I have heard that wrapping a wet terry bath strips around the baking tin helps to make a cake rise evenly. I am scared of burning the kitchen down. any tips, suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

If you don't already, set your oven for about 325 degrees. It will take longer to bake but because it bakes slower, it will rise more evenly. Also, I use an upside down (greased) flower nail in the center of the cake pan to help distribute the heat more evenly

Ditto to what TrinaH said. Also if you don't already own one go and buy yourself a oven thermometer so you can make sure your temp is accurate.

As for the terry towels, they will not burn. I bought the Wilton bake even strips before I knew about the towels but I have tried it out and I did not burn the house down. Just make sure you have them attached securely to the cake pans. I use metal binder clips to secure the ends together as I always seem to prick myself with Wilton's pins .

Can someone explain how to do the wet terry cloths? I haven't heard of this before.

The suggestions so far are right on Lower your oven temp and make sure the strips are wet, but not dripping.
.........The strips are supposed to make the bake cook more evenly/level.........

The wet toweling will keep the sides of the pan cool while the heat of the oven will cause the cake to bake mostly from the bottom. That allows for a much more even distribution of heat so the cake does not form that hump in the middle. It also increases the moisture in the oven and allows for a moister baked cake
Don't worry one bit about them burning I have for years used wet *paper towels*! (In a gas oven). When I posted this some time ago someone wrote that they tried it and the paper towel fell off and caught fire on the electric element. My feelings are: they didn't get the towel wet enough or adhere it to the pan. They must be *wet*. Then I take 2 fingers and go down the strip just enough to strip off the drips keeping them from dripping while attaching to the pan. Paper towels will stick when they are wet enough. It doesn't take much - just a light rub - to get them to stick to a pan when they are wet enough.
If you are still very worried you can wrap the wet strips in a bit of aluminum foil but that will stop the moisture in the oven - not the cooling of the sides of the pan.
For 25 yrs I have baked 12x18 sheet and up to 16" rounds w/o a heat core or even a flower nail - just wrapped w/toweling and later w/BES (Bake Even Strips - Wilton's name for their product - which is cotton enclosed in the same (silver) covering used on ironing boards).

I, too, bake my cakes on a lower temperature. Usually 300 or so, depending on the cake size. I have never had a problem, and I don't have to do a lot of preparation. It helps keep the cake moist too.

I too have used terry towels without a problem! (I also use strips, but I prefer the Magi-cake brand over the Wilton.)

A couple of things: if you use binder clips, make sure that they are all metal; also, make sure that the tails of the wet towels or strips don't hang down though the oven rack (don't want it to touch the element)

I actually put my cakes in a water bath, similar to when I make cheesecake. My cakes are moister, they rise evenly...and they do not have that dome in the middle of them anymore. You can also use the strips that Wilton makes that you can wrap around your cake pans. But the water bath is cheaper and easier.

Thanks for explaining it girls - I can't wait till I need to bake my next cake. Maybe I might bake one just to test how it works...

thanks all of you for taking time to reply to my queries. I really appreciate it. I will try out all these tricks the next time I bake a cake.

Tharrisson > what do you mean by water bath? could you explain in detail.

Thanks everyone

Here's a link that describes bathwater in detail:

http://www.baking911.com/howto/waterbath_prepare.htm

Basically its putting your cake pan that has the batter in it inside another larger pan that has water in it.

I agree the towel works great

I use the Wilton bake even strips. They work well!!!

I could'nt open the website on the waterbath method. Do you insert the batter pan in hot or cold water and what level of water?

http://www..com/howto/waterbath_prepare.htm

I don't know why this happens but if you add baking and then 911 (without any spaces) and just those to 2 words in between the www. and .com you should hopefully be able to link to it.