Splitting fruit cake. Help me

[Bjw21]

Totally gutted. Tried 2 different recipes for Christmas cakes in my fan oven. Never had any issues baking in it before. Need it for a wedding cake. HELP

1st cake recipe 4 1/2 hours. Over cooked and split 140°c

2nd cake recipe 4 hours. Split 130°c

How big are they? That doesn't sound long enough to me

I'm assuming these are not recipes you have used before? Are there raising agents in them? I bake fruit cakes at 130 for 1st hour then down to 120.

How bad or big is the split? Might not be the end of the world, did it rise into a dome and that split or what, I always turn fruit cakes upside down for icing anyway so that surface is flat but if the top can be trimmed a bit to even it off and then turn upside down and store it like that before icing and the weight helps flatten it too.

That's odd if you are using a normal recipe. Depending on the size of the cake 4.5 hours sounds a long time. Do you wrap the tins in brown paper and line them with baking paper? I think Nigella's recipe for Christmas cake is pretty foolproof and I use a 27 inch tin for 2.5hrs. Yours might be bigger? It's turned out perfectly in a fan oven for the last 20 years so I rate it. Good solid cake. She has the timings for different sizes in her Feast book.

I use whatever the word is for 10x the amount of brandy stated but thats just because.

Sorry...3 to 3.5 hours!! And it's not 27 inch it's 23cm tin. But thats not for a fan oven. Oh I don't know what I'm talking about!! Apologies.

But I do think wrapping it in paper etc.is good but presumably you do that anyway. Anyway the Nigella recipe has never split. That's all I can say now with any confidence...

I use this recipe of delia smith reduce the cooking time by an hour and check.

i double line the base and sides of the inside and outside of the tin.

when you add your mixture run a wet knuckle over the top of the cake to just damp the mixture - I was taught this at catering college. Then get a single piece of baking paper and lay over the top - your sides need to be a couple of inches taller then the tin so then the lid sits a couple or so inches above the mixture.

I know this is all a lot of faff but it’s worth it

I use a merry berry recipie and never have any issues. https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mary-berrys-rich-fruit-christmas-cake/

By split, do you mean separated?
Or the top has domed and cracked? If it's a crack, slice it off, and make the cut edge the bottom!

It's an 8" cake tin.
Yes I double line the tin with parchment and brown paper on the outside tied up with string. Never had this issue before.

Wouldn't bother If it was for me. But it's an occasion cake for march

If it rose and split then it's too much heat and/or too much raising agent. Most rich fruit cakes have little if any raising agent but sometimes you get a rogue recipe!

Can you change the setting from fan to non-fan.
Probably cooked too quickly with the fan on.
My Neff oven recommends preferably non-fan for dense-type cakes.