2 cake baking questions, please.

[MichelleRouxJnr]

I'm not a great or prolific baker but I have one failsafe easy chocolate fudge cake I make fairly regularly.
Every time I do I have the same two (small) issues I wonder about...

My oven is hotter at the front than the back - can I open it half way through cooking and turn the tins around, or will they fall flat/ ruin?

and...

How can I stop my cakes from rising to a point in the middle? I pour the (fairly runny) mixture in and then bang the tins on the worktop a couple of times (don't know why - think I read somewhere to do that for even dispersion??). When I come to sandwich them I always have to slice the tops off to make them flat.

Any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks.

Absolutely fine to turn the cakes round halfway through.

When you put the mixture in the tins, make a slight depression in the middle of the mixture; that should cause it to rise to the same level as the rest of the mixture.

Hth

Wait until just after halfway through cooking before turning them, then do it as quickly as possible so you don't lose too much heat.
The banging on the worktop is ok for some cakes (including most fudge-types), but if you've spent time beating air into a mix, you would lose it by doing this. Personally, I would tip and turn the tin to level a thin mixture, or use a palette knife on a thicker mixture.
Peaking may be caused by uneven heat in the oven, or sometimes an imbalance between the fat and sugar in the recipe (they don't have to be the same iyswim) Hth

Thank you both so much.
I wish I'd asked 2 hours ago before making DH's (pointy) birthday cake!

(I'll still post a pic of results after icing )

pointy in the middle means your oven is too hot (I think, will check)

Yes, you're right zing. You could try baking for slightly longer on a lower heat. Or check your oven temp with an oven thermometer.

schmalex

thanks, it's in my muffin book!

also could put cake on a lower shelf.

When you take the cake out of the oven, put it upside down to cool and the weight of it should flatten the point, assuming it's not like Mount Everest!

I'd really recommend magi-cake strips (www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/magi-cake-strips) - you soak them in water and then put around your cake tin. Fantastic for ensuring cakes cook and rise evenly.

Do you have a fan oven? If so, do you know that you need to reduce the temperature by 10%?

The pointy bit happens because the outside of the cake is cooking too fast and "setting" before it has a chance to rise. The middle cooks normally so it rises.

Turning the oven down a bit will help, but Delia also reckons tying a double layer if baking paper around the outside of the tin. For really important cakes (weddings only generally) I tie a double thickness strip of damp old tea towel around the outside of the tin. Cake should rise evenly that way.