Thanks to being addicted to this site (can't say I wasn't warned LOL) I now have a perfectly cooked chocolate cake out of the oven. I always have had the worst time with chocolate cakes. It seems like they would be done, the toothpick would come out clean, but then it would fall. If I tried compensating it ended up overdone and dry.

So, then I read to use skewers instead of toothpicks (duh) and now I can reach down to the bottom of my 8x3in pan. I could easily see tonight where I would have taken the cake out becaue only the bottom 1/2 inch of the skewer was wet, so a toothpick would have come out clean. I had to cook it for another 12 minutes after that!

Thanks so much for all the wonderful info. My hubby will now have a nice cake thanks to you guys. And yes, I'm up at 3:30 LOL. I actually got a late start today thanks to a migraine and now I'm hopped up on caffiene and can't sleep. Might as well make a cake!

I'm up too, but I'm not baking. Instead I'm eating left overs from a cake my daughter made, while I'm doing laundry. Lets just call it insomnia. I agree this site is not only addicting but all the C.C. members are extremely helpful.

I'm up too! Just enjoying the peace and quiet. Love looking at everyone's cakes. I never thought about the skewer idea. Makes sense though. Chocolate is hard for me too. Glad it turned out!!

I was going to whip up some chocolate buttercream, but I think I better go get some sleep so I can function tomorrow. I've got a lot of food to fix for hubby tomorrow. He was so sweet saying just make whatever, but I insisted on knowing what he really wanted. He wants Paula's blue cheese burgers and I could find decent looking blue cheese tonight so I'll have to hit a different grocery tomorrow.

I'm up too. Unfortunately, I'm working!!! I would much rather be home, insomnia or not!! So glad to hear your cake came out great. I baked a chocolate earlier today. It seems to have come out ok. I have to decorate in the morning when I get home from work.

Cindy

If you run out of skewers, you can always use (raw) spaghetti!

Speaking of chocolate cakes, mine always seem to come out dry around the edges, even when I use bake even strips. Any idea why? Am I just overcooking, maybe?

Thanks!

i live in japan and it 6:30pm sunday