The oven temperature is very low or very high
Controlling the temperature throughout the process of making a cake is essential to obtain a good final product. Therefore, the ingredients must be tempered, the kitchen needs a constant warm environment and the oven must maintain an adequate and continuous temperature. In this sense, if the oven temperature is below what is required, the center of the cake will not cook well. Therefore, the crumb will not be properly developed and remains of raw mass will be left when opening the center. Likewise, if the temperature is very high, the cake will be brown very quickly without cooking well inside, so it will sink into the center. To avoid both situations, check the following tips that can serve you:- Preheat the oven. Do it between 10-20 minutes before entering the preparation.
– Use an oven thermometer. Nothing better than this artifact to solve the disparity between home ovens. Thus, you will know the precise temperature in your oven.
– Know your oven. If you do not have a thermometer, practice will help you recognize the real temperature of your oven. Try several times and take note before preparing any recipe for a special occasion.
UP or lower the temperature during cooking
For the same reason that you should not open the oven early, you should not raise or lower the temperature of the cooking. That is, changing the temperature during cooking affects the chemical process of yeast. For this reason, this practice qualifies within the causes of why the cake sinks in the middle and only grows by the edges.
The dough has excess fat
The more fat the preparation contains, the more it weighs, so if you exceed in its proportion the cake can sink into the center. If you need to remedy it, add a little more yeast. You can also avoid this fault by replacing fat with a lighter one. It is interesting to mention that in pastries there are light shakes and heavy beaters, the former do not need fat and the latter yes. Now you know why the cake sinks in the middle when you use too fat and how to avoid it!