Chocolate Fudge Cake With Muffin Top

Asked by lisacarleton. Answered on 19th January 2015

Full question

Hi, I (and anyone I bake it for) absolutly love the Nigella Chocolate Fudge Cake but when I bake it I always get a 'muffin top' look to the cake. The cake goes in at the sides and then has a domed top. I line the tins with parchment and the cake does not rise above the top of the tin or the parchment. Am I doing something wrong? Or what could be the problem? Please help because I love the flavour of the cake but the look makes it a bit difficult. Many thanks, Lisa

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake (from Nigella Bites and on the Nigella website) is loved by many. It should rise fairly evenly and the description you give of a domed top and slightly concave sides suggests to us that your oven may be a little too hot. If the oven is too hot then the outside edges of the cake set quickly while the centre remains soft. This forces the softer centre upwards, giving the type of appearance mentioned.

It may help to check the temperature of your oven with an oven thermometer as you may find it is running a little hot and you may need to use a slightly lower temperature setting. If it is a fan or convection oven then you may like to refer to the handbook for any instructions on adjusting temperatures (Nigella's recipes give temperatures for conventional ovens).