I have completely had it with crowns on my cakes. Can anyone help me? I do everything as told to do on the recipies, and they always have a crown in the middle. I use all kinds of pans, and the bake even strips don't always work. Does anyone have any other secrets they can share? I'm at my wits end with these humps in the middle of my cakes!!! 
Thanks for the help!!
have you tried using an upside down flower nail in the middle? Make sure you spray it 1st with your nonstick.. it works as a heating core!
all i do when i get a hump on my cake is put the cake board on top and put something heavy on top to push the hump down after about 10 min. in the pan i turn the over with the board and take the pan off just to make sure the cake doesn't stuck in the pan and then i just put the pan back on so the the cake don't dry out while i'm makeing the icing. and it comes out flat for me.... try that and let us know how it worked out for you..
Happy Easter..
shaddi
I noticed that no one mentioned the one thing that will prevent 'crowns'. Just reduce your oven temperature. If the baking temperature is 350, drop it to 325. If you're using a convection oven, then drop it to 300.
I do not grease the sides of pans, but always line the bottom of every pan with parchment. You will find that your cakes will rise higher and even. No need for bake even strips either. By baking slower, the entire cake rises at the same rate of speed. If it bakes a bit above the pan top, I also cover it with a piece of parchment and pile on 2-3 commercial cookie sheets.
I haven't had to level a cake in years using this method.
I use damp towel strips instead of bake even strips and it always works fine...the only time I level is if I put too much batter...otherwise bakes pretty even for me!
I don't like lowering the temp too much, I feel it dries out the cake, but that's just MHO.
Thank you everyone. I will try these other suggestions. I am glad that some of you have figured out these things I am still trying to. I have learned lots since joining CC. I will try several of these methods on cakes due withing the next 2 weeks. Will let you all know how things work. Again Thanks!!!! 
Hate to steal the thread, but I have just the opposite problem. Intead of getting crowns, my cake sags in the middle. Then when I stack and fill, I have a ton of filling in the center and need hardly any on the outer edges. What is up with that and how can it be fixed?
Hate to steal the thread, but I have just the opposite problem. Intead of getting crowns, my cake sags in the middle. Then when I stack and fill, I have a ton of filling in the center and need hardly any on the outer edges. What is up with that and how can it be fixed?
What size cakes are you having this problem with? If they're larger, try using a flower nail in the center. You also may be filling your pans too much. Or, you may need to crank up the heat. You may want to start your cakes at 350 degrees for the first half of the baking, then decrease the heat to 325.
In any event, if your cakes are not level, trim them so they are level. If you don't want to trim them all the way to the level of where it sunk, just trim off a little, then use the trimmings to fill in the hole in the middle.
I used two 9" cake pans with flower nails. I used the Enchanted cake recipe on CC, so I know that it is not the recipe. You might be right that I am filling the cake pans too full. And the temperature may also be a problem. We just moved into a new house and my new stove is electric. I use to have gas. Cranking up the heat might be the answer.
Since you are so helpful maybe you can give me advise on this problem....when my cakes are done in the oven, I immedaitely take them out of the pans and wrap in plastic wrap to cool. Instead of geting nice level sides, that are perpendicular to the counter, my cake take on a trapazoid shape where the sides have an angle. What is wrong?
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