Baking A 12" Square Cake

Decorating By e_dodson Updated 17 Jun 2007 , 10:25pm by miriel

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e_dodson Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 10:24am
post #1 of 11

Hi everyone,

I made my first attempt at baking a 12" square cake last night and it went a little wrong.

The recipe (chocolate cake) said to bake for an hour at 180'C, but I put it in at 160'C because the recipe was for a 6" round cake.

The edges were crunchy and the middle undercooked (I realised this after it started to cool, so stuck it back in a slow oven to try and cook it a little more).

Any suggestions for how to do it better next time?

Thanks,
Emma

10 replies
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shelbur10 Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 12:59pm
post #2 of 11

Did you use a heating core or flower nail? For anything 10" or bigger, I put a greased flower nail upside down in the middle of the pan to help distribute heat. Using bake even strips will also help slow down the cooking on the edges.

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jmarks Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 1:02pm
post #3 of 11

Wow, does the flower nail trick work good?

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shelbur10 Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 1:11pm
post #4 of 11

Yep! I use a flower nail for all my 10" and 12" cakes (those are the biggest I've made so far...)
I'll also use it anytime my cake is going to be taller than normal, like baking in a pyrex bowl or a can.

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Michele25 Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 3:45pm
post #5 of 11

I always use the bake even strips around the pan and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit (sorry, don't know the conversion off the top of my head for Celsius) If the pan is especially deep (my square pans are 3" deep instead of 2") I also use 1 or 2 greased and floured flower nails.

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rcs Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 5:03pm
post #6 of 11

I just made 2-12" square cakes! I needed a large sheet cake. Anyway, I put a flower nail in the middle of mine while baking at 325 degrees F (sorry, don't know what that is in celsius) and they came out great. The middle was cooked, the outsides weren't too crusty (I used the WASC cake recipe). The only leveling I ended up doing was to get the 2 cakes the same exact height since they were put side by side to form one big cake. I've never tried the bake even strips.

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miriel Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 5:17pm
post #7 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michele25

I always use the bake even strips around the pan and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit (sorry, don't know the conversion off the top of my head for Celsius) If the pan is especially deep (my are 3" deep instead of 2") I also use 1 or 2 greased and floured flower nails.




I do these as well, bake even strips, bake at 325 with flower nails for 10" or bigger pans - really helps bake cakes evenly

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e_dodson Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 10:05pm
post #8 of 11

Sorry if this sounds silly, but what is a flower nail and how does it work?

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miriel Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 10:08pm
post #9 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by e_dodson

Sorry if this sounds silly, but what is a flower nail and how does it work?




Here is how it looks: http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=1&productId=1420

It is used to make flowers but can also be used as a heating element on big cakes. As it is metal, it conducts heat so when placed in the center of big cakes, this allows for more even baking.

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e_dodson Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 10:17pm
post #10 of 11

So a normal nail will do the same thing?

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miriel Posted 17 Jun 2007 , 10:25pm
post #11 of 11

If by normal nail you mean a construction nail, I wouldn't use it as it is not food safe and will not have a head to stand on when cake batter is poured.

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