Gooey centers in baked goods?!?

Been baking for yrs. toothpick has worked well fot testing.. for some reason my baked goods test as done but often come out gooey? Please share your thoughts. Thank you all.

Suzy Q
  • Posted by: Suzy Q
  • July 28, 2019
  • 2177 views
  • 5 Comments

5 Comments

Miss_Karen
Miss_Karen July 28, 2019
Have you moved recently? It could be an elevation/ altitude issue....
 
Suzy Q.
Suzy Q. July 29, 2019
Good thought, but no.
 
Lori T.
Lori T. July 28, 2019
Without knowing what you have baked, it's a little difficult to say what has gone wrong or astray. In some cases, an item can test done, but collapse as it cools. That would render it gooey in the middle. It may be there is a problem with your oven temperature, or the cakes are cooling too quickly in a drafty spot. Did you recently switch types of baking powder or soda? Did you use self rising flour, or perhaps get it mixed up with your all purpose flour? If that is the case, your goods may collapse and be gooey because of too much leavening. The other thing you might be running into is a humidity problem. I've had that recently, with summer weather that has been wetting and more humid than ordinary leaving me with clumped sugar and moist flour. I find it's taking slightly more flour to achieve proper consistency of my bread as a result- the flour just already has a lot of moisture in it, so absorbs less. If you can give us an idea of what you baked that failed, somebody might have even more insight to offer.
 
Suzy Q.
Suzy Q. July 29, 2019
Wow! Thank you for all your time and thoughts....
I bake loaf items like banana bread, zucchini breads, Eppicurious recipe of sour cream cardamom cake, carrot cake. Also corn bread, muffins, most often. I live in Md which is very very humid, but I live in air conditioning thru the summer. Re oven temps...I have a new one but this happened with the older one as well. I've checked the oven for accuracy and it is spot on. I use Trader Joe's baking powder and baking soda which is fresh. I also use unbleached all purpose flour by Wegmans or King Arthur unbleached all purpose flour. There are no drafts I'm aware of in my kitchen. I don't use self rising flour. Maybe, for now, I'll try using a bit more flour? When you add more flour is it a tablespoon or? Maybe this is a just message from the kitchen goddess to stop baking?
Again, thank you all for your time and thoughts.
 
Lori T.
Lori T. July 29, 2019
Although A/C units can help dehumidify air to an extent, when the humidity and temperatures are high- the moisture can overwhelm your unit. If the fan is always running, the extra water can't easily condense and drain away like it is supposed to do. That's a problem I've run into here in Minnesota recently. I add extra flour a tablespoon at a time, until I get the consistency I need. Things like banana and zucchini bread do have a lot of moisture too- and I've run into problems with them this summer too. We've had a lot of rain, so the squash is super loaded with water. I've taken to shredding it and leaving it to drain, and then whirling it in the salad spinner. Also, if your baked item is really hot, and then is put to cool in a really cool room, that might be doing it. The steam isn't able to escape before the outside cools and sets, trapping the extra moisture inside.
 
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