One of the most common failures in cake baking is undercooked dough. Let’s look at why the cake does not bake inside and how to fix undercooked cake.
The reasons are different: insufficient baking time for cooking, a faulty or new oven, and too low or too high temperature in the oven, but it is always good to have common knowledge of baking cakes.
We found out why a biscuit, yeast, shortbread, or butter pie remains raw. How to avoid mistakes and what to do if the cake is underbaked and how to fix undercooked cake.
7 reasons for a failed cake:
- The cake ran out of time.
If the crust is light and soft, and the inside of the dough is raw, then your undercooked cake still needs to stand in the oven. Failure to follow the instructions in the recipe for baking time is the easiest option.
- The oven temperature was not high enough.
If the cake looks pale, the crust is light and more weathered than baked, it is worth suspecting that the oven was not preheated enough.
- The oven temperature at the start of baking was too high.
If the crust is hard and dark, and under it is raw dough, then the cake is baked too quickly. The crust hardened, began to burn, and the core did not have time to reach readiness.
- The heating in the oven was uneven.
Part of the chocolate cake in this case looks quite appetizing, and the rest is left unfinished. Most likely, not all elements have heated up to the desired temperature before baking cakes.
- The cake was not baked, because it stood too high or low in the oven.
If the top of the cake or lower part is undercooked, then the location of the form with the cake is incorrectly chosen.
- The cake is heavy and low, the crust is hard.
The dough did not rise: there may have been an error in its preparation, or maybe you forgot about your baking powder.
- Unbaked places remained around the filling.
If you wrap something cold in the dough, for example, frozen berries, then it is very difficult to bake cakes evenly.
Carefully read the instructions for the baking time and temperature for this type of dough, and make sure you put all the indicated ingredients, baking powder for example, in the right amount for your perfectly cooked cake.
How to bake a cake if it is not baked
There are several options for saving an undercooked cake, depending on the reasons:
- If the cake was taken out early, then you can try just giving it more time in a preheated oven.
- Put the pale and damp cake back into the oven for ¼ of the original time at the same oven temperature. This will help it brown and come to readiness.
- Cover the hardened crust with foil or parchment paper to protect it from burning, and send the cake back to the oven for baking.
- To soften the crust a little and finish baking the cake, a refractory container of water, set lower in the oven, will help.
- With an unevenly baked dough, you need to track which part heats up to a lesser extent, and accordingly, change the position of the cake.
If, after cutting the cake, you realize that the dough has undercooked bottom, then you can bake it in the oven by wrapping individual pieces in foil.
Sometimes they use a microwave—they put the undercooked cake in a suitable dish and keep it at medium power for 5–7 minutes.
This option is good for filling problems for your undercooked cake.
If you realise after baking the cake, that the crust is hard, you can hold it in a double boiler or over steam from a pot of water for 1-2 minutes. Then wrap it in a clean towel and let cool your perfectly cooked cake.
How to fix undercooked cakes
While brownies can be considered one of the easiest desserts to make, difficulties can arise, especially if your oven gets too hot or too cold.
There is nothing worse than taking your cake out of the oven to cool after it has turned brown, only to find out it is undercooked cake. It’s even worse when your cake gets cold and it collapses.
This could be because of the undercooked cake, your oven isn’t baking to the right temperature, or simply because the recipe is wrong. If it’s the latter, you may need to make changes to the recipe and start over. Then, how to fix undercooked cake?
Look at the cake crust. If it’s dark, it usually means your oven is heating up more than it should. If it’s too light, and you’ve cooked the cake within the recommended time, your oven has probably gone cold.
- Place the thermometer in your preheated oven, preferably at the temperature at which the cake is to be baked.
- Leave the thermometer in the oven according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and then read the thermometer to determine exactly how warm or cold your oven is.
- Adjust the oven up or down based on your reading if the outside of your cake is not yet browned.
For example, if the oven thermometer shows that it is running 60 degrees hotter and your cake calls for baking at 500 F degrees, set the oven to 600 F degrees and put the cake back in, checking every 5 to 10 minutes.
By inserting a toothpick into the center of the undercooked cake. The cake is ready when the toothpick comes out clean.
Change the temperature in the oven to a lower temperature than what the cake should bake if it is already brown. This will help slow down further cooking on the outside, and the inside will cook.
For example, if your oven is running at 250 degrees too hot and the cake calls for 350 degrees, adjust your oven to cook at least 250 degrees hotter than the cake calls for.
In this case, setting the oven to 300 degrees would mean the oven is cooking at 325 degrees and the cake should bake without burning. Check the cake every 5–10 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the center.
- Remove the raw batter if the cake has already collapsed and place it in a smaller baking dish.
- Place it back into the oven at the desired cooking temperature, adjust the oven based on the thermometer, and check after 10 minutes and then every 5 minutes until the cake is ready.
- Get creative by turning two baked servings into a layer cake. It may not look exactly how you planned, but it will most likely still be delicious cooked cake.
Why sand pies and cakes are not baked
To bake perfectly, you need to understand the features of different types of cake batter. Shortbread has a lot of sugar and fat and little liquid, so it rarely comes out raw.
Much more often, the finished sand cake comes out hard and dense.
To prevent this from happening, all ingredients must be chilled during cooking.
Instead of whole eggs, it is better to use yolks, and soften the cake butter at room temperature. Sand products should be baked at 420-460°F.
What makes yeast cake soggy
Yeast products must go through a proofing stage before going into the oven. At this time, they rise and after cooking become lush and evenly baked.
If you skip the proofing step and immediately put the cake in the oven, it will be covered with a dense crust on top and remain raw inside, try it before using a toothpick.
In addition, there are other secrets:
Fresh yeast is used for cooking, otherwise, the cake will not rise and will be slightly undercooked;
If you knead the cake batter for a long time, it will become too heavy and remain raw during baking;
The optimum temperature for baking is 360-400°F.
Yeast products may turn out raw due to excess sugar. Therefore, this ingredient is added in the amount indicated in the recipe.
Advice
For the best result, yeast semifinished products are placed back into the oven at a temperature of 320°F. While the oven “gets” another 60-100°F, the cake will warm up inside and as a result will be baked evenly.
Why is the biscuit not baked?
Biscuit dough will bake well only if it is lush. To do this, beat the chilled eggs until a stable airy “cap” is obtained. Proteins and yolks are best beaten separately.
Secrets of a good biscuit:
- send it back into the oven immediately after kneading;
- start baking at a right temperature of 400°F, and after 5-10 minutes, lower it to 330°F and bake for another 30-35 minutes;
- do not open the oven door during cooking, otherwise, the cake will fall off and not come out airy.
The biscuit may come out soggy due to fillings that are too cold, such as frozen berries. The filling should be at room temperature, so it is taken out of the refrigerator in advance.
Advice
The readiness of baking is checked with a toothpick or a wooden skewer, which is stuck in the center of the cake. If the stick remains dry, you can get pastries from the oven.
What can be done?
Correct the situation and bring raw pastries to readiness. If the cake is browned on top and not baked in the middle, you can reduce the heat and place a metal dish with water on the bottom of the oven to know how to fix undercooked cake.
If the bottom of the baking remains raw, the baking sheet is moved to the lower level of the oven.
Sometimes during the cooking process, the position of the baking sheet is changed several times so that the product is completely baked.
Can you rebake undercooked cake?
Unfortunately, once the cake has cooled down, it cannot be baked again. You need to mix all ingredients all over again, and don’t forget your baking powder.
Is it OK to eat undercooked cake?
Many people like the taste of raw dough, but it can be a potential health hazard.
Flour, although not very similar, is a raw product. Harmful microbes can contaminate grain while still in the field or at other stages of flour production, so try not to eat it.
Raw eggs are another ingredient in the raw cake batter. Raw or undercooked eggs may contain salmonella in your underbaked cake.
- Do not taste or eat raw dough or dough for making cookies, pizza, pancakes, or raw flour products.
- Wash your hands with soap before cake baking and running water after handling dough (flour, raw eggs).
- Wash bowls, dishes, countertops, and other surfaces with warm soapy water.
So, it is NOT OK to eat undercooked cake.
How do you fix an undercooked cake after cooling?
If you realized that the pie was raw in the middle, after it had cooled down or even been cut into pieces, then there is still a chance to save an undercooked cake.
You can try to bring the cake to readiness in the oven under the upper or lower converter – at a low temperature.
Another option: turn down the heat in the oven and put water down in a refractory container (for example, in a cake pan) and bake the pie like this, after brushing the top with milk.
Due to the humidity of the air, the dough will be baked better. This will take approximately ten to fifteen minutes.
If there is no convection function in the oven, then you can send the undercooked cake to the microwave for 2-3 minutes at medium power. If the dough is completely raw, then the baking process can take up to 10 minutes.
What do you do if your cake is not fully baked?
If there is underbaked cake on its inside, and its top is already well browned, it is urgent to reduce the temperature of the oven and cover the product with parchment paper or foil. The cake is not baked inside if the correct recipe is not followed or insufficient baking time.
Conclusion
Sometimes the cake is not baked because you didn’t report something, or you shifted it, that is, you didn’t follow the recipe.
Just follow our pieces of advice and you will know how to fix undercooked cake!
