cake shrinks when it cools, becomes smaller than cake board

cake shrinks when it cools, becomes smaller than cake board - From above of appetizing piece of cake decorated chocolate powder and mint leaves served near ceramic creamer and forks with light pink chrysanthemum on top placed on wooden board

Is it normal for a baked cake to be smaller than the cake board after it is baked? My cakes are very good and moist, after they have cooled, I always have to trim the cake board not a little bit but a lot. Should I be using a smaller cake board? For instance should I use a 7 inch board for a 8 inch cake?

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Best Answer

Often times the cake boards are a little larger. The reason is to allow room for icing and a border of decorated piped icing along the base. Otherwise use undersized rounds. Also plain cake rounds are right at the same size as the pan so unless you have mass shrinkage they should be fine and allow you to handle the cake without actually touching the cake.



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cake shrinks when it cools, becomes smaller than cake board - From above of glass of cold coffee drink served with fresh crunchy croissant on wooden board near plate with chocolate cake in cozy cafe


Should the cake board be bigger than cake?

When acting as a base for your cake, you should allow for about 2" - 4" of clearance on each side of your cake. So, your cake board should be 4" - 8" larger than your cake. For cake drums that are used in between tiers, they should be the same size as your cake.

Why does my cake shrink when I take it outta the oven?

The cake bubbles shrink because air can't get into those cake bubbles to replace the volume lost. Shrinking bubbles means shrinking cake, basically, and the shrinking occurs most towards the middle of the cake because the centre of the cake is softer, while the crust is too dry and stiff to contract.

How do you keep a cake from sinking in the cooling?

How to Fix a Major Sinking
  • Cut out the middle of the cake using a chef's ring or cookie cutter that is slightly bigger than the sunken part of the cake. ...
  • Fill the center with a mixture of fruit, frosting, icing, cream, and/or cream cheese.
  • Decorate the top, sides, and edges of the cake with more fruit, frosting, etc.


    • How much bigger should your cake board be than your cake?

    Choose a board which is at least two inches bigger than the cake tin it was baked in; this allows for the thickness of marzipan, icing and also for any decoration around the edge of the board. If you intend to put decoration or lettering on the board you might be better with an even larger size cake board.


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    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: ROMAN ODINTSOV, Danik Prihodko, Cleyder Duque, ROMAN ODINTSOV

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