Tonja, I always bake my cakes at 325 and use a flower nail in the center. The only time I have ever had a cake crack is when I baked it to long. Be sure and take them out as soon as they are done and not a minute longer. HTH's and sorry you are having this problem.
IMN~ yes in the cake mix... my wilton instructor told me about it. it makes the cakes rise really high. I have always done it and get many comments on my really tall cakes. Pidge... overmixing? I will watch that.. that could be a possibility...however, i baked two 6 in and 2 8 in....only the 8 in ones cracked????
IMN~ yes in the cake mix... my wilton instructor told me about it. it makes the cakes rise really high. I have always done it and get many comments on my really tall cakes. Pidge... overmixing? I will watch that.. that could be a possibility...however, i baked two 6 in and 2 8 in....only the 8 in ones cracked????
I've never heard of MP in the cake itself, either. How much are you putting in? 1T to a mix? If you are getting taller cakes from MP, this would be a neat trick when torting!!
It's not the meringue powder I have been adding it to my cake mixes for over 5 years and never had any problems. Just recently started adding the extra egg. I'm thinking it is the placement in the oven or the temperature.. I too use a flowernail evenin my 8" layers and bake at 325. Cakes should be centered for even baking and you realy shouldn't overload the racks. I always like to leave at least two inches between the pans if more than one is going to be baking at once.
This is a great link I refer to when I've got a problem.
[url]http://www.baking911.com/cakes/problems.htm#WHAT
I lowered the temp to 325 this time..
GI~ I add about 1T per cake mix.
I have not used a flower nail on 8 in cakes, I think I will try that next time... i did not mention that I always use the 3 in pans instead of the 2 in. My cakes are generally always very moist, so i just don't know... Thanks everyone for the tips. Anyone else, please feel free to chime in...If I am doing something wrong, I certainly won't be offended... My daughter is getting married on the 28th of this month and I got suckered in to making the cake!! LOL...
Laura~ Thanks for the link... I will go there now and check it out!!
When you mentioned that you are using 3" instead of 2" I thought of something. It won't help any, but I figure I'll mention it. My friend that owns a cake shop bakes in 3" pans (except for weddings), then splits and fills the cake - as opposed to baking two 2" cakes and putting the filling on one, then the other on top.
EVERY 3" cake she bakes splits at the top. The 2" ones don't. I think you would probably have to bake it at 225 instead of 325 to prevent it from splitting! There is just so much more batter in the pan it has to go up, but since baking sort of 'sets' it, when it gets as high as it's gonna go, it splits.
Don't know if that made sense, but when you said you use 3" pans, it made me think.
When you mentioned that you are using 3" instead of 2" I thought of something. It won't help any, but I figure I'll mention it. My friend that owns a cake shop bakes in 3" pans (except for weddings), then splits and fills the cake - as opposed to baking two 2" cakes and putting the filling on one, then the other on top.
EVERY 3" cake she bakes splits at the top. The 2" ones don't. I think you would probably have to bake it at 225 instead of 325 to prevent it from splitting! There is just so much more batter in the pan it has to go up, but since baking sort of 'sets' it, when it gets as high as it's gonna go, it splits.
Don't know if that made sense, but when you said you use 3" pans, it made me think.
I work at a shop and all our pans are 3 inches...They never break at the top..there must be something wrong in the baking...have you checked the temperature of your oven to be accurate?
My oven is less than a year old... so I haven't checked the temperature... I may need to do that. I think I am going to try the flower nail and wrapping the pan with the wraps. THanks to everyone for their input... I hope some of these things will help!!!
I have no idea how much you cook meats in your oven..but the grease creates a film on the side of the oven that might give variations on the cooking temperature...I am not saying this might be the reason your cake is cracking but is a good thing to check...if it is new it might have a self cleaner in it...those are really good! 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%