Why does fruit sink to bottom of cake?

Why does the fruit sink to bottom of cake?

It's Friday and it's tip time. A question which I'm being asked quite often is "Why does fruit sink to bottom of cakes/muffins/breads? This does not happen just with fresh fruits, but with dried fruits, nuts and even chocolate chips at times. So why does this happen?

Since these add-in ingredients are heavier than the batter, they tend to sink to the bottom of the pastries making it soggier. How can you avoid this? The solution is quite simple. Just toss the fruit with couple tablespoons of flour (simply scoop it from the measured dry ingredients for the recipe) before folding them into the batter. This will prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom. You can follow the same tip with dried fruits and candied fruits too. Since they tend to be sticky, toss in the flour and try separating the pieces with your fingers. For bigger fruits like whole candied cherries, even tossing it with flour wouldn't help. You will have to cut them into small pieces and then sprinkle it with some flour.

Fruit Sinking Tip: Add All Purpose Flour

Fruit Sinking Tip: Mix Well

Fruit Sinking Tip: Final Mix

Check out recipes using Tutti Frutti or Candied Peel as one of the ingredients:

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17 COMMENTS

  1. Hefina JONES

    I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work grr

  2. Steven P Bryant

    I’ve been baking for 30 years and adding flour by itself doesn’t keep the fruit and nuts from sinking.

  3. Linda

    Tossing the dried fruit (raisins) in flour is not helping the fruit , it still goes to the bottom. Any other tips?

    • Madhuram

      Maybe heavy coating with flour instead of lightly tossing?

  4. Robyn

    Fruit still sinks. Tried it again today with a much denser plain cake recipe only adding small amount of sultanas and chopped dried apricots. No luck. Need a fool proof remedy

  5. Katherine UK

    This is an old tip (and I am 35years old) The rubbing in flour trick does not work for me 🙁

    Unless it is a rich fruit celebration cake, packed with fruit (such as my Xmas/ wedding cake) – my fruit /still/ sinks, even when my cake batter is stiff enough to hold it (another tip is to make sure your batter is not too runny)

    I think I have tried everything to no avail. Guess I’ll just have to stick to my Xmas/wedding cake recipe.

    • Alaine Spain

      I also having same problem have tried mixing some flour with also tried mixing in all the flour but still fruit drops to bottom of cake
      So any other ideas would be great

      • Madhuram

        Hmm..usually that does the trick.

  6. Gowri Rao

    I have been looking for a good tutti frutti cake recipe.Finally found one and tried baking the cake.
    The cake turned out awesome….loved the texture and taste.Thank you for this wonderful recipe.

    • Madhuram

      You’re welcome Gowri.

  7. week 14: apple cake. « gettingbetteraboutbreakfast

    […] maybe i should have put the fruit on top. or mixed the fruit and the batter, either with or without tossing the fruit with flour first. but i didn’t. i poured the batter on top of the […]

  8. Meeta

    gr8…..thanks for the tip….I sure its gonna be of gr8 help to me…..

  9. sudha`

    oh wow…feels good that i unknowingly ..out of laziness used to mix in dry fruits with the flour..;p…thanks for the tip

  10. vaishali

    thnx dear…..grt tip…though have been following this since quite sometime now:)

  11. Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal

    wow, that is a nice tip 🙂

  12. Priya Sreeram

    hey this is a lovely tip- thanks for sharing !

    • Bernie Daly

      Don’t open the oven door to check until cake is almost cooked. I have made Christmas cakes for years and never had fruit sink. I put the tin in a brown paper bag that comes well above the tin, then cover with a circle of card to prevent top from burning. I check at 3.5 hrs and it may need 15 mins more to finish