Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hello,

I am new to baking and I wondered if anyone could please help me with my shrinking cake problem. I have been using a little stork to stick the grease proof paper to line my tins but although the cakes are evenly baked they shrink away from the sides of the pan leaving me with a smaller cake at the top compared to the bottom.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.
Sarah.

Hi Sarah

Cakes do shrink away slightly from the sides of the tins once cooked, so you’re not doing anything wrong. If you have a look at Mrs Jones’ vanilla sponge tutorial you’ll see her cakes look uneven as well. Once the cakes have been filled and decorated all those little blemishes disappear and they look even again. Try mixing a little flour with your stork for greasing the tin, don’t use too much because the parchment paper will protect your cake from sticking. Happy baking.

I take my cakes out before they shrink from the edge as I find they are overdone by that stage. Try checking them ten minutes earlier by sticking a bamboo skewer (not metal) in the middle, if it comes out clean then it’s ready!