Should "bake" or "roast" be used when making cakes? Heat top or bottom?

Question

Every time I bake cakes/cupcakes the tops are the last part to cook fully. In other words, the bottom might register at 210f and the top might still be at 180-190f. This can be confirmed by the top being visibly wet. This has been true in the last 5 ovens I've owned and seemingly regardless of what rack I use and also happens if I use convection. This makes sense to me since the pan acts as a thermal bridge so any dough touching the pan will cook quicker.

The problem with this is that the bottom becomes overcooked and the middle starts to edge that way while I wait for the top to cook fully.

Would it make sense to apply more heat to the upper element? My oven has a "roast" function which apparently has more heat coming from the top. Or is there another solution? Or perhaps I am seeing a problem where there is none?

Answer 1

As your problem persists across 5 ovens, I think it has something to do with the way you are using it. I notice, you did not say where in the oven you place the rack. It should be placed in such a way that the baking goods are in the vertical center of the oven. I achieve best results for cakes, muffins, etc with top and bottom heat, but convection works as well. Or even better, if there is only one heat source in your oven. No, I do not have the problem of the tops of muffins being too wet.

Answer 2

You haven't mentioned the recipe you are using, @Behacad, but there are a number of approaches I would take if your cakes are too "Wet".

First of all, I would check the manufacturers instruction manual for your particular oven. This should have details of what foods are best cooked using the upper (or lower) elements turned on. My guess is that it would be too aggressive, but that is going by my particular oven, and as always in such matters, YMMV.

Secondly, you could try slightly reducing the amount of liquid in your recipe, or alternatively increasing the flour amount slightly. I assume you are using eggs here, and your local egg size may be slightly different from the original recipe. Of course, this will affect the density and crumb of the sponge slightly, but it might be enough to push it towards a drier consistency.

Answer 3

Two things to check:

1. Does your oven heat the top and bottom element when set to "bake", or just the bottom one?
2. Does your top element need replacing?

For example, my mother-in-law has an oddball oven that only heats the bottom element in "bake" mode. American recipes, however, assume top-and-bottom heating, which has been the norm for American ovens for the past several decades. As such, she finishes baking anything with 5 minutes on broil to brown the top.

If the problem with your oven is that it's bottom-heat only, I'd suggest taking the same step.