[floppycarrot3]

I have just attempted a carrot cake for the third time and they all sink in the middle. I followed recipe very carefully with ingredients and amounts and adjusted oven temp by 20degs for a fan oven.  The outside of both tins is a beautifully cooked ring of about 2& half ins wide and the cake is lovely, but every time the middle goes bubbly & dry on top and has no thickness. Any ides? I'm determined to get it right, if only for the excuse to eat the fabulous frosting!

 

[fablesable]

I am thinking that your oven temp is not right or your leavening is old. I would suggest getting an oven thermometer and double checking your oven for correct temp and you might want to buy new leavening ingredients if your baking soda and powder are over 6 months old. 

 

[kokopuffs]

To check the activity of your leavening, baking powder I assume, just place about a 1/4 tsp into a glass of water.  If it's active, then it'll fizz.  Otherwise discard and get some fresh stuff.

Your recipe????

 

[brianshaw]

Are you baking to temp & time or testing with a skewer or taking a temp. Sounds under baked to me.

 

[panini]

Don't know what recipe you are using. Quite a few carrot cakes start out with some sort of oil, sug,etc. Then it will usually have you add the eggs one at a time. With this type of formula it is very important to add the eggs one at a time. add 1 then make it homogenous, then another and mix till blended, then another, It is like making mayonnaise. Then your other ingredients are paddled or folded in. Just a thought.

not making that mayo will definitely cause the the middle to weaken and boil instead of baking.

If you are not using this type of formula then I would use all of the above, which I would do anyway.

 

[kokopuffs]

...With this type of formula it is very important to add the eggs one at a time. add 1 then make it homogenous, then another and mix till blended, then another, It is like making mayonnaise. Then your other ingredients are paddled or folded in. Just a thought.
.......

What's the importance of adding eggs one at a time to thoroughly blend??? Nolo comprende.

 

[brianshaw]

It just ensures that the egg gets emulsified. Too much too fast makes that difficult.

 

[floppycarrot3]

Thanks, I'll get an oven thermometer and try that. Ingredients are all fresh and raising agents all bought in the last month or so. I did wonder about the temperature, but thought that because all the other cakes were ok that it wasn't that. but thinking about it, with the much moister ingredients in the carrot cake, even a small temp difference could affect it.

 

[floppycarrot3]

Ah, now this is definitely worth a try. The method I've been following has putting oil, eggs, sugar and grated carrots all in a mixer together and beating for 2 mins, then gradually adding the flour,raisers and spices. Your description of the boiling in the middle certainly fits what it looks like  when it comes out of the oven. Thanks Panini

 

[pastrycooklife]

Hi.. does your cake specifically have to be baked round? if you have no preference i would suggest baking it in a sheet pan. in my experience carrot cake will always bake better in sheets because of the high fat content in the batter it takes longer for the center to heat up.. then you can cut rounds out if you like or just stack the sheets and make a layer cake that way.

 

[panini]

What's the importance of adding eggs one at a time to thoroughly blend??? Nolo comprende.

@kokopuffs , Now I've seen enough of your great finished products to know that you are pulling my leg. But I'll bite.

Like Brian says, the oil and eggs have to be thoroughly emulsified. The proteins in the egg whites are all bunched together in water even though they are strings.

They need to be dispersed and uncurled to start bonding with other proteins. That's why you add them slowly and have them at room temperature. When all those proteins are

dancing and doing the jerk, they bond with other proteins forming the emulsion. This is the time when the egg yolk steps in to dance. It contains lecithin and other things that

keep the proteins from separating again. Separating as you know, we call breaking. Like when your hollandaise breaks. If you have not formed a complete emulsion the mix

breaks.du4ring baking this might lead to the proteins that are slow dancing in the middle of the cake to break and separate. Then the oil on it's own actually gets up to temperature and fries everything around it. That can lead to uneven baking, and even falling in the middle while baking or collapse after it comes out of the oven.

Does any of this make sense? A bit fuzzy this AM, played a little poker last night/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif I'm sure one of our resident scientists will come on and explain it better.

 

[kokopuffs]

@kokopuffs , Now I've seen enough of your great finished products to know that you are pulling my leg. But I'll bite....

8) My experience or lay expertise as it were lies in breads and tarts. And so I don't make anything requiring an emulsion 'cept for the occasional vinaigrette. And when it comes to vinaigrettes, I find that the mixture emulsifies much better when EV olive oil is used instead of regular olive oil along with dijon mustard.