My simple loaf cake collapsed! Why?

[onrushpam]

I made this orange cake this afternoon.

It's just a simple loaf cake. I've made hundreds of similar ones. The batter looked/smelled great when I put it in the pan.

The timer just dinged at the minimum baking time and I went to check on it.

The middle of it is all caved in. It's done. So, I took it out.

I'm sure it will taste okay, smothered in fresh berries I got today at the grower's market. But, it sure is ugly-fugly!

I'ver never had anything like this happen with a cake, never mind a simple easy/peasy little loaf cake.

What happened?

[djyee100]

Have you checked the expiration dates on your leavening recently?

Another possibility, an imbalance between the amts of sugar and flour, because of the different ways you and the recipe author measure flour. People can measure the same cup of flour and differ by ounces. Did the cake have a sugary crustiness to it, very dark brown, in addition to a sag in the middle? That characteristic signals to me that a cake has too much sugar in it compared to flour.

[onrushpam]

Hmmm...

I guess it is somewhat brown on the outside, but not overly so.

I'm wondering if it's because I used some very juicy/sweet fresh oranges for the juice/zest. The juice was REALLY sweet.

And, I used Greek yogurt. I'm guessing the person who posted the recipe used regular store-bought yogurt, or maybe homemade yogurt.

Oh well... it tastes good.

[roosterchef21]

Did you zero the scales? Also, did you use the right size eggs? Hate recipes that just state x number of eggs. Give a weight please. Or at least a size.

[ChrisZ]

My guess would be that it's to do with the leavening quantities, and that perhaps you were too generous with the baking soda/ baking powder. This can also happen in you accidentally use self-raising flour in a cake recipe that calls for plain flour (terms vary with geography, I'm sure you get what I mean)

There are two leavening agents in the recipe, in addition to the baking powder you have baking soda which will react with the acids in the orange juice and the yoghurt. Both of these reactions produce gas that makes the cake rise. If too much gas is produced then the cake will rise up high, fairly quickly, but will become too big to support itself. Some of the gas will leave the mixture before it has time to bake into a solid and the cake will collapse. So although it might sound counter-intuitive, less baking powder/ baking soda may result in a larger, firmer cake.

Cakes can also collapse after baking if they are moved or disturbed before they have cooled completely. Depending on the type of cake, the cooling period can be a critical time for the cake to develop strength in a similar manner to the way that custards set when they cool down. Cakes can benefit from being cooled upside-down, where gravity can counteract the cakes tendency to shrink as it cools and firms up, but you may need a tin designed for this purpose for it to work properly- I've even heard that you shouldn't bake cakes in non-stick tins because then they don't stick to the sides as they cool, but rather allow the cake to slide down and collapse!