Cracked Cake

[liuzhou]

I am not a baker. I have recently started bread, but am still very much a neophyte.

 

Today, I found myself with a surplus of bananas and decided to try making some "banana bread". I don't consider it to be bread at all, but rather, cake.

 

Whatever, I found a recipe that sounded like something I could handle, bought what I didn't have and set to work. The kitchen smells great and something cake like has emerged from the oven. It doesn't matter at all - I will be the only one eating it - but, as you can see it is rather cracked on top.



I'm just wondering what caused that and what I should do in future if I feel the need to create a perfect un-cracked cake. I'm sure some of you master bakers know the answer.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by liuzhou
forgot to insert image. duh! (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

It can be a lot of things - oven too hot, too much raising agent, unbalanced recipe... Although I find that most cakes crack anyway.

 

You can control it, however, by taking the cake out a bit before half-way though baking (don't leave the oven door open) and slashing the crust being formed with a knife.  It makes it look more appealing.

 

To be honest though, banana bread is never going to win any beauty pageants.  Either slice the dome off the top and flip it upside down, or slather it with icing of some sort.

 

Or do like I do: Slice a 1cm layer, soak it in flavoured syrup and use it as part of a more elaborate cake.

Edited December 20, 2016 by jmacnaughtan
Grammar (log)

[liuzhou]

24 minutes ago, jmacnaughtan said:

soak it in flavoured syrup

 

Rum is a kind of flavoured syrup, right?

[Anna N]

 I would be highly suspicious of a banana bread that did not have a crack somewhere.   If it is baked in a loaf pan the crack tends to be more centralized and hence less unseemly as it were. 

[liuzhou]

Well, I just ate some and it tastes fine. I'm more than content.

Un-cracked cakes aren't all they are cracked up to be!

[IowaDee]

Was that a wise crack I just heard?  

[jmacnaughtan]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Rum is a kind of flavoured syrup, right?

 

If you add sugar and water, it is.

[liuzhou]

Just now, jmacnaughtan said:

 

If you add sugar and water, it is.

 

The only thing I add to my rum is more rum! Or now maybe cracked cake.