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Common Cake Faults and Their Causes

Appears in
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About

Errors in mixing, scaling, baking, and cooling cakes cause many kinds of defects and failures. For easy reference, these defects and their possible causes are summarized in the troubleshooting guide in Table 33.2.

Table 33.2 Common Cake Faults and Their Causes

Fault Causes
Volume and Shape  
Poor volume

Too little flour

Too much liquid

Too little leavening

Oven too hot

Uneven shape

Improper mixing

Batter spread unevenly

Uneven oven heat

Oven racks not level

Cake pans warped

Crust  
Too dark

Too much sugar

Oven too hot

Too light

Too little sugar

Oven not hot enough

Burst or cracked

Too much flour or flour too strong

Too little liquid

Improper mixing

Oven too hot

Soggy

Underbaked

Cooling in pans or with not enough ventilation

Wrapping before cool

Texture  
Dense or heavy

Too little leavening

Too much liquid

Too much sugar

Too much shortening

Oven not hot enough

Coarse or irregular

Too much leavening

Too little egg

Improper mixing

Crumbly

Too much leavening

Too much shortening

Too much sugar

Wrong kind of flour

Improper mixing

Tough

Flour too strong

Too much flour

Too little sugar or shortening

Overmixing

Poor flavor  
 

Poor-quality ingredients

Poor storage or sanitation

Unbalanced formula

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