Previously I had only baked round cake and I have pretty much got the hang of baking, icing and decorating them. Now I have a few sheet cakes to do. I am noticing that the corners dont bake up as high as the sides, they kind of slope down in the corners. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?

The bake even strips help.

Also, does your cake pan have straight or rounded corners, this would also make a difference.

HTH

a lot of cc members use the magistrips around the pan while baking.

I just put wax paper on the cake right out of the oven and press down with a cookie sheet to flatten the middle of the cake to the height of the pan. I do this a couple of times. Then when it's cool I level the whole cake, but there's less waste if you push it down first.

well it does have rounded corners, that would cause them to not bake up as high? I did use the bake even stips and i did push down on it a little. I figure I will just trim the top a little, but I was just wondering if there was anything I could do. It also seems like the corners are a little dry. I baked at 350, maybe I should lower the oven temp?

I ususally bake at 325 since I don't trust my oven. My cakes bake slower, but more evely this way.

I have some glass 13x9x2 pans with rounded corners and some larger metal pans with straight sides.

The metal pans always have better corners, because the corners are more precise to begin with.

(Might have something to do with surface area and sloping.....)

HTH

Magic Line pans have very straight sides and sharp corners.

Just wondering if this will this make the corners rise better though?

you can always "cheat" those edges up by piping icing under them before you crumb coat!

bake even strips are the way to go. slows cooking on the outside and prevents the hump in the middle. also, be sure you bang your pan on the counter a few times to even out the batter before you put it in the oven.

Make sure you put in enough batter to rise a bit over the pan and then level it off. Also I try to actually spread more batter to the edges and leave less in the center if possible.... it evens itself back out but that also seems to help make sure I have enough batter around the corners.

You can also use mini=marshmellows to put under the cake to raise the corners. Turning the oven down will also help.

okay so maybe the sloping is just 'normal'?

The only time I don't have sloping is when I put enough cake batter in to where it rises a little over the pan and I'm able to cut the entire thing off level at the pan top.

i am considering getting some of the magic line rectangle pans.. cause the edges are straight. anyone have experience with them? recommend them?

Yes, yes, yes-HIGHLY recommend them!! Wish I had known about the before I bought my Wilton pans!

I have a 9x13 one by Wilton with the perfectly squared off edges (not magic line but same idea) and it is fine but still it doesn't prevent the sloping sides any differently than any other cake. You still have to make sure you fill the pan with enough batter to fill the corners as well, and try to insulate the sides with strips.

i happen to have a half a sheet cake in the oven right now. wilton pan. used the flower nails and hoping they help the center. i think i may have to invest in some straight edge pans.

I make a lot of sheet cakes (12x1 and I've ALWAYS had sloping sides to deal with. I save the scraps of cake after leveling the top and stick them to the sloped edges with buttercream or sugar syrup. Bake even strips do help. I've recently discovered that when I put the flower nail (#7) in the middle, it helps to even out the baking so that the cake is more level. Good luck!

i used the nails tonight and no bake strips... hmmmm. still a hump. next time i will try them together

i cheat and lift up the corners and sqirt a little icing in between the layers....works every time!!!!

I really like the idea of using the cake scraps to prop-up the corners. But, of course, that means less CAKE BALLS! lol lol

As you can see, we all have this problem.

I'm another who overfills the pan slightly so it puffs up above the edge. Then, I cut off evenly with the top of the pan. No slope.