding orders and spending my entire weekend covered in buttercream has been the best thing for my sanity, social life, and creativity. Nowadays I balance cake life with actually going places on the weekends, which makes me a happy gal.  

It’s totally ok to push yourself and rise to challenges, but if you feel like something’s wrong it’s more ok to take a step back, reflect, and adjust course. Figuring out a balance where the things you’re passionate about are bringing more joy than stress to you and those around you is key.

Community Is Great.

Early on in this journey I had a negative run-in with someone I looked up to in the cake community. It crushed me for a little bit, and I learned that people aren’t always who they appear to be. On the flipside, I’ve also learned that many people are much more than they appear to be. Over the past year I’ve had so many more good experiences with people I’ve met from all over the world, connecting over everything from the vast world of cake to simply being a human. One of my favorite local business owners puts it like this: “community, not competition.” I think that’s the best mindset to have when it comes to this stuff.

It’s so important to be supportive of each other, keep experimenting and sharing techniques, and keep encouraging one another. We’re all better for it in the end!

Find A Good Camera.

Upgrading from iPhone photography to DSLR seemed like a daunting task because I didn’t know anything about real photography. After tons and tons of research, I bought my first real camera: a Canon T7i body with a 50mm lens. It’s the ideal (and affordable!) next step camera, with barely any learning curve. The right tool can sometimes make all the difference. You can scroll backwards in my Instagram feed and actually see the change happen.

If you’re on the fence about taking the leap from phone camera to DSLR, I can tell you from experience it has made a world of difference.

Find A Creative Outlet.

It had been a dream of mine for a long, long time to start a cake blog. With the help of my amazing techie husband, it came true! I couldn’t be more excited about sharing all my favorite recipes, tutorials, and tips with you. Sugar & Sparrow has given me a lot more creative freedom and grown me tremendously over the past few months and I’m stoked to see where this path leads.

Whether it’s writing, painting, baking, or interpretive dancing, finding a creative outlet can really help put the wind in your sails in all other areas of life.

Support Your Local Businesses.

You never know what new friends might be just around the corner! Through supporting local businesses, I’ve gotten to meet some really talented people and work with some really amazing flavors. For example, I’ve been a fan of Tea Bar since they opened up shop years ago. I was so pleased to be able to connect with them this past year and have the opportunity to create a cake recipe with their Culinary Matcha. It was so fun to meet the whole team and share a slice of cake (PS if you have yet to try my Matcha Cake Recipe, I can promise you it’ll be a true crowd pleaser)!

Don’t be afraid to reach out, meet new people, and look for ways to support each other.

Laugh At Your Cake Fails.  

Oh, cake. Sometimes things go smooth as buttercream and sometimes things get crazy. This past year I actually set my oven ablaze while baking a cake. The cake recipe involved carbonated cream soda, and because of science, the batter oozed out of the pan like lava onto the oven floor. My husband and I were sitting in the other room, first commenting on how delicious the butterscotch scent was, then about ten minutes later, realizing there was an overpowering burning smell. I rushed into the kitchen at lightning speed to find FLAMES in the bottom of the oven! We extinguished the fire quickly, but yikes. I felt so defeated for a good few minutes before I busted up laughing! That’ll teach me to always use a sheet pan to catch oozing cake batter. 

Other notable cake fails of the year: dropping a cake off the table (total redo), filling a cake with ganache that was too runny (oozed everywhere), and having a one year old’s birthday cake fly out of my hands and through the air before it was caught singlehandedly by a mother with the reflexes of a cat. Miraculously, there were only a few fingerprints that were easily patched up. Being able to laugh at cake-tastrophies instead of developing PTSD is better for the soul in the long run.

Think Outside The Box.

I started carrying around a notebook to jot down ideas and drawings as they come to me, and doing so has helped me actually follow through on creative visions instead of just forgetting about them. I highly recommend carrying around some sort of notebook or notes app, because inspiration is everywhere. And often when you least expect it. Not only will a notebook of some form help you plan your cakes out, it’s really cool to look back on concept art and see what it became in real life. Cases in point:

Be Open To New Opportunities.

Occasionally it’s a good idea to try things you’ve never done before. I’ve always been a leaper, taking opportunities before I know I’m ready, and in most cases it’s paid off and I’ve grown as I fumble my way toward success. That’s not always the case…but most of the time.

For example, this past year I was invited to take part in something I’ve never done before: a styled wedding shoot. I was nervous at first, but it ended up being a fantastic opportunity to meet amazing people and work together to create beautiful things. I can’t say how thankful I am to have been offered the opportunity from Mae & Co. through Instagram, because her design skills are magical and it was so cool working with other talented people to make her creative vision come to life. Just look at how amazing these photos turned out!

Celebrate Your Friends.

This was the most major shift in my approach to cake making this past year. I am an ultra-perfectionist (to a fault) and was letting my perfectionism suck most of the joy out of cake making. Then I realized that cake isn’t meant to be like that. At its core, a cake is a means to help celebrate people. Although it is a highlight of a party, it is not the main point.

Nowadays when I make cakes, I just think about who the cake is for the whole time. I put my heart into it because I love people and want them to feel so celebrated. And that has become the biggest highlight of cake making for me. Getting to create pretty cakes to make my friends feel loved—both longtime and new—is what gets me out of bed in the morning and keeps me burning the midnight oil. Taking this approach has made me a more joyful human and I’m always honored to be part of the celebration!   

Wherever you’re at in your cake journey, I’m cheering you on always! I hope you’re all along for the ride on year two. If you haven’t yet, sign up for my email list, subscribe on YouTube to catch new video tutorials, and follow on Instagram for all the latest updates.

The post Reflecting On My Cake Journey + Lessons Learned appeared first on Sugar & Sparrow.