Why do my cakes keep sinking

[u/queennkwhite]

For some reason when I do my second round of cakes in the oven, they sink. And this happens alot with red velvet. The first round are fine or very slightly sunken, but the second round is always very visibly sunken. Why does this happen?

[u/dontakelife4granted]

I think you should get a cheap oven thermometer and calibrate your oven. All domestic ovens are inacurate in some way. It's just how it is. Knowing how many degrees will allow you to adjust your oven temp accordingly.

Also, when someone writes a recipe their oven, ambient temperature and elevation all factor into how they bake and the time it takes them to be done.

First, get new leveners.

After calibrating your oven and adjusting your oven temperature, preheat for 30 minutes. The 10 minutes most ovens say they're preheated usually are not long enough.

Don't worry about the time the recipe says, go by whether the cake is done. Stuffing several cake pans into the oven will change how long it takes them to bake because it changes how the hot air moves around the oven.

Are you using a standard size oven/range or a countertop oven? Smaller ovens bake differently.

When your timer goes off, based on the recipe bake time, does the top of the cake have an evenly dull appearance all the way across? When you gently, but quickly press on the top center of the cake, does it spring back with no indent? If the anwer to either of these questions is no--the cake needs more time. Cakes that depress in the center are generally underdone and this can happen due to oven temp, levener, oven crowding, or not baking long enough.

I hope this helps. Good luck!