Why does the fruit always sink?

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Can anyone help, please? Whenever I make a raisin or sultana cake, the fruit always sinks to the bottom. I've tried baking at different temperatures and using a drier mixture but the same thing happens. Is there some secret I need to know?
 
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I read on Pinterest that dusting the fruit with flour helps keep it from sinking to the bottom of baked goods. Supposedly this also works with chocolate chips and nuts.
 
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Maybe the moisture content in the fruit causes it to not adhere to the rest of the mix while baking, and because it's heavier it ends up collecting near the bottom? If this is the reason, then dusting the fruit with flour makes sense because that would give the fruit an exterior that is compatible with the mix. As it bakes, it will become attached to the surrounding mix and stay in place.

How's that for over-thinking something? :) LOL
 
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I wonder if maybe just making the batter a little thicker might help to keep the fruit from sinking ? I think if the fruit is in larger pieces, then it is just heavy and sinks easier, whereas smaller fruit, like blueberries, do not sink as easily. Maybe just making the fruit into smaller pieces using the processor or chopping it into bits, would help keep it from sinking as much.
 
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Seconding the dusting of flour on the fruit before you fold it in your batter. I do this on occasion.
 
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Can anyone help, please? Whenever I make a raisin or sultana cake, the fruit always sinks to the bottom. I've tried baking at different temperatures and using a drier mixture but the same thing happens. Is there some secret I need to know?

Actually, it makes little difference what temperature you bake the cake at, regarding the fruit. It does matter how thick the batter is, and when you put the fruit in.
I have had a similar problem and found that when I had a thin batter and put it in the fridge to thicken (with the fruit), then stirred the mixture, I had no problem with sinking fruit. Also, make sure if you are using canned fruit to drain it well unless the recipe calls for the fluid too.
 
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a great way to do it is to put a very small layer of batter in your pan and bake it on an extremely low temperature just until barely starts to bake and then take it out and put the rest of your batter and your fruit. This will cause a barrier which will keep the fruit from going all the way to the bottom. Also if you are using dense fruit or wet fruit make sure you have a very dense batter. Or try just placing them on top and allow them to float down as baking by the time they go down it will already be baking and will stop them from going all the way down. I hope this little bit of information helped.
 
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Try coating your fruit with flour, and preferably add them to a batter that is sufficiently thick. Whenever I add mix-ins to a thin batter, it tends to sink, although it sinks less when coated with flour. Hope this helps!
 
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I read on Pinterest that dusting the fruit with flour helps keep it from sinking to the bottom of baked goods. Supposedly this also works with chocolate chips and nuts.

That's a good suggestion, I'll need to bear that in mind. Because the consistency of the mixture of my cakes and cupcakes is so thin and runny, the fruit/chocolate chips are nearly always too heavy to be supported by the mix. The amount of cupcake with chocolate gathered at the bottom I could've saved had I known this advice earlier...
 
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That's a good suggestion, I'll need to bear that in mind. Because the consistency of the mixture of my cakes and cupcakes is so thin and runny, the fruit/chocolate chips are nearly always too heavy to be supported by the mix. The amount of cupcake with chocolate gathered at the bottom I could've saved had I known this advice earlier...

You can't add fruit to a runny cupcake batter.
You put floured fruit in a poundcake batter.
 

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