OK, last weekend I almost killed myself baking cakes looking for the perfect recipe. I think I have two great ones. A yellow cake and a chocolate cake. I am baking for my son's 1st birthday this Sunday. I am making three cakes, 6 inch smash cake 8 in drum and a 10 inch gift box cake.

6 in cake is done. 8 inch cake is done. the 10 in cake is going to cause me to go to an early grave! I have cooked not 1 but 4 10 in cakes and they all keep falling apart! At this point I am close to being in tears. I cooked theses stupid cakes for about an hour each. The first 10 in cake I tried to flip out of the pan after 15 minutes. I figured it was still too hot. the others I waited longer each time before attempting to turn out of the pan. Not to mention that the 4th cake didn't even cook through completely. I'm not sure what I did wrong it was totally crusted on the outside and liquid on the inside.

I have been cooking them on 325. with a bake even strip. I am not even going to attempt to try it again tonight. I will just try it tomorrow. Do I cook on a higher temp for larger pans?

I haven't had this problem before. I cooked a 10 inch cake a few weeks ago although it was a boxed cake. could that be my problem? I'm at the end of my rope. Please help me. I really wanted this cake to be from scratch. This cake is the reason that I started decorating and now the one cake that means the most is going to kill me!

HELP ME!


PLEASE!

Mmmmm, sounds like you're doing everything right.

Are you using a heating core or a flower nail in your pan?

How deep is your 10" pan?

Perhaps, someone else will see this, and jump in to help.

First let me say I am sorry that you are having such a big problem with this most important cake.

You could try using the flower nail trick. Before you pour your batter into the pan, place a greased and floured flower nail upside down in the bottom of your cake pan. That is put the flat top of the nail on the bottom of the pan with the long nail part pointing up. Pour your batter in and bake. The will draw heat to the middle of the pan and help your cake bake better. I would still use the bake-even strips too.

GOOD LUCK!

freeze them in the pan...

then they'll be easier to handle when you flip them out.

I didn't use a flower nail or a heating core. But the cakes are done in the middle. with the exception of the last one. I just can't get them to turn out of the pan in one piece. Would it make a different if I put a flower nail in the middle?

Also could it be that the cake is a "light" cake? it's kinda fluffy, not really heavy like the boxed cakes i've done.

I used the wilton's cake release, that's always worked until now.

sorry i'm just rambling my thoughts on this cake.

I agree with the others...use baking strips and a flower nail..I always use a flower nail in the 10" pan...mine is 3" high

I had a similar experience to yours before I started using the flower nail and baking strips..

Don't open the oven until the minimum time has elapsed...

Chin up...I think it will work for you...

did you line the bottom of the pan with parchment?

you might have left out the oil. that alway makes it fall apart. good luck

I think it may be the recipe. I always find the "fluffy" cakes tend to fall apart. That's one (only one) reason I don't use mixes...only scratch. I find that mix cakes tend to fall apart.

oh dear!!!...without freezing or lining the pan its a wonder you got em out as well as you did....

i do this for a living and i can't!!!!.....last week i was in a hurry (no time to freeze) and tryed to get a cake on the board with out freezing it first...fell all to bits!

moist cakes wanna fall apart on ya.

5:55am EST. I am going to try this again. Line the pan with parchment paper and put in the freezer. cross your fingers & wish me luck!

Good luck!! I'm new at this and have never baked a really big cake so I'll keep all of this in mind whenever I do. I'm sure you'll have better luck this time. Happy Birthday to your little booboo!

How are you "flipping" it out of the pan? If it's very rounded on the top, trim it to flat before you take it out of the pan. Lay the cooling rack on the pan, then flip the pan over, holding the cooling rack in place. I found that if I flip it out of the pan while it still has a rounded top, even those few seconds it's sits on the rack before I can flip it over to sit on it's "bottom", will cause the cake to start to break because there is no support under the edges. (That darn ole gravity!!)

I use the pan release and baking strips; I don't use parchment paper and I don't freeze them first. No problems even with my 16" ones. Don't stress .... you'll find the method that works best for you! And no matter what you do, keep it mind it's the First Birthday. you're suppose to be having fun, remember?

Looking forward to seeing your pics!!

I went through this also. I work with one of the best pastry chefs ever. I told him about my cakes and how they were doing (just like yours) and he told me I was beating the cakes to long. So I really paid attention to how long I was whipping up my cakes and also when I pour the batter into my pans tap the pans on the counter several times to get the air out of the batter. I did this and I have great cakes now. Good luck! Remember have fun!

Like others mentioned, a flower nail and parchment work well. I use parchment on the bottom of all my pans (and cake release on the sides) and a nail on 10" or bigger. A 10" will definitely take an hour to bake at 325. How'd it turn out?

Ok, so the first 10 in cake is still in the oven about 35 more minutes to cook. I used parchment paper with a bake even strip. I put crisco in the bottom of the pan and put the parchment circle in. I used cake release on the side of the pans.

indydebi - I don't usually have a rounded top when I use the bake even strip. But it's not breaking from gravity it's just stuck to my pan. I did hold the cooling rack on top and them flip. ploop! big hole in the middle of my cake.

If I don't freeze them how long should I wait before turning them over?

Should I wait until they are pretty much cool before taking them out of the pans?

I always use parchment on the bottom of the pans and line the sides with it as well on all my cakes, whatever the size.

I let them cool about 30 mins in the pan, then put a board or plate over the pan and carefully flip the pan over. the cake will 'drop' onto the plate or board. I then carefully peel away the side parchment and wait til it is completly cool before i peel off the bottom parchment.

Let us know how your cake turns out.

cheers
Jan

I agree with what has been already said, flower nail, parchment paper, don't beat the batter too long, lower oven temp., cool for 10 mins, then freeze. All will be well. (I have success dumping the cake out after cooling for the 10 min. when I don't have time to freeze.) Take a deep breath, and start again. Lots of luck.

Is it better to use parchment paper regardless of the size? I always use the baking strips and spray the bottom and sides of pan but have never tried parchment paper.

Thanks

This is funny 2xMiMi, my MIL has MiMix2 on her license plate and her birthday is your joined date, April 22.

I think its whatever you are used to doing. Some people just spray their tins and others use parchment.
I use parchment on ALL my cakes, whatever size and that is lining the bottom and sides.
On larger cakes ie 10" and above, I double line the sides of the tin

cheers
Jan

I just read this thread, but my first impression is that you might have a problem with your oven since the last cake didn't even cook all the way through. You might want to check it out!

So the cakes are out of the oven. I have turned one over parchment paper is off. I only lost little pieces but nothing I can't fix with icing. I think it was the crisco made the cake too moist on the sides. I'm thinking I should have put flour over the crisco before I put the parchment paper in the pan. But all in all I think it turned out good.

Parable - Actually the last cake I made last night I tried to cut the recipe in half so I wouldn't have to make a whole batch and waste cake. I'm thinking I forgot to cut the amount of sugar in half. Which is why my cake was mush.

Thanks for the help guys. I don't know if I would have survived this weekend. This website is like life support in time of crisis. Heart rate & blood pressure is back to normal.

Glad it worked out for you!! I only pan grease the sides, not the bottom. Perhaps that's why your parchment came off...

AHow long do you freeze the cake in the pan so it will come out whole?