making a 3/4 sheet seems like sides of cakes want to almost burn before center is done? any suggestions have oven on 325

Teresa, Welcome to CC! I am a fairly new hobby baker and went thru the same thing. I now make my larger cakes with the Wilton Bake Even strips AND a metal Wilton flower nail. The damp Bake Even strips will allow the edges to cook just like the center of the cake and will help enormously to eliminate the "dome" in the middle of the cake. The metal flower nail will allow the center to cook evenly because of the distributed heat from the nail. I'll attach a few links so you can see the techniques.

Flower nail pictorial link: http://cakecentral.com/articles/651/cake-baking-flower-nail-method-tutorial

Bake even strips link: http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=142301

I use flower nails too...they work like a charm!

Ditto on the flower nail and bake even strips...I use them all the time.

sorry i hijack this, but i figure my question is kinda relevant

i use the bake strips and the nail too and but sometimes i find on my bigger cakes (10inch and up) i still struggle a little.

i take the strips off about 40 mins into baking because the last time i left it on for the entire time, it took wayyyyyyyyy too long to finish. and i rotate every 15 minutes.

does anyone else do this too? or is it just my uber old oven that screws me up? seems to work okay this way for my 6 and 8inch rounds..

First, what is a 3/4 sheet? (12x18 is half sheet; 18x24 is full)

I am a baking strip baker and I reduce the temp. yes, it will take longer because you're reduced the oven temp. Here's the science behind how and why they work: http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6626888.html#6626888