I've heard that some people use a flower nail in larger cakes to make them back evenly. Is this instead of using a heating core? How exactly do you put the flower nail in the cake? Is it heads down with the point sticking out of the cake? Is it easy to remove after the cake is baked?

i use a flower nail on anything over 8 inches and yes its head down at the bottom of the pan. i take my nail out as soon as i take the cake out of the tin and i've never had any trouble getting it out. i find that if i take the nail out of the cake when its hot the hole settles and virtually disappears.

I used this technique for the first time the other day and it worked great. I sprayed the nail with non-stick spray and put it in top down. When I took the cake out of the oven, I took out the nail. And I could barely see a hole. It worked great. Absolutely a great tip I got off this site.