When It Goes Wrong
A dry cake is usually overbaked by minutes, not by degrees
The last stretch of a bake removes moisture faster than any earlier part of it, which is why a small overrun does so much damage.
When It Goes Wrong
Dense crumb, sunken middles, leaking butter — diagnosis before the next attempt.
20 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
When It Goes Wrong
A tough, rubbery cake means gluten did work it should not have
The same protein that gives bread its chew makes a cake unpleasant, and almost every route to it runs through the mixing bowl.
When It Goes Wrong
Weeping and beading are two different meringue failures
Liquid under a meringue and syrupy droplets on top look like the same problem, and they come from opposite ends of the bake.
When It Goes Wrong
Split buttercream is a temperature problem you can fix in the bowl
A curdled, soupy or grainy buttercream almost never needs throwing away, because in most cases the ingredients are right and only…
When It Goes Wrong
A crust like armour comes from the last third of the bake
Thick, hard crusts are usually blamed on the oven being too hot, and the more common cause is a long bake in dry air after the loaf…
When It Goes Wrong
A cave under the crust means the shaping trapped a bubble
Cutting into a loaf and finding a long empty space beneath the top crust is a shaping fault with a specific cause and an easy…
When It Goes Wrong
A starter that has stopped rising is cold, hungry or too acidic
Sourdough starters are described as dying far more often than they actually die, and three ordinary explanations cover almost every…
When It Goes Wrong
Cookies that come out cakey instead of chewy have too much structure
The same dough can bake thin and chewy or high and soft, and the difference sits in flour, egg, sugar and how much air went in…