Bundt cakes are fantastic because they’re very tasty and they also look really nice. You can make a beautiful bundt cake that will be very presentable even when you just took it out of the pan.
The problem with making them is that it’s common for people to run into problems. For example, there are many who have problems with their bundt cakes falling.
It can be very disheartening to make a bundt cake only to see that it has fallen or deflated in certain spots. You thought that you did everything right and then your hopes were dashed.
Why does this happen? Is there some sort of trick that you need to know to get things to turn out normally?
Read on to learn about how to make bundt cakes successfully. You should be able to figure out why the cake fell so that you can avoid making mistakes such as this again in the future.
1 – Moisture Problems
One of the common reasons why any type of cake will fall is that you got the moisture wrong. Some who are new to baking won’t quite understand what this means, but you’ll get it if you keep reading.
Basically, a cake will fall if you have too little moisture, and it’ll also have the potential to fall when too much moisture is present. Sometimes you’ll have unexpected moisture issues when you live in a very humid place.
It could be the case that the flour that you used to make the bundt cake collected moisture from the air. This caused too much moisture to be present in the cake, and it wound up deflating because of it.
A cake with too much moisture might rise very fast only to fall down. You want to try to avoid having too much or too little moisture.
The best thing that you can do is try to protect the ingredients that you’re using. Do your best to ensure that your flour is being stored properly so that it isn’t soaking up moisture due to the natural humidity.
You’ll also want to follow the recipe that you’re using to the letter. If the ingredients are a bit off, it can cause your cake to fall.
2 – Baking Temperature Mistakes
Have you made sure that you didn’t make a mistake with the baking temperature? Sometimes your error will be as simple as baking the bundt cake at a temperature that is too hot.
This can happen because of simple human error, of course. You might have thought that you read one temperature on the recipe and wound up getting things wrong.
It’s also possible that you set the temperature right but there is an issue with the oven itself. Sometimes ovens have hot spots that cause certain locations in the oven to be hotter than others.
You can tell that this is the case by using an oven thermometer. Try shifting the location of the oven thermometer to test the temperature at various points inside the oven.
It’s also worth noting that you could be giving up on the cake too soon. There are times when the cake will be a bit gummy in the middle.
This is a sign that the cake hasn’t finished baking yet. Perhaps if you allow it to finish baking, it won’t look as though it is quite as deflated.
3 – Using Too Much or Too Little Baking Soda or Baking Powder
You need to use a leavening agent to get the cake to rise in the first place. This is why you always need to add baking soda or baking powder to the mix.
When you’re mixing the cake batter together, it’s possible to make small errors. You might not be paying close attention and this will cause you to use too little or too much baking soda.
Having too much baking soda can cause a cake to rise way faster than it normally would. This will then cause the cake to deflate and it’ll look sunken-in once you pull it out of the oven.
Not using enough will keep the cake from rising normally. You need to make sure that you use the right amount of baking soda or baking powder (or an alternative).
Simply read the recipe closely to avoid making mistakes such as this. So long as you don’t try to rush things, it should be easy to get the ingredient amounts correct.
4 – Adding Eggs at the Wrong Time
Adding the eggs to the bundt cake mix at the wrong time can cause a cake to deflate. You might be wondering why this is the case.
The eggs need to bond with the other ingredients at the proper time for things to turn out right. If you add the eggs too late in the process, the mix that you’re using might not wind up being in the right state to bake a normal cake.
When you make a mistake such as this, it’s going to cause the bundt cake to deflate. This might not happen depending on certain other factors, but it’s certainly a possibility.
You should try to pay close attention to when the recipe wants you to add the eggs. Do it at the exact right time to limit the chances of having anything go wrong.
Try to pay good attention when you’re adding the ingredients and reading the recipe. Avoid distractions such as smartphones as much as you can.
5 – Not Creaming the Butter Properly
There could be a situation where you aren’t creaming the butter properly, too. The term “creaming the butter” means mixing the butter and the sugar together properly.
You’re supposed to mix these two ingredients together until they’re blended. It should look very fluffy and it’ll be a pale yellow color.
If you were a bit hasty, you might not have done this the right way. You could have given up a bit too early.
When you don’t cream your butter mixture as much as you should, it’ll cause it to curdle. This throws everything off and drastically increases the chance that the cake will fall.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of different things that can happen that will cause a bundt cake to turn out wrong. If you make any of the mistakes above, you might wind up having your cake deflate on you.
Remember to be very careful when reading the ingredients list on the recipe. You want to use the proper amounts that are listed.
It’s also imperative to follow the steps listed in the recipe to a tee. If you add ingredients at the wrong time, you could cause the cake to fall because something wasn’t done right.
Temperature issues can cause bundt cakes to fall as well. You’ll want to ensure that you’re baking the cake at the right temperature to get things to turn out as intended.
Watch out for unexpected issues such as humidity, too. If you live in a very humid place, you’ll need to try to be careful not to allow the flour to soak up excess moisture from the air.
Knowing what to look out for should allow you to plan ahead. You know what can go wrong now and you’ll be able to be much more careful when making bundt cake the next time.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.