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Common Cake Faults and Their Causes
Appears in
Published 2025
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 34.2.
Table 34.2 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 |