Full question
Tried the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Did everything by the book and the cake is delicious. However, it rose unevenly, higher in the centre and quite low at the sides. This did not affect the flavour and it was made to be eaten ¨naked¨ (so to speak) but I would not have been able to assemble the two halves with filling. The gap would be too much. It also cooked in less than 30 minutes in my fan-assisted oven. How can I stop this from happening again?
Our answer
Nigella's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake (from FEAST) is a moist chocolate sponge that includes sour cream in the batter. The sponge cake itself should rise though it is not normally with an excessively large peak in the centre.
If there is a big peak in the centre it is usually due to either the cake tins being too small or the oven being too hot. We note that it was a fan-assisted oven and the baking time was very short and this would suggest that the oven was a little too hot. We give temperature adjustments for fan ovens but even then if the fan is strong it can affect how quickly the cake bakes. When the oven is too hot the outsides of the cake layers set quickly, which forces the centre upwards as the rest of the cake bakes. You may need to reduce the oven temperature by a further 10c to make the cake rise more evenly or consult your oven handbook for advice on adjustments for baking.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more questionsYour comment has been submitted.