i have a friend who needs to bake 12 inch cakes, she does not have the cake plug to put in the middle. i have heard of putting in the metal flower nailheads. she has several of these. does anyone do this, how many should i tell her to put in and do you drease them etc. thanks, hammer1

I use flower nails all the time. I put one in a 12" pan or two in a larger pan. If you are using a 16" or larger, you can put three. I grease the nail the same way I do the pan - crisco, nonstick spray, whatever I am using. I almost always put parchment paper in my pans, so I stick the nail through the paper when I am putting it down. It leaves a tiny hole in the cake and no one ever knows.

I have baked many, many 12" cakes w/o using anything. They will bake up just fine if the temp is lowered to no more than 325 degrees F. It will take a few minutes longer, but will be a much better cake - moist & tender

I use a large nail and I wouldnt bake a cake without it. I thought I had lost it last week, thought I was going to have a heart attack. I looked for it for an hour and it was right where I left it. in the dish rack next to the sink.

Here's a photo tutorial on how to do the flower nail method:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-612603.html

HTH!

thanks for the tutorial ...i was a little busy in December and didn't catch that post on Dec. 15th. hate repeating stuff, but wow there is so much stuff that is helpful on this site...noone could actually read everything, we'll not unless you spent every waking hour here. happy baking.
hammer1

I use both the nail and the bake even strips. I would probably use two nails in a 12" cake. I find that works for me.

can't wait to try this!

I'm just a hobbyist here . . . haven't made very many cakes. This technique sounds very interesting. Can anyone tell me, at what size cake do you use the flower nail(s)?

I use the nail for anything larger than a 9 inch. It doesn't hurt anything to use it. I just make sure to grease the nail really well.

Stephanie