Spruced Up Vanilla Cake Texture

Our answer

Nigella's Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) is denser than a standard sponge cake and is rich in eggs, which helps to give its wonderful flavour. It also has a fairly high proportion of liquid from the yogurt that is added. If the texture is very dense then we would check that the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) was added and was also within its "best before" date. The soda does expire after a certain amount of time and can expire more quickly in humid conditions. Without an active raising agent the cake would be too dense.

It is also possible that the oven was too cold and this can be a problem for larger cakes with a liquid batter. If the oven is too cool then the outside section of the cake bakes normally and forms a crust but the inside cooks too slowly. As this cake has a lot of liquid and a lot of eggs, in these conditions it means that the inside sets more like a custard than a sponge cake and could account for the texture described. The oven should be thoroughly preheated to 180c/350F before the cake batter is mixed. It could also be that the oven is running on the cold side and it is possible to check this by using an oven thermometer.