Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

How long will this sponge cake keep once its decorated

Hi Donna

If you are making this cake for a customer it is best to stick to five days from baking to eating.
Brushing each layer with a little flavoured simple syrup will help to keep the cake mosit for an extra couple of days.
Please let me know if this helps or if you would like more information.

Thanks for your answer .
I was wondering if glycerin could be added to the recipe to make it last a little longer.woukd that work?

To be honest Donna, I don’t think it will make much difference to the sponge as it is already very moist. Glycerine softens cake crumb and works best in dense cakes like maderia or mud cake. It will give a couple of days extra shelf life depending on the type cake.
Take a peek at the following threads, click on the ones which are most appropriate to you: https://www.cakeflix.com/questions?s=glycerine
Personally, I would stick with vanilla flavoured simple syrup, which is also advocated by Mrs Jones.

Hello I’ve never heard of putting glycerin in cakes .When would you use this and what effect does it have on thecake ? Thanks

Hi Woodysmum

Glycerine attracts moisture, it is a hygroscopic ingredient used in baking to keep cake crumb moist and possibly lengthen the shelf life of the product. Basically it helps to reduce cake drying out by drawing moisture from the air. It works especially well on dense cakes like madeira. There’s more information on the site in these threads which explain how much to use and when to use it. https://www.cakeflix.com/questions?s=glycerine
Too much can make cake too soft and break and also leave a weird taste

Thanks I’ll have a look at that

I’ve made this cake and it failed too rise in the centre. I am surprised as to why this has happened and cooked both cakes separately and half filled the lined tins. Can you help please

Hi Susan

There are a few reasons why this can happen. If oven temperature is slightly too low it can cause the cake to be under baked and not fully rise. An oven thermometer will quickly check that the inside temp of the oven reads the same as the outer dial. If not, calibrate the outer dial to read the same as the thermometer.

A cake which doesn’t rise in the centre, rather than one which collaspses after baking, suggests that perhaps the oven may not have been heated sufficiently at the start of baking. It sounds as if the centre of your cake mixture didn’t heat up quickly enough to bake through at the same time as the rest of the cake. This could be to do with calibration but also simply not long even pre heating of the oven. Pre heating the oven for a good 20 minutes ensures the oven cavity is fully heated leaving no cold spots.

Mrs Jones bakes this cake on the centre shelf of the oven. Baking on a lower shelf could also prevent the centre of a deep cake from fully rising or under baking due to insufficient heat. A deeper cake on a lower shelf needs to be baked slightly longer.

Another reason could be that the mixture at the point of adding the egg has been over beaten. If too much air is incorporated at this stage, the bubbles which are created during creaming can over expand in the heat of the oven and break, deflating the end product. Beat the egg with the creamed sugar and butter/margarine until just incorporated and looks like thick cream. Add egg little at a time as too much will split the mix. If you find a 10 egg mix is taking too long to incorporate nicely, I would suggest baking two separate cakes using five egg mix and bake one cake at a time.

Good luck with your next bake. Let us know how you get on.