Is It Possible to Re-Bake a Cake?

Asked by domesticgoddess11. Answered on 28th April 2012

Full question

I baked the Devil's Food Cake from Kitchen and I thought it was done because the toothpick came out clean. Only after it cooled and I sliced it, I noticed that it wasn't all cooked. The centre wasn't evenly brown - it had a mix of dark and light brown. Could I have popped it back in the oven to re-bake?

Our answer

Unfortunately once a cake has cooled it is not possible to re-bake it. The cake would have to heat all the way through again and the outside parts of the cake would become too dry. Also if the cake has sunk in the centre from being underbaked it will not rise again as the raising agents in the recipe will have expired.

If a cake tester came out clean then the cake should have been baked through. Also if it was not baked properly you would find that the cake had an almost brownie-like texture rather than streaks. We suspect that the light and dark brown streaks in the cake may be due to the batter being not quite thoroughly mixed. If you use a stand mixer sometimes the batter in the very base of the bowl doesn't quite mix in properly so it is worth folding the flour and cocoa in by hand at the end to make sure that the batter is streak free.