Why Does My Chocolate Fudge Cake Have Hard Edges?

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake (from NIGELLA BITES) is a rich chocolate sponge that is covered in a fudgy chocolate buttercream. The cake should be moist and as the sides of the cake are covered with frosting, we assume that the dry edges are happening when the cake bakes.

Often if the edges of a cake are hard and dry then the oven temperature is slightly too high. If you are finding that the cake layers have peaks in the centre when they come out of the oven then this would confirm that the oven temperature is slightly high. All ovens vary and if you have a fan or convection oven then it can cook more quickly, even with a 20°C reduction in temperature. So it may be that you need to reduce the oven temperature very slightly or we would suggest checking the sponges slightly earlier, at about 45 minutes, to see if they are already cooked through. The other reason cake edges can be hard and crunchy is that the cake pans have been greased a little too generously, causing the edges of the cake to "fry" in the oven. Use melted butter to grease the cake pans and brush on just a very light layer around the edges. If the edges of the cake stick to the pan slightly during cooking then you can always slide a thin-bladed spatula around the edge of the sponge layers to loosen them before turning them out.