I am new to this site, so this may have been answered a thousand times, but did I read somewhere to bake with a flower nail upside down instead of using core? I have to bake a 16" round for bottom tier of stacked wedding cake, my first!! Is this what you did? Place in bottom then pour batter? Any help would be appreciated????

Here's a thread that might help answer that question: http://forum.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=5593213#5593213

I use flower nails all the time in baking larger cakes. Sometimes I will even use 2 depending on how big it is. They work great and you don't have to "patch" the cake like you do with a core.

Yes, that's exactly what you do. Don't forget to coat the nail with cake release or whatever non-stick coating you use to prepare your pan.

Yes, I would definately use flower nails for that size cake. I actually use probably 3 or 4 flower nails for a 16". Just grease and flower them very well, like you do for the pan, then sit them flat side down in various places around the pan. Pour the batter and bake. They help to bake more evenly, and they even reduce the dome when baking and make the top more even. After you flip the cake out onto a rack, just pop out the flower nails. There's barely a hole left. Good luck!!! I use them all the time!

Brianna

I use flower nails in my large pans all the time to help with more even baking. Depending on the size of the pan, I put 1 to 3 nails in the bottom (in a triangle shape with 3 nails in the very large pans) to help with distributing the heat.

Works great and no need to buy one of the cone cores.

When you turn your cake out, the nail comes out easily, but I do use cake release on my pans and also brush some on the flower nail itself. Makes it easier.

For a 16" pan I'd use probably 3 nails, spaced out in the bottom. You can put the nail in first or add it after the batter is poured, just push to the bottom of the pan. If you put the nails in first, they will move a bit with the batter, just slide them to where you want them to be.

I was wondering about this myself....now my question is will the bake evenly strips work just as well?

I use both the flower nail and the bake even strips when dealing with larger pans 14" and up. I usually just use the flower nail anything smaller.

I am curious about the bake even strips, too.

However, now that I've read about the nails reducing the dome... I used the nail for the first time yesterday and my cakes didn't have much a dome. I thought it was the recipe (it was my first WASC cake) but perhaps it was the nail!

Glad I found this thread, it hadn't even dawned on me to use more than one nail.

Lastly, you may have seen my question earlier today, but my nail left a gray spot in the cake. Anyone have a clue why? I used yogurt instead of SC in the cake, I wonder if was acid reaction

Thanks for getting back to me so soon! Loved the thread to all the information too. So much to read and learn from this site. I think I will try using two flower nails since the 16" is so large. Well I guess I am going to do a lot of prep work on baking this cake, preparing icing, fondant etc ahead of time so day after baking & refrid., I will ice and be ready to transport on Sat. (20th). Any last minute advice will be appreciated????

Thanks so much for your impute... I will be making my first 16" square next week....and I will be using both my strips and flower nail.

Jealena: The only thing I think of to add to your preparation is just make sure your fondant doesn't dry out. Unless you are making flowers with it..... GL

I just made a 10 inch cake and I used the flower nail. IT WORKS GREAT! I would probly use 2 for that size. Good luck!

I finally started reading the thread "Okay EVERYBODY, answer this question!" ...32 pages long (I'm on page 6).
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=41755&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

Anyway, just wanted to pass on what I learned to do for moist, flat cakes. I'm doing it all next week!
- Use flower nails for level and even baking.
- Smash the top of the cake right after it comes out of the oven.
- Wrap while still warm.

What about baking in the convection oven, does anyone recommend or stick to standard baking at 325 and add 10 minutes or so? Thanks again for the input this is such a GREAT HELP!!!! I have been researching baking this cake for a month now. One more question, how long should I wait before attaching pearls to fondant after fondant is on cake? Do I need to let it dry first???