How to stop fruit from sinking in muffins and cakes

All cake is good cake, but when your baking creation comes out of the oven with lots of fruit on the bottom it can become super soggy and you miss out on fruit on the top. There are four quick and easy methods you can try to stop this from happening!

Toss the fruit in a little flour before adding it to the batter. Use 2-3 tablespoons to coat the fruit thoroughly, then gently fold it into the cake batter right before you pour it into the pan or patty pans. As the fruit cooks and releases liquid, the flour will absorb the moisture and the fruit won’t slide to the bottom.

Fill your cake pan or muffin pan about a quarter to a third full before adding any berries to the cake batter. Then, gently fold your berries into the rest of the batter before topping the pan the rest of the way up. With this method, be careful not to overmix you cake batter. Only fold it enough to just distribute the berries, or your cake could end up tough instead of light and fluffy.

If you're using large pieces of fruit cut up into chunks like apples, pears, pineapple etc., and you find that they are sinking, try cutting them into smaller pieces. These will be both lighter and contain less liquid, making them more likely to stay put in the batter.

Poke the fruit gently into the top of the batter once it's been poured into the cake pans. This technique depends on the recipe - if you're using a lot of fruit this technique won't work, however if you're only using a few berries or pieces of fruit it's great for getting the fruit to stay on top. You can also use this technique to get prettier cakes and muffins. Simply set aside a few berries, mix the rest in with the batter, and then pop the extra on top for photo-worthy baked goods.

 

Test out your new skills with some tasty muffin and cake recipes below, or discover more tips for making moist muffins.

 

These jumbo sized muffins are full of cheese and chorizo goodness. If you find your chunks of chorizo sink, you can use the techniques above.