Why do my cakes always come out flat?

[MoosMa]

It's DD1's 2nd birthday tomorrow and I want to make her a really nice cake for her party next saturday, but every time I make a cake it comes out flat. What am I doing wrong?

The tins have to be the right size, the oven has to be hot enough and you must NOT open it to see how it is doing.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/1379/336778

Don't let your child jump up and down next to the oven, either, or shout in the kitchen while it's cooking! I saw a cake fall dramatically once (I was looking in at it through the glass bit in the door) as ds came in shouting "MUMMY MUMMY IS THE CAKE DONE YET?"

use self raising flower add a little extra baking powder make two cakes one on top of other

What do you mean one on top of other? 4 cake-tins' worth in a stack??

I read in the other thread that 5/5/5 works well, but how many eggs are there in that?

I think I might see where I've been going wrong - I've always used 4/4/4/2 eggs and divided that between 2 tins, should I be using that much per tin?

For two cake tins (and so two cakes to sandwich together) I always use 6/6/6/3 eggs. I don't think you've got enough mixture.

That would explain an awful lot!

good luck

If you've got biggish eggs, they may weigh more than 2oz each. Weigh your eggs and match other ingredients to them.

For 2 cake tine, I always use 8/8/4, for a really decent sized cake. Add a little bit of milk too - about 4 tbls- -makes it really light.

Nigella's recipe for a Victoria sponge is the best imho - haven't had one go wrong yet!

If I do 8/8/8/4, how long do I cook it for and at what temp?

Gas mark 4 / 180 degrees c.

Here's the Nigella recipe for you - can't find it on line. It's basically the 8/8/4, with a few little twists to make it extra yummy!

225g soft unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract / essence
4 large eggs
200g SR flour
25g cornflour
1 tsp Baking powder
3-4 tbsp milk.

Basically, bung everything except the milk into a food processor, or use an electric whisk, until it's blended. then add the milk slowly until you've got a soft, dropping consistency. ( I always chuck all the milk in and it works out fine )

Put into 2 greased 21cm sandwich tins and bake for 25 mins. ( that's what it says here, IIRC I've had to let it cook for longer.)

When cooked, leave the cakes in their tins on a cooling rack for 10 mins before turning out.

If you haven't got cornflour, you can use all SR flour instead, but the cornflour makes it lighter.

It makes the best Victoria Sponge I've ever tasted - if you give it a go, let me know what you think!!

Enjoy!!

I did my 8/8/8/4 cake this afternoon but forgot it only had 1 minute left to cook when I ran off to change a nappy, so it's very nice apart from being a little dark

I shall ice it well and put plenty of jam in and no one will notice! I'm going to rent a "2" tin for her party so hope it comes with instructions on how much mixture to put in .

I'm sure it will be lovely!!!

If I can work out the proprotions I may try Nigella's for the 2.

Also ... make sure your SR flour is fairly recent - the rising agent in it tends to deteriorate over time ...

moosma, if the '2' tin doesn't come with quantities, use water and a measuring jug to compare its volume with tins you already have.

I think it might be a bottomless frame for putting on a baking sheet so that might not work

line with clingfilm and do water trick

Ooh aren't you clever!

learnt the hard way

Well, this is it!

And it was yummy!

Oh that's excellent. Glad it tasted as nice as it looked.

Wow - what a brilliant cake!!!

Glad it tasted good