Ok so a while ago i posted a thread about my cakes not cooking properly especially 10 inch ones. the replies kept saying about a thermometer so (eventually) i gave in and bought one and now the sheer thought of cooking without one brings me out in a cold sweat. my oven can be set to 160 degrees but it can either be 180 or 130!! no wonder the outsides were cooking so much and the top was burnt and the middles were raw after 2 hours when the cooking time was 1 1/2 to 1 3/4. this solved my 6 and 8 inch cake problems straight away.

anyway, i was still having a wee problem with the bigger cakes cooking so i gave in again and bought a heating core (a flower nail wasn working on 10 inch cakes) OMG this is amazing, its so easy to use and now my 10 inch circles and square take 1 hour 15 minutes!!!!! thats an HOUR less than they were taking and no more running to the oven every 5 minutes to see if they are done yet and having the top fall in because you've tested it so many times, etc. its literally in the oven wrapped in wet towels and turned once and then its out and lovely and moist - no more crunchy cake to be doused in sugar syrup.

Thanks to all of you for putting me in the right direction!

Yeeeah for you! That is wonderful news. I haven't made cakes larger than 10" yet so the flower nails (I used 3) have worked fine for now but if I make something bigger I'll definitely remember this.

I'm so glad everything worked out for you.

woohoo! It's always awesome when you have the right equipment!