It's true that it won't rise again because the leavening (baking powder and/or baking soda) action has expired with the heat of the oven. Too, the proteins have already coagulated in, unfortunately, the wrong position - fallen. There are a couple of possible problems that can be easily solved. First, is your oven temperature accurate? Bakers often discover with either cakes or cookies that the oven thermostat is off - either high or low. For the price of an inexpensive oven thermometer, you can easily answer that question. Second, where do you live? Is it at an altitude of 2500 feet or higher? If so, you need to make adjustments for altitude. The big picture is that at elevations greater than 2500 feet, you need to increase the protein in the forms of flour and egg, and decrease the baking powder. The reasoning here is that the higher in elevation, the lesser the atmospheric pressure quite literally pressing down on whatever you are baking. Therefore, by increasing the protein and decreasing the chemical leavening, you are causing your cake, for example, to rise more slowly while simultaneously having created a greater protein density around the CO2 bubbles which will coagulate around them, holding up the cake. If altitude adjustments are not made, your cake will rise before your very eyes, and just as you are exclaiming, "LOOK what I have done!" it collapses in the center because it rose faster than the protein structure could coagulate around it. I hope this helps you.
It won't rise again, since all the air bubbles that you were hoping to trap are gone, but you can (maybe) cook it so the inside isn't gooey. But that would also risk overcooking the outer part. If it isn't too bad, I'd just eat it as is (I like things like that). Or you could try scooping out the middle, unbaked portion and filling it with a mound of whipped cream and berries to make it look intentional :)
3 Comments
The flavor is quite good so I will try and rescue the outside. Thanks!