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Why do cakes have holes under the surface?

SUBCRIBER

Baking is a science in and of itself. A lot of things may go wrong while creating a cake. I’ve lost count of the number of frantic emails and messages I’ve received about cake mishaps over the years. I prepared this cake troubleshooting guide to make our lives simpler.

Although I always try my best to address your problems, I thought I’d simplify the process by offering troubleshooting methods for the most prevalent cake difficulties.

It’s also helpful to have images of frequent difficulties to assist you figure out what went wrong if your cake turned out less than ideal.

image of cake layers that are over-baked, over-mixed, underbaked, and made with too much flour Four separate difficulties on four different cake tiers. Can you tell what’s wrong with them just by looking at them? One was overbaked, one was underbaked, one was overbaked, and one was over-mixed.

This essay mostly addresses issues with the preparation of cake batter and the baking of cake layers.

It does not address ingredient replacements, which may have a significant influence on the outcome of a recipe.

That’s a whole other problem, which I’ve addressed in a separate piece on ingredient replacements!

My hope is that this cake troubleshooting guide will help you understand what caused your problem and empower you to bake amazing cakes in the future. Well, without further ado, let’s get started!

Why is my cake dense or gummy?

What might have happened:

  1. Too much flour was added to the batter.
  2. The cake batter was over-mixed.
  3. The ingredients weren’t at room temperature.
image of dense, tough cake layer that was overmixed and made with too much flour This cake layer was over-mixed and produced with too much flour. The crumb isn’t tender or soft, and the texture is dense with an oddly gummy center. It makes the cake layer seem underbaked once leveled, even when it’s fully baked.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Be careful to fluff your flour before spooning and leveling each cup, or use a digital kitchen scale.
  2. When you’ve added your flour, mix your batter just until the ingredients are combined. Over-mixing the batter causes strong gluten strands to form, which give your cake that dense texture.
  3. If some of your ingredients are cold, they make it more difficult to mix together your batter and can impact the rise of your cake. Set out chilly ingredients ahead of time so that everything is at room temperature when it’s time to prepare your cake.
image of flour being leveled in a measuring cup

Why is my cake dry?

What might have happened:

  1. The cake layers were baked too long.
  2. The dish lacks moisture and requires simple syrup.
image of overbaked cake layer with brown edges This cake layer was overbaked, resulting in browning on the edges and a dry texture.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Take your cake layers out a few minutes sooner, or as soon as a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few wet crumbs. If the toothpick comes out completely clean, your cake is probably overbaked. Remember that your cake layers will continue to bake for a few minutes once they’re out of the oven as they cool in the pans. For this reason, I usually aim to err on the side of underbaking.
  2. Various recipes produce various sorts of cake. For example, my vanilla cake recipe is a luscious butter cake that doesn’t use simple syrup. But sponge cake recipes bake up quite a bit fluffier and drier because they use a lot of eggs. These cake recipes are designed to bake that way and are then supposed to be doused in simple syrup to add moisture after they’re baked.

Why did my cake layers sink in the middle?

What might have happened:

  1. The cake layers are underbaked.
  2. When the layers cooked, the oven door was opened and banged.
  3. The batter contains an excessive amount of leavening agent (baking powder / baking soda).
  4. Your oven temperature is off.
image of a cake layer with a sunken center Since this cake layer was underbaked, the center sank as it cooled.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Bake the cake layers for a few minutes more, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
  2. While it’s common practice to rotate cake pans part way through baking, if the oven door is slammed this can cause partially baked cake layers to sink in the middle. If you need to rotate your pans, shut your oven door tightly afterward.
  3. Be sure to thoroughly read and measure the amount and kind of leavening agents specified in a recipe. The recipe might possibly be faulty! If you attempt it a few times and it still happens, you may want to try a different recipe.
  4. With an oven thermometer, check the temperature of your oven. If yours runs cold, adjust the temperature of your oven to ensure it bakes the cake layers at the actual temperature the recipe calls for.

My cake layers are stuck in my pans! How do I get them out?

What might have happened:

  1. The cake pans weren’t properly greased.
  2. Your cake pans weren’t lined with parchment paper.
  3. The cake layers fully cooled in the pan.
image of a cake pan being properly prepared with parchment rounds and non-stick spray to prevent the cakes from sticking to the pan. To keep my cake layers from sticking, I’m prepping a cake pan with paper circles and nonstick spray.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Grease your cake pans generously with nonstick spray or a coating of butter and flour.
  2. When a recipe instructs you to line your pan with parchment paper, do so! I love to use pre-cut parchment rounds to simplify the process, but you can also cut out your own parchment rounds.
  3. If your cake layers cool fully in the pan they can get stuck as the cake firms up. To assist loosen it from the pan, run an offset spatula over the edges. Then dip the bottom of the pan in hot water. This should allow it to come out without damaging the cake layer.

Why are my cake edges so dark and caramelized?

What might have happened:

  1. The pans used to bake the layers are made of the wrong material.
  2. Your oven runs hot.
  3. The pans are overcrowded in the oven.
photo of a cake layer was baked in an oven that ran hot, and was placed too close to the sides of the oven which made the edges of the cake layer over-brown. This cake layer was cooked in a hot oven and was put too near to the oven’s sidewalls, causing the edges to over-brown.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. The material used to make your cake pans has a significant influence on how your cake layers bake. Dark metals absorb and spread heat more efficiently than lighter-colored pans which causes cakes to over brown on the sides. Glass pans also become very hot once heated and can cause cake layers to over-brown or caramelize too. Choose a light-colored metal pan, such as these cake pans, which distribute heat more evenly.
  2. With an oven thermometer, check the temperature of your oven. If yours runs hot, turn the temperature of your oven down to ensure it bakes the cake layers at the actual temperature the recipe calls for.
  3. To help them bake evenly, make sure your pans are spaced out in the oven and not too near to the walls. To avoid browning, you may alternatively use cake strips. I don’t like using them, yet others swear by them!

Why do my cake layers have big holes / tunnels in them?

What might have happened:

  1. The batter was over-mixed.
  2. The batter was mixed at too high of a speed.
  3. The components were either improperly combined or not at room temperature.
photo of a cake layer that was overmixed! This causes strong gluten strands to form which trap the leavening agent in the batter and cause it to create these air bubbles or tunnels. This cake layer had been over-baked! This causes strong gluten strands to form which trap the leavening agent in the batter which creates these air bubbles and tunnels.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Tunneling can happen in your cake layers when the gluten strands are too strong, which traps air bubbles inside the cake. To prevent this, mix your cake batter on low speed only until the ingredients are incorporated.
  2. Unless a recipe specifically calls for mixing batter at a high speed (like a sponge cake, or when creaming together butter and sugar), you shouldn’t be mixing your batter that fast. Follow the recipe directions exactly and mix the batter at the speed specified.
  3. Concentrated baking powder or baking soda regions in your batter might cause large holes in your cake layers. Be sure your ingredients are at room temperature to help the batter mix together better and sift your dry ingredients if a recipe calls for it.

Why is my cake falling and crumbling apart when I try to frost it?

What might have happened:

  1. The cake layers weren’t fully cooled.
  2. You’re not using the right tools.
  3. The frosting you’re using is too stiff.
Image of a cake being frosted poorly with a rubber spatula This is not how a cake should be frosted using a rubber spatula! It can cause the cake layers to break and crumble as it drags the frosting around the cake. Instead, use an offset spatula to apply the frosting more simply.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Before frosting the cake layers, allow them to cool completely. Otherwise, you’ll have a genuine shambles on your hands! Let them to cool for a couple of hours at room temperature on a wire rack, or place them in the freezer to speed up the process. Before decorating a cake, I prefer to chill my cake layers in the freezer for approximately 20 minutes, so they’re chilly to the touch. This reduces crumbing and makes them so much easier to stack and frost.
  2. When it comes to cake decorating, an offset spatula makes all the difference. Trying to spread icing over cake layers using a rubber spatula, on the other hand, is a bad idea. The lack of control and accuracy makes spreading the frosting much more difficult and increases the danger of ripping cake layers.
  3. If your frosting consistency is excessively thick, it will be difficult to spread. The resistance provided by the frosting’s thickness might cause cake layers to break. If the frosting seems difficult or too thick to work with, add in additional heavy cream or milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the consistency is more spreadable.

Why are my cake layers overcooked or under-baked?

What might have happened:

  1. Your oven temperature is off.
  2. The pans are overcrowded in the oven.
  3. You made different-sized cake layers than called for in the recipe.
image of an oven thermometer being used to make sure an oven bakes accurately I purchased an oven thermometer to ensure the accuracy of my oven! Despite my oven being old and gas-powered, it bakes surprisingly accurately.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. With an oven thermometer, check the temperature of your oven. If yours runs hot or cold, adjust the temperature of your oven to ensure it bakes the cake layers at the actual temperature the recipe calls for.
  2. To help them bake evenly, make sure your pans are spaced out in the oven and not too near to the oven’s walls.
  3. If you create different-sized cake layers than the recipe asks for, the baking time may vary. Keep an eye on your cake layers and test them with a toothpick if necessary. When a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, remove them from the oven.

Why didn’t my cake layers rise more?

What might have happened:

  1. Your leavening agents are old.
  2. The recipe isn’t meant to rise much.
  3. The batter was over-mixed.
  4. You accidentally used baking powder instead of baking soda.
image of an 8-inch WASC cake layer that's been leveled and trimmed with a serrated knife to remove the caramelization My favorite vanilla cake recipe doesn’t rise much when baking! It raises around one centimeter. Some people think they did something wrong because of the limited rise, but it’s formulated to bake flat. As long as the cake texture is soft and fluffy, the layers turned out exactly how they should.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Baking powder and baking soda have a long shelf life, but they don’t stay good forever. If you’re worried about yours, you can test baking powder by adding a little bit into a small bowl of hot water (or vinegar if testing baking soda). They should respond quickly and begin to fizzle. They’re no longer useful if they don’t.
  2. Some recipes are designed to rise dramatically, while others are not. My chocolate layer cake recipe and vanilla cake recipe are designed to bake flat without a big dome. As long as the texture and taste are good, it’s ok if your cake layers don’t rise up a ton. That’s how they’re intended to be sometimes!
  3. Over-mixing your batter prevents the leavening agent from rising up like normal and traps it inside the batter where it creates tunnels and big holes. To make light and fluffy cake layers, blend the ingredients only till incorporated.
  4. Check that you’re using the correct leavening agent. Baking soda is about 3x more potent than baking powder, and they are not interchangeable.

Why is my frosting bubbling or bulging out between the cake layers?

What might have happened:

  1. The cake layers weren’t leveled.
  2. The frosting you’re using is too thin.
  3. Before pouring the final layer of icing, the cake had not settled.
image of a layer cake with bulging sides, because air bubbles were trapped inside the frosting and as the cake settled the air pressed the frosting out. The icing on this cake was too thin, and it bulged out when the cake rested.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. With a serrated knife, level the cake layers. It makes it way easier to assemble a layer cake and help prevent air from getting trapped between the cake layers and escaping through the frosting later.
  2. Check that your frosting has the proper consistency. If it’s too thin, it may be pushed out between the cake layers as they settle. Next time you make frosting either add more powdered sugar or use less milk/heavy cream. If you’re not sure what consistency you’re looking for, you can check out this detailed post on frosting consistency.
  3. After leveling and filling your cake, allow it to rest for a number of hours, ideally overnight, before applying the second layer of icing.

Why is my frosting cracking on my cake?

What might have happened:

  1. Air was trapped between your cake layers.
  2. The cake layers weren’t leveled.
  3. Your cake was not settled before the final coat of frosting was applied.
  4. Your cake is made with a filling that’s too soft.
image of cake layers being to make it easier to assemble my cake, and to prevent my frosting from bulging or cracking. Leveling my cake layers makes assembly simpler and keeps my icing from bulging or splitting.

How to prevent this in the future:

  1. Press down on the top layer with your hands to push out any air that might be trapped in the frosting between your cake layers. Then crumb coat your cake and go about your business as normal!
  2. Leveling your cake layers with a serrated knife makes layer cakes much simpler to create and allows the cake to settle quickly and without large changes that might fracture your icing.
  3. Let the cake to rest for a few hours, ideally overnight, before applying the second layer of icing.
  4. If your cake has a soft filling, it may leak out when the cake rests. Pipe a frosting dam around the edge of each cake layer if you plan to use a softer filling in your cake.
image of cake layers that have been made incorrectly for a cake troubleshooting guide Four separate difficulties on four different cake tiers. Can you tell what’s wrong with them just by looking at them? One was overbaked, one was underbaked, one was overbaked, and one was over-mixed.

 

 

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