I'm taking the wilton course 1 and tomorrow is my final cake for course 1 so last night i made my cake and did the bake even strips and all and when i checked the cake there was a cracked dome on top and i was freakin out. why did this happen? so i let it finish and after cooling 10 mins in the pan i took it out and saw that it was weird on the sides. not smooth at all. I used the bake even strips once before and the cake came out perfect, what was the problem this time? I asked my hubby to put the strip on for me so i thought he did something wrong needless to say i made cakeballs for the 1st time. so its now 12am and i'm about to make my 2nd cake and it comes out exactlly the same. I did the strip this time so hubby was off the hook. I didnt over mix, i had everything ready and mixed about 2mins after adding all ingredients. To my mix i used milk instead of water and added an extra egg just like i did with the previous perfect cake. I'm not making anymore cakeballs so i'm going to let the frosting do its work. any ideas on what could have happened? I made sure no one went next to the oven during baking.

It could be your ovens to hot. It happens when(i forgot) ether your mddle cooks faster than your sides or your middle cooks slower. Either way try it without the strip and go for a pan of water underneath it'll do the same thing. Also try to bake slower than usual. If your oevsn set to 350 try 325. Hope your cake comes out ok!

What size pan are you using. If my pans are 10" or bigger I use a couple of flower nails for even baking so the ends don't cook much faster than the middle.

FerretDeprived do you mean put my pan with cake in a pan with water? if so how much water? i will also try 325 next time. i never had a problem with 350 but maybe with the hot weather and all, i dont know. it was an 8'' pan, would a flower nail still work with a smaller pan?

I have used the flower nail in all different size pans. I think that helps. I also put a pan of water on the rack below the rack that has the cake on it.

Hope that helps.

C

My cakes are cracking all of a sudden too...just started a couple weeks ago. I use the bake even strips, but I think my oven may be hotter on one side (gas flame looks a little higher). Not sure why this is doing it all of a sudden though.

Just curious, what kind of cake were you making? I have more problems with cracking when I make a chocolate cake. It happened to me today, but I think it was because I put a little too much batter in the pans.

Yes, it was chocolate. I had to make 10 6" cakes today and I put 2 in at a time. The cake that was always on the right did not crack. I tried to rotate, but my kids kept me from doing it as often as I wanted. None of my French vanilla cakes cracked though?!?

I use the strips and most of the time they are ok. I have used the water thing along with the strips and then they were fine. I have read about the flower nail but have never used this. Do you put it in upside down? Doesn't it leave a hole in the cake? Also, convection helps baking more evenly.

my cake was butter yellow. i have 4 levels for the racks in my oven, which rack do you guys usually bake on? i usually bake on the bottom and i didnt have a problem the 1st time i used the bake even strips. maybe its the brand, i'll have to do tests to find out whats going on but i'll try the water on the rack below the cake and reduce my heat a bit.

I have had that happen when I didn't get my bake even strips wet enough. The water was baked otuof the strip too fast and then the cake still cooks unevenly. You can always level the cake!!

I use the nail too. I never could get my oval cakes (that came with the course II kit) to bake right. When I put the nail in, they came out perfect, not even a hump in the middle. The hole is small and I covered it with no problem with my crumb coat.

ok i think i will try the nail. how do you do it? thanks guys. I'm starting course II next week, i can't wait.

Just grease and flower you pans and I just spray the flower nail with Pam and turn it upside down and put it in the middle of the pan and pour in the batter. When the cake is done, and you flip it out onto the cooling rack, just pull the nail out. Very easy.

I am going to have to try the flower nail trick, just to see how it works. I have a wedding cake coming in a couple of weeks, so I'll try it then.

I know this is kind of dumb but for some reason I tend to take the flower nail out immediately after placing the cake on a cooling rack. Be extremely careful because the nail will burn your fingers. It seems to get hotter than the pans. Just a warning!!!

I do the same thing with the flower nails, and they are hotter - I believe steel conducts heat better than aluminum, which is why cake pans are aluminum (more even, slower heating.)

The bake even strips will keep a hard crust from forming on the sides of your cakes but won't always keep it from doming.

If you decide to use the water, which will help a bit with the cracking, but not with the doming, put the water in a pan on the rack beneath the racks your cakes are on. If you were to put the cake pan directly in the water, you'd have one slow-cooking cake!

Thanks for the tips.