So I am making my son a birthday cake, his party is this Saturday, now I am planning on doing a 1/4 to a 1/2 sheet cake not sure which size yet, then on top I am going to use the Wilton Soccer Ball pan to make a half soccer ball. Now I wanted to test out the Soccer Ball pan to see how long it would take to make the cake and just to make sure things went smoothly. So last night I went ahead and made a cake, I used a regular box cake mix,(when I make cakes from scratch they turn out extremely heavy feeling and have a taste of baking powder,soda or flour) anyways I followed the cake box directions to a T. Well 20 minutes later the top of the cake was dark brown not burnt but dark and crispy, and 2 hours later the cake was done. Well when I cut off that dark brown part I noticed that the center of the cake looked "gummy", it was done but seemed very off, it also seems heavy. It has a good taste but I am not liking the texture at all. What went wrong? Should I cook it at a lower temp. ( I baked this one at 350). But if I do that won't it take even longer to make. Please any suggestions on how to make this cake turn out right, his party is Saturday and I plan to make the soccer ball part tomorrow, especially since it takes hours to bake. Thank you everyone in advance!!!

My suggestion is to cook the ball cake on 325, move the rack in the oven down one and use a metal flower nail to convey the heat to the middle of the cake. I don't know how long it will take to bake but you can look at it after about 30 min and see how it doing. By doing all of this it will help you get the cake done and not have a gooey inside and burnt top.
Good luck !

I've done many ball cakes, and mine usually take about an hour....... and they are not "brown".... I think you need to check your oven, and see if the temp. is correct......You can get an oven thermometer at any kitchen store or even Walmart or K-Mart....... OH ! And that decorator nail is a MUST with me.....

I've also made the cake ball many times and mine never takes two hours. I start checking after 35 min or so. I never tried the flower nail in the ball - I didnt know it would work when its not in a flat pan but i will def try. Thanks for the idea. I generally fill my pan 3/4 or so and then level it before I turn it out onto a cooling rack.

Thanks everyone for the help, I will do another test cake tonight using the flower nail, I think my oven might be going bad also now that yall mention it. The light never goes off when it is at the temperature that I set it on so thanks everyone. I will try again and let you know how it worked out.