I cannot get a 2 high cake!!


Hi Cakers!

For the life of me I cannot get a 2 high cake!! I baked 10 round cakes this weekend. Two cake pans. Magic line brand. I made THREE cake mixes to make sure that I would have enough. I filled the pans until there was only about ½ of space left to rise.

My cake always rises nicely, but the top of the cake bakes on the lip of the pan. I always have to cut this lip off the cakes. Between both cakes it is about ½ of cake that is discarded. When I fill the cakes and place together they are always 3 ½ high.

What am I doing wrong? I would love to have 4 of cake. (Two 2 layers).
I took a picture to show what I am trying to describe. But, CC deleted the cake and stated that I cannot post that kind of undecorated cake??!

I bake at 325 degrees.

Thank you!

Michael

I'd love to see an answer to this as well! I use the same pans and use the push down method so they're level with the pan after baking, but I have the same issue.. Suggestions?

Karen

Whats the Push Down Method? Just push the domed cake down???

If your filling your pans half full try filling them 2/3 full. I also fing that using the bake even strips or the flower nail method that my cakes bake up to a full 2" layer and the tops are level.

This is probably a dumb question, but if your cakes are baking onto the lip of the pan, I'm assuming they're coming out a little higher than your pan. Are you sure your pans measure 2"? Or is the problem that your cakes are deflating somewhat after you take them out of the oven? I never get 2" layers, but after filling, crumbcoating and icing or covering with fondant, my tiers do measure 4".

Hmm, not really sure. In use magic line pans too and the cakes always rise straight up instead of a dome.

I use flower nails, and bake at 335.

I had the same problem and it irked me to no end. Now I bake 2" layers in 3" pans. It's the only that will work for me.

I usually think the goal is to bake as even a cake I can, with flower nails, etc... However, I know someone who cuts parchment strips that are 3" high and puts them around the edge of the pan to give the cake something to stick to as it rises. You might try that.

I usually bake from scratch, but I have heard that box mixes shrink a lot more than scratch cakes as they cool.

You can always torte the layers and put three layers of filling (four layers of cake)...that usually adds some height.

I have the same prob... I just started baking another cake. What is the flowernail method????

I always torte and fill 3 layers, maybe that's why I get 4".

The flower nail method is to just put a flower nail upside down in the bottom of your pan. It helps conduct the heat more evenly, and results in a smaller dome.

I always line with parchment and poke the nail through it, so it's sitting against the bottom of the pan.

Do all of your recipes do this or only the chocolate?

I was going to suggest that you try a different recipe and see what happens.

How's your baking powder? Is it close to expiring?

I have always done two cake pans lined with parchment paper and bake even strips or upside down flower nail on larger pans. I still wasted so much so I just recently started doing three pans not quite as full as the two. I love the three layers of cake and two layers of filling! No excess cake (didn't have to trim because they baked even) and the cake came out exactly 4" after iced but before fondant. HTH

I always use 3" pans so the cake has room to "grow" I bake 2 layers and have absolutely no problem getting a 4" cake.

Thank you for the tip on how to post the picture.

Here it is folks. Can you please give it a look now, and tell me what you think??

I have the same problem and I use 2" ML pans.

I think with you, what's happening is the cake rises and expands as it bakes, but it will overflow the lip of the pan if it has nothing to lean up against.

I haven't tried this yet, but it was recommended to me that I use a parchment collar around the inside of the pan to allow the cake to rise a bit higher. That means the cake can get above 2" so it will level ok.

I'm kind of wishing I bought 3" pans now.

This thread has been very useful. Thanks to everyone who posted. I'm going to try both the parchment collar and the three-layer method to see if I can't get higher tiers, too.

I just don't understand why you are having a problem getting two inches. I use only 2 inch pans and I frequently end up having cakes too high. In the cake you photographed, when you cut the lip away it's lower than the pan edge? That is a LOT of shrinkage. I'm not sure what brand of cake mix you are using, but I would try a different brand.

As I said before, I usually bake from scratch, but I have used mixes successfully in the past. How long are you leaving the cakes in the pans to cool before you remove them?

ShandraB, how does the amount of time they stay in the pans after they come out of the oven affect the height of the layers? I ask because, although I love to bake, I know very little about the mechanics of baking. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I use ML pans, bake with doctored cake mixes (DH) at 325, and use flower nails AND my own homemade bake-even strips to get mine to rise high enough. For the bake-even strips, I just cut towels into 2" wide strips. I wet them, then wring them out well before pinning around my cake pans. Works like a charm! I always have excess cake on top, so getting a 2" high layer isn't a problem any more. HTH!

I use to have these problems and here are the things that helped me:

I started using a flower nail in the middle of the cake. They bake up even and i don't waste cake with a dome. With this method i don't usually have to trim anything off my cakes.

I do scratch not cake mix but the cake mix you are using may actually have too much baking powder in it. My cakes were baking up high and then shrinking in on the sides and shorter after cooling. I went from 4 teaspoons baking powder to 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. This helped alot.

Recipes like strawberry for example were i was adding purried (sp?) strawberries shrink more so I just plan to bake 3 layers for those.

Try baking at a lower temp. I bake at 325-330 for most of my recipes. They bake up even and hold their hight better in my opinion.

And this one may seem crazy but try filling your pans a little less. I fill mine 1/2 full for chocolate and about 3/5 full for vanilla. I think the extra un-supported cake on the top is causing the cake to shrink some as it cools.


If all else fells torte and fill each individual layer to add more height.

HTH!

I hope this isn't a dumb question, but when you "cut off the lip" are you cutting horizontally or vertically?

10 minutes of cooling seems very reasonable to me, I was just wondering if the lip of the pan would prevent the cake from shrinking so much, but apparently not. Shrinking as well as sinking usually results from a lack of structure. If you were baking from scratch, you would need to play with the formula.

I would try baking at a lower temp, around 325 and use a collar. If you move to 3" pans, that can also alter how things bake. Usually is causes you to have to bake even longer to get a 2" cake, plus the added expense of the pans.

This may seem a little obvious, but are you cutting under the lip and across when you level, or do you cut the lip off perpendicularly and then level?

[quote="Mikel79"][quote="leah_s"]I hope this isn't a dumb question, but when you "cut off the lip" are you cutting horizontally or vertically?[/quote]

I use my Agbay and slice through it Horiz.

Michael[/quote]

that may be the problem.
turn the cake out onto the counter. Cut off the lip vertically with a knife. It doesn't have to be a particularly even cut. Then flip your cake back over (bottom side on counter), set your Agbay to 2" and cut horizontally.