I usually use flower nails as heating cores for my larger cakes, but I don't have them with me (or a real heating core) and was wondering if anything else would work... Has anyone tried cookie cutters? Would that even work? Or do any of you have any other ideas / suggestions? Thanks in advance for any tips!
What size pan are you wanting to use? I have used the 10 AND 12" round without the core, and a 12x18 rectangle without it, and they have baked up just fine.
I'm baking 8", 12", and 16" square cakes. I know the 8" is fine without a core. Maybe the 12" would be okay but mostly I'm worried about the 16" square.
I'm just bumping myself to see if anyone thinks cookie cutters might work or anything else. Thanks!
Have you tried rolling up some pieces of aluminum foil the size of a pencil and using them for a heat core. It might work. Just stick them like you would a rose nail.
I once used the large icing decorator tip after my dh chewed up my flower nail in the disposal, right in the middle of my baking spree. I just coated it in cake release and popped it in there! Worked just fine.
That sounds like a good idea! Maybe I will try that some time. I started baking before I saw your post, so I ended up using strawberry haulers that I bent to 90 degree angles and it worked great! And, no harm done, I just bent them right back into shape when I was done. And they slid right out of the cake so you can hardly tell where they were placed!
I've never used heating cores or flower nails.... not even in my 16" round or my 14x22 sheet. Baking strips and reduce oven to 325. Grease-only and do not flour the pans.
no problems.
When I first heard about "heating cores" I didn't have a rose nail or the heating core you can get from Wilton.
I did use a piece of foil rolled up like a cigar and stuck that in the middle of the cake I was doing (a round ball shaped cake for the turkey cake in my pics) It worked just great. And another nice thing about it is that it leaves such a small hole too.
I set the timer for 40 minutes, then check it every 10 minutes until done. If I had to guess, I say allocate at least 50-60 minutes on the larger ones. If your oven does uneven baking, you might rotate the pan halfway thru.
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