Crumbling Crust on Sponge Cakes

Having Googled my problem, looked in various books and asked around with no success, I bring my problem to you. No matter what recipe I use, my sponge cakes form a crust round the top edge which crumbles off and makes a mess - and looks bad.
I turn the temperature down on my fan oven, and I have even tried with the fan off - same result. Am I doing something stupid? I do lots of cooking successfully - but not sponge cakes. Please help!

Did you weigh your egg content to match the flour and fat?

Only a thought. It might not be binding enough.

Another thought, you might be taking it out of the tin too quickly. Try letting it rest in the tin for ten minutes before turning it out. Too long and the sides will be soggy.

try lining the outside of the tin with newspaper or brown paper, will increase cooking time, lower the temp to around 140/150 might help by putting a bowl of water in the oven at same time,

Thank you both - I'll give these ideas a go.

I have a few suggestions for you to try.
1. Make sure you have a good quality, robust tin, this will enable a more even bake.
2. Lightly grease the tin and then double line the base and sides with baking parchment; if you eliminate hot over greased areas you should not have fried edges.
3. As you have a fan oven adjust the temp by 15 - 20 degrees lower than stated in the recipe, (unless the recipe is for a fan assisted oven).
4. Take example from the Calendar Girls and pop to M&S!

Ah, thank you. I do overgrease all the time because I'm so scared of them sticking. Maybe tomorrow will be a trial baking day.

I use sponge cake tin liners bought from lakeland seems to cure this problem

This problem is caused by too much sugar in the mixture. Try to reduce the sugar slightly. Don't over cook the sponge. Take the cake out when golden in colour and firm to the touch, should just spring back when pressed gently. Hope this might help.
Mrs Lin Withecombe (Food Technician)

Wish mine did that, the best part, much more tasty, yumm!

Thanks again everyone - I will get this sorted!

I have this problem too, i think its where its greased and the butter cooks it quicker than the rest of the cake, i think the answer is very little butter to grease with and parchment paper so it doesnt stick.

I think i have the same problem, when baking a victoria sandwich the top seems to have a crusty 'layer' all over it with what I would call a 'gap' between 'it' and the rest of the cake, which was perfectly fine. For some reason the last 4 I've made have turned out like that and I've also tried to find out the cause with no results. Initially I thought it was because I used the all in one method with baking powder added but I'm inclined to think as someone suggested that the butter and sugar have not been creamed for long enough. If you've mastered the problem I'd love to know how please.

Thank you everybody for all comments and suggestions. I have had one successful sponge - a lot less greasing. I used a tiny, tiny amount of sunflower oil brushed onto the tin, then floured it - no crusty bits. I'm going to experiment further with sugar reduction, and will post the result. Many thanks :)

Another tip I was told and always use since and it works a treat! Place a baking shhet over your cake tin whilst baking. It stops it from getting that baked crust anywhere, keeps any cake perfectly moist and also stops it from doming so there's less waste! :O)

let the fat get soft then mixer with sugar then add one 1 tsp of flour then all th eggs hope this helps then flour

That is caused by drying out. Fan assisted ovens are great but they have a habit of drying foods out because of the fan blowing hot air over uncovered foods. Try using foil to create a tent over the cake and around the edges of your pie. Also you can try placing a pan of water on a lower shelf to add a bit of moisture to help prevent drying out.

Are you using soft sugar - or granulated sugar? If you are using granulated sugar, the result will be a rougher textured sponge and the top may dry out too easily, as the other posts have mentioned.

Dear Mrs Dickinson.

Try Delia smiths all in one sponge cake recipe and take out of the oven as soon as the top of the cake is firm to the touch. It sounds like you are cooking it for a bit to long. Good luck

hello mate

from what i have read i think i can help,

i make cakes for a living and your problem could be you put the ingredients together in the wrong order or you are not mixing your sugar and marg enuff, try melting the marg or really use really soft and then really mix in the sugar so then it melts and yor crusts should stop and make sure you mix from the bottom to make no bits were missed out when seperating into tin.

scott

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this discussion. I have now made lots of cakes and experimented with all the various suggestions. For me the problem would appear to be that I have been over-greasing the tin. I have changed to using a tiny bit of sunflower oil for greasing and the problem seems to be resolved. Thank you again.

Hi, Try the basic sponge mix recipie of
4oz flour
4oz Sugar
4oz Butter/Margerine
2 Eggs

As you have not added what recipie you are using it is hard to help you.

Thanks for that. As I mentioned in my initial post, no matter what recipe I used, this problem occurred. However, the problem is now resolved by greasing less and using a tiny amount of sunflower oil instead of marg. Thank you.

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned whether the oven is heated before the cake is put in. I have a fan oven and the manual says to place the cake in a cold oven. This is totally against everything I was ever taught but it works. Get hold of your cooker manual and see what it says. If you haven't still got it, have a look on the internet, as some kind soul has usually posted up a copy of it or else speak to your manufacturer, as they're usually quite good as well. I also can't use the creaming method in my fan oven, and only the all-in-one method works - again this is in the manual. Finally, because it is a fan oven you need to check the temperature recommended by your manufacturer as, again, this can make a big difference as to whether your cake has a crusty top or not or sinks - I speak from experience! Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

please can you tell me what sponge receipe you are using my cakes turn out dry all over

Hi there,

I use the all-in-one method, where everything is placed in the bowl at the same time and whisked together, either with a hand whisk or in a food processor. You just need to mix the ingredients until they are completely combined. This usually takes a couple of minutes to do so. If you are making a sponge cake, divide the mixture evenly between two cake tins, then that obviously reduces the time the cake is in the oven. No offence to a lot of the newer cooks such as Nigella and Jamie, but the Mary Berry and old Marguerite Patten cake books, if you can get your hands on them, are the better ones.

I also use self-raising flour regardless whether the recipes say otherwise it's just too hit and miss trying to use plain flour and baking powder. Oh, and I swear by good old Stork, brought up to room temperature. Hope this helps - again!