Cake problems, diagnosed

A cake sinks when the center or overall structure cannot support the expansion created during baking. The strongest clue is when and how it collapsed: a wet crater points first to incomplete baking, while an unusually high rise followed by collapse points toward leavener, heat or aeration.

Look at the whole crumb, not just the center. A tight, even, slightly chewy crumb usually means too much structure from overmixing or excess flour. A heavy cake with a compressed or damp band can come from the opposite problem: too little mixing, poor creaming, weak leavener or batter that rose and then collapsed.

A gummy cake middle is not always just an underbaked center. Wet batter in the exact center points first to doneness, while a dense gummy band or gluey streak can come from mixing and structural problems—including both undermixing and overmixing.