Question for all you good bakers out there?

If your cakes/loaves crack on the top, does this mean that the oven was too hot!

Yes, that's exactly what it means. Suggestion to help solve the problem is to get an oven thermometer from a kitchen store. Clip it onto an oven rack and that way you will be able to accurately set you oven at the correct temperature. (They are not expensive) Well worth it, as ovens vary very much - eg. I have quite a hot oven so have to set it at a lower temp. each time I bake. Hope ths makes sense.

Thanx for that great advice.Will do that.

Um not so true in a way. the timing for Creaming cakes butter sugar is around ten mins slices is about two Fan forced ovens are just rubbish

It can also mean the tin was too small.

Just slice the top off till its level. Turn over and ice the bottom. That way you dont get crumbs in the icing.

Here are several reasons that a cake will crack on top:

1. The oven is too hot. Have the oven calibrated. If all your cakes and muffins come out with a cracked top and bake faster than the recipe says it should, your oven may be too hot. Reduce oven temperature by 25 degrees F and try again!
2. You’ve added too much flour. Flour should be measured in nested measuring cups, not a glass measuring cup. Stir the flour to loosen it, then spoon it into a measuring cup. Level it off with the flat side of a knife. Never “knuck” (bang) the cup or the flour will settle and you’ll end up adding too much!
3. Batter is over-mixed. Once you add the flour, mix the batter only just until it disappears.
4. You don’t have enough liquid in your batter. Use a glass measuring cup to measure liquids and check the amount at eye level.
5. Baking pans are too dark so cake bakes too quickly, causing the top to set before the cake has finished rising.
6. Cake pan is too close to the top of the oven so the top sets and forms a crust before the cake has finished rising. Always place your cake pan on a middle or slightly lower rack so that the top of the cake is in the middle of the oven.

25 degress F is American. We use celicius here, so for NZ ovens, that yould be about 12 degrees C

If yu are using a fan bake oven I always reduce temp by about 25 degrees, love cooking with them tho, you can fit everything in at once thus saving you power and time.

"Quick" breads like a banana loaf,it is normal/typical for them to crack on top. "Yeast" breads it is not.