How to stop top of cake burning

dibble35, Apr 6, 7:55pm
Hi, my oven isnt the best and tends to cook a lot faster than it should, I do check often when baking and pull it out as soon as its ready but when i bake cakes the top starts to burn before the middle is done. Can I do anything to stop this! tried googling but got lots diff answers. lower rack in oven, put in centre of oven(already is) tinfoil on top 1/2 way thru baking, nail! in cake to help cook centre faster. I have to make a sticky date pudding soon for party tonight. TIA

very_hotpants, Apr 6, 8:31pm
Check that the grill isnt on! Silly but people have been known to use grill rather than bake.

More possible that it is on too hot so lower the temperature and make sure the rack is low so the cake is in the middle of the oven.

Thing with tin foil is that it traps steam and can make the baking moist but if it is a pudding that is not a porblem. tin foil reflects heat so the temperature and cooking time would further be messed up.

Try a lower temperture.

jimmy2102, Apr 6, 8:33pm
Yum sticky date pudding, bake it on the middle rack, cover with foil if it starts to get to brown.

dibble35, Apr 6, 8:38pm
thanks for that, webought an independent temp gauge for the oven and i go off that but still doesnt bake right, starts to burn biscuits at the back of the oven so have to turn tray 1/2 way thru cooking time. I've made this cake lots and it always starts to get to dark. have tried lowering the temp as well but didnt fix the problem, will just puttinfoil on in last 5 -10 mins maybe thanks again

wheelz, Apr 6, 9:13pm
new oven!!

dibble35, Apr 6, 9:40pm
Its on the list. we need a new fridge first and at the moment all the spare money seems to be being spent on fixing up the boat, have put up with it for 3 years now, so another few wont matter. i'll just keep moaning about it and maybe someone will take the hint :-)

biggles45, Apr 6, 9:48pm
Line the tin with greaseproof paper, so that the side paper is above the level of the tin. Rest a couple of sheets of folded newspaper or brown paper, folded to just overlap the edge of the tin, on top of the greaseproof. I do the christmas cake like this and it doesn't burn or hold condensation.

dibble35, Apr 6, 9:53pm
thats a good idea biggles. i ended up putting a sheet of tinfoil on the top of the tin for the last 10mins- and the top didnt burn, top edges did go a bit dark though, seemed to be abit moist looking so removed in the last few mins, better than other times i've cooked this cake so just have to give it the taste test tonight

petal1955, Apr 6, 10:13pm
Cover with a piece of baking paper

rainrain1, Apr 6, 11:01pm
or brown paper

marcs, Apr 7, 2:51am
Cover it with Al foil. This defects the heat and stops it from burning and helps cook you cake faster as well. Also turn you temp down a bit.