Why do cakes have cracked tops?
Pulling a cake out of the oven and finding a miniature scale-model of the Grand Canyon on top of it is always disappointing. Cracks can form in the top of a cake for many reasons:-> The oven was too hot, causing the top of the cake to cook first and creating a crust that cracked as the inside of the cake caught up with it and expanded. Try setting the oven to a slightly cooler temperature, and invest in an accurate oven thermometer. The thermostat on your oven (especially older ones) may be lying to you.-> The cake was baked on too low or high of a rack. This causes the same problems as the oven being too hot. Always bake cakes on the middle rack.-> You may be checking the cake too often. Remember that whenever you open the oven door, you drop the temperature drastically, and that can make it hard to bake the cake evenly, resulting in cracks. Use a flashlight if your oven doesn't have an interior light. Just keep your mitts off the oven door handle!-> Is the broiler on? I have seen this happen. It never turns out well.A cake top cracks if you sit an elephant on top of it.