Why is this going wrong?

[FarOverTheRainbow]

I'm trying to make this pudsey cake from BBc good food website

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spotty-pudsey-cake?cm_mmc=ExactTarget--email--Good_food_newsletter_363_2013_11_13-_-email&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=Good_food_newsletter_363_2013_11_13

It says cook for 15-18min. Mines been in 30 min and is still completely gooey in the middle? Why?

I've followed it as it's said but it won't set??

The recipe itself seems to have some issues if you look at the review.

How hot is your oven? Should be 180deg (170 for fan oven) how deep are your tins? My 2 inch deep ones take 35-40mins.

Had you pre-heated the oven?

Keep it in the oven til its cooked. Could your oven thermostat be on the blink?

What flaws are there? I like to bake but I'm not great at it

Yeh I pre heated the oven, maybe my Tins aren't the right size not sure.

It's been in the oven 40 min and its cooked but the top is a bit too "tanned" for my liking

The time and temperature given are more appropriate for buns. For a sandwich cake, I'd expect it to take 25-30 minutes at 180. I always use the conventional, rather than the fan, setting for cakes, as it gives a more even bake.

I did thinknit didn't seem long but thought 40 min was a little to much but I don't really know what I'm on about

Well it didn't turn out like I wanted at all, slightly over baked and the hundreds and thousands lost there colour so were like like crunchy things everywhere but it tasted quite good so I'm just going to pig out on some