After waiting the required 30 minutes for my chocolate cake to bake, I opened my oven to take it out and let it cool on the rack. I began to clean up the kitchen, and I even made a delicious vanilla icing to top it off. When I went to check if the cake was cool enough to ice, my cake had sunk! I became super frustrated as it honestly looked like someone had punched a hole in the middle of my cake! I realized that I forgot to stick a toothpick in the center to ensure that my cake was fully-baked. 

So what went wrong…? Well, cakes can sink for a multitude of reasons, but here are the most common reasons:

1. Underbaked:
If you take your cake out of the oven too early, it may still be raw in the center, thus causing it to sink. To ensure that your cake has fully-baked, insert a fork or toothpick into the center of the cake, and if it comes out clean, your cake is done baking! Yay!

2. Inconsistent Oven Temperature.
If you open the oven door to check on your cake, you are letting all the heat out of the oven, thus reducing the temperature in the oven. This causes the cake to cook unevenly. Additionally, sometimes the temperature on the oven doesn’t match the temperature you set it to. If your cake is sinking consistently, maybe purchase an oven thermometer to ensure that your oven is the correct temperature.

3. Too much leavening agent (baking soda/powder):
If you add too much baking soda or baking powder to your batter, it will actually make your cake sink. This is because the leavening agent creates air in the cake; however, if there is too much, the cake will not be able to hold it all, and it will eventually collapse.

How to fix your cake that has sunk:

Please note, if your cake is still quite raw, it’s best to dispose of it.

Slice off the top layer of the cake
If your cake hasn’t sunk too much, you may be able to salvage most of it by carefully slicing off the topmost layer with a serrated knife. Perhaps you could use the top layer that you cut off as a crumble on top of your icing!

Make a crumble
If your cake sunk deep into the center, channel your inner child by smashing the cake into a crumble! It’s fun, and you get a delicious crumble which you can mix with your icing! Perhaps you can make cake balls by rolling the cake and icing into little balls! You can also use it in an indulgent parfait with some coconut yogurt! Yum!

Fill the hole with your favorite treat
If your cake sunk deep into the center, you can also fill the hole with one of your favorite treats! Think of it like a pinata! Use a spoon to scoop out the center and then fill it with your favorite sweets, cookies, chocolates, or even fondue.

If your cake ever sinks in the future, definitely try out these tricks to salvage your delicious dessert!