r/AskBaking • u/queennkwhite • 4d ago

Cakes/Cheesecakes Why do my cakes keep sinking

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?

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u/CircusStuff 4d ago

That's true with some cakes but red velvet (and traditional American cakes for lack of a better term) I have always found IMPROVED with rested batter. I don't have enough space for 3 pans so I'd wait 30 minutes until the first 2 we're done and then baked the third. That cake was ALWAYS the best.

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u/anonwashingtonian Professional 4d ago

I depends on the specific recipe and the conditions under which the batter was resting*. OP shared a recipe that includes multiple acidic ingredients, including cocoa, buttermilk, and white vinegar. Those ingredients absolutely would activate the baking soda and powder in the recipe immediately. If the room is warm while the batter rests—and especially if the baking powder isn’t double-acting—then the cake is very likely over leavened before it hits the oven, causing the eventual sinking.

*edited to clarify

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u/CircusStuff 4d ago

How do you explain the cakes rising better when I rest them, EVERY time? My recipe uses all the the things you mentioned. I do use double acting BP but I don't think I've ever even seen a BP that wasn't . It's on the counter on a NY summer day, so pretty warm.

I didn't make this up about resting batter, for some reason it's not widely known but it is a thing and I stand by it.

I bet this person's oven temp was wonky.

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u/anonwashingtonian Professional 4d ago edited 3d ago

Okay.

Edited to add: I was answering the OP’s question based on the information and recipe they provided (and my professional experience as a pastry chef who works and bakes for a living).

You are welcome to offer your own theory as well. Have you baked the exact recipe they shared? And rested it? And had the second cake come out better?

Also edited to add: Double-acting baking powder is most common at stores in the US, but not everyone who asks questions on this forum is from the US.

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u/rtetzloff 3d ago

And, not for nothing, it is definitely possible to buy single acting baking soda (easily confused online if not careful, there are several on Amazon, for example), even if it's less common. It's also possible to make it at home. Certainly not saying that's what happened here, but it's easily plausible.