I was making a cake this afternoon and when it came out of the oven, the color was perfect; But, the top was cracked – badly.
According to the pros, cakes usually crack when the oven temperature is too high, or when the pan is placed on the wrong rack inside the oven.
Public Service Announcement
If your oven is too hot, the exterior of the cake cooks at a much faster rate than the interior. A crust will then form while the inside of the cake continues to cook and rise. This will crack the crust. This can also happen if the recipe has too much leavener or the pan is too small.
In the case of my cake, I deviated away from the original recipe. It had called for two 8-inch pans, but I decided to us a single 10-inch springform pan. The result is a cake batter that is deeper in the pan. In turn, increasing the odds that the crust would form before the inside was able to take hold, let alone cook.
How To Prevent The Dreaded Crack
- First and foremost, make sure your oven’s temperature is correct. Calibrate it with an oven thermometer to ensure it’s accuracy.
- Use the correct sized pan.
- To aide in even cooking, there are bakers who recommend adding a water filled pan to the oven along with your cake. Essentially, the water will evaporate forming steam and cause a more evenly baked cake.
- If your also getting cracks in your quick breads, using a spoon, create a shallow furrow in the batter before you place it in the oven. You should end up with an orderly line down the center.
- I’ve pointed this out a number of times in other articles, but it doesn’t hurt to point it out again: Avoid opening and closing the oven while baking to avoid any temperature fluctuations.
And if you still end up with a badly cracked cake, take solace in the fact that it should still taste good – If worse comes to worst, you can always make it into a trifle.