I baked a 15 by 13 cake. The edges were crusty. What did I do wrong

did you grease the pan with butter???? Butter makes things brown more quickly.....also, I've heard wrapping a wet kitchen towel around the pan will help it bake more evenly and keep the sides from getting crusty. Works like the bake even strips. Did you use a flower nail or something in the middle of that cake??? If not, maybe it's just because you cooked it too long allowing for the middle to get done.......if you use a flower nail inverted in the center of the cake it will draw heat to the center, helping it to bake more evenly and quicker as well...which in turn means your edges don't have a chance to get crusty. Hope something in all this mess helps LOL

Did you use any type of heating core? On a cake that large I usually put a rose nail in the middle (upside down) so the cake cooks evenly without the edges getting cursting before the middle is done. Just grease the nail and put it in the middle of the pan then pour your batter in and bake. Hope this helps.

Did you use a heating core? On cakes that size, if you don't use a heating core, the edges cook longer than necessary to make sure the middle is cooked. Wilton sells a heating core or you can use a flower nail (insert either in the middle of the cake for baking). Also, I get crusty edges using a few recipes even on the smaller cakes. It could be your recipe also.
Hope this helps.

Wow. Do yall mean the rose nails that you use to put your rose on? I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS.!!!!
Ok, so next time, when I make a cake this big, I will insert a simple rose nail, the flat side down in the middle of the batter, and continue to use my wet belt thingies, and bake the cake.

Thanks you guys!!

I also find that Pam will make the edges crusty.

You've gotten some good advice....if you try all the above and still have crusty cake edges, try covering your cake with foil or plastic wrap after baking. I let my cakes cool only about 10 minutes, then cover to trap in the steam & moisture. Allow cake to cool completely and you'll find your cakes are much more moist with no crusty hard edges!

Dear Beachcakes,
You hit the nail on the head. I use Pam. It was a chocolate cake, and I did not want any flour on the sides.

Yall tell me, Should I not use Pam in the future?

hmmm....I use Pam all the time and never get crusty edges. But I've never baked a cake that big.

tazneen, I don't know how to help w/ the flour thing. It happens to me too. However, what I usually do is put parchment down and only grease/flour the sides. I've also used Bakers Joy - it didn't get as crusty as Pam, but still had the flour thing... Some here have recommneded Crisco w/ flour but I haven't tried it.

Tazneen,
I've had all the same issues you mentioned when I baked my 11X15 and I used 3 cake mixes, 3 boxes of instant pudding, 12 eggs, 4 cups of milk and 3 sticks of butter. I also used 3 flower nails spread out AND the baking strips. Oven was set to 325 degrees and baked for 65 minutes, I checked it at 50 minutes and the center still jiggled, so I baked it a little longer figuring that if my sides were too dry that I would just shave them off. Well, they were a little dry so I ended up shaving a little off, not a good thing as my cake was chocolate too and the crumbs were endless. I will try the idea of sealing off the cake to keep it moist though, sounds like a great idea. Best of luck to you.