I work from my home (legally!!! ) and I only do wedding cakes. During the wedding season, I typically make 4-6 wedding cakes per weekend. Being a one-woman show, that makes for a very busy and stressful week.

All my cakes are 4" high and currently I bake two cakes (in 3" pans) for every tier to get that 4" . So basically if I have 6 three-tier wedding cakes, that's 18 x 2 = 36 individual cakes to bake.

The thought of collaring the cake pans with parchment paper came to mind in order the reduce the amount of baking, saving me valuable hours that I can spend with my family. The few attempts I've made didn't really work out and I'm thinking I must be doing something wrong.

Either the cake doesn't bake straight up once it's past the edge of the pan or the center doesn't bake evenly. I used the flower nails and I've wrapped the pan with baking strips but the finished product is just not as nice as if I've baked the two shorter cakes.

I'm wondering if anyone else has any experience or guidance that can help me with my collaring. I would really like to know how other bakers handle the 4" cakes. Do you bake separate cakes or do you use collars?

Any advice or guidance will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

I bake 2, 2" layers, torte and fill. I don't think most cakes bake right as they get thicker.

Leah, I think you're absolutely right - that's what I've been finding too. In order to get the center perfect, the outside edges are overdone. I hear many people talk about collaring their taller cakes but it just hasn't worked for me. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong.