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CK I bake my banana coffee cake until it appears to be done. The outside pulls away
from the pan and the center is firm, but after removing it from the oven and cooling, the center falls (implodes) and is not as done as it should be .The recipe says to bake the cake in a 9 x 9 square pan, which I do. What am I doing wrong?
JA First a few questions, Casey, the better to diagnose your problem:
- Is this a recipe you make often and if so, is this the first time this has happened?
- What fat did you use? Butter, margarine, Crisco, other?
- Where did you get the recipe?
- Is your oven accurate?
A cake or bread that collapses in the middle as it cools almost always contains too much sugar. Since you didn't include the recipe with your query, I don't know the specific recipe proportions. i.e. how much sugar there is, how much flour, fat, liquid, bananas, etc. If, however, you used the new Crisco, this may be the problem (so many people are complaining about it). A third possibility: too much baking powder or baking soda. If a bread or cake collapses on cooling, it may have over-risen. It's entirely possible, however, that your failure is a combination of two or more of the above.
Give me a little more info, Casey, and I may be able to pinpoint the problem more accurately. I do know how frustrating and disappointing this must be.
CK Thank you for responding so quickly. I have made this recipe over the years, somewhat often. I got the recipe from a dear friend years ago. How can I check if my oven is accurate? I have tried to calibrate it, but seems I cannot get it just right. Here’s the recipe:
California Banana Coffee Cake
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine (I use butter)
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Beat butter until creamy, beat in eggs. Blend in mashed bananas & lime or lemon juice. The recipe says to sift flour, measure and sift again with sugar & salt. (I switched to using 1 1/3 cups pre-sifted flour, adding the sugar & salt then sifting again, hoping this would solve the problem. It has made it better, but the coffee cake still collapses a bit in the middle although is more done). Using a rubber scraper or wooden spoon quickly fold dry ingredients into banana mixture. Do not overmix. The batter will be lumpy. Turn into a lightly buttered 9" square pan and bake in moderate oven [350 degrees] for 40 min. or less or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes, loosen edges, and turn cake on to a cooling rack.
I follow these directions to the letter and always measure the banana to 1 cup thinking that sometimes 3 bananas can measure more than 1 cup and I could be adding too much liquid. I would like to bake this coffee cake knowing that the middle is going to turn out properly done. At present, I have to watch how the middle is cooking compared to the edges so neither is under- or over-baked. Thank you so much for your concern.
JA Here's what I think, Casey. Too much sugar -- almost as much sugar as flour. And maybe too much butter. I also find this an odd method of mixing. To solve the
problem, try this recipe and method:
California Banana Coffee Cake
- 3/4 stick butter (no substitute)
- 2/3 cup sugar (don't forget that bananas are sweet)
- 2 large eggs (room temp)
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium) combined with 1 1/2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour whisked well with 3/4 teaspoon soda and 1/2 teaspoon. salt
Cream butter until light, then add sugar gradually, creaming all the while and continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat eggs in one by one. Blend in banana mixture, then gently fold in flour mixture (batter should be lumpy). Scoop into a lightly buttered 9 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan, spreading to the corners. Bake in the lower third of a preheated 350 degree oven about 40 minutes or until lightly browned, cake pulls from sides of pan, and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer at once to a wire rack, cool cake in upright pan 10 minutes, then loosen around the edge with a small, thin-blade spatula and turn out on rack. Cool to room temperature before cutting. Note: I'd be tempted to cool the cake in the upright pan on a wire rack instead of turning out, then cut into squares and lift each from the pan. I don't see the point of turning the cake out.
Let me know if this works, Casey. If the cake doesn't seem tender enough, increase the butter to 1 stick. And if cake still seems heavy, reduce flour to the original 1 1/3 cups. As I said earlier, I think this recipe simply had too much sugar -- sugar-heavy cakes always collapse in the middle.
You'd asked about having your oven calibrated. If it's a gas oven, contact the local gas company. Some of them will come out and calibrate your oven. If it's electric, contact the manufacturer and see what they recommend. Or you can simply use an oven thermometer, set it on the middle oven shelf, then take a reading after it's stood in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. If the oven runs too hot or cold, you can then lower or raise the thermostat as needed, then take second or third readings until you get the temp you want.
CK Jean, I baked the banana cake yesterday and was delighted with the results! Reduced the sugar and soda as per your advise and also increased the flour. Hoping to keep it on the light side, decided to stay with the 1 stick of butter this time and if I was not happy with the result, would reduce the butter next time. It tasted every bit as delicious, was light and baked to perfection. This is a new electric oven and I did follow the instructions to calibrate it, but I intend to check it again a couple of times with an oven thermometer as you suggested. This is the first time I have baked the cake in this oven and it only took about 32 minutes whereas in the past it has always baked for at least 40 minutes. I had set the oven to check it in 35 minutes, but it was
done sooner than that. Did baking in the lower 3rd of the oven have anything to do with this? I also let it cool in the pan (it did not collapse in the center) and sliced according to your suggestion as well.
I also thought the original method of mixing odd -- the eggs and butter never really did mix well, seemed confusing to me, but I am not very good at changing baking recipes, so always follow the original.
I am so pleased and thank you ever so much for your advice. It was a pleasure chatting with you and again, thank you so much for your expertise in solving a long- time problem. I just wish I had discovered you years ago. Casey
JA Thanks for reporting back, Casey. I'm delighted that my suggestions for improving your banana coffee cake worked. To answer your question about whether baking it in the lower third of the oven may have reduced baking time -- depends where the heating unit is. As a rule of thumb, breads and cakes fare best when baked in the lower third of the oven.
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