I love cake decoratingbaking of the cakes not so much. They never turn out just right. When I use 2pans all is well but 3 pans I just cant get it right. They always take SO long to bake and end up with a hard crusty outside borderline burnt. How do I get them to bake evenly? Temp too high/low? I have a convection oven. Should I use the convection or not? I know they say there is no stupid questions but at this point I feel kinda stupid. I should be beyond this!

Use a flower nail in the middle. Use wet towels on the outside of the pans.

Lu

Also, bake at 325 not necessarily 350. I find that when I do all three of these things, my cakes turn out perfectly every time.

You are right. There are NO stupid questions!

I know opinion is divided on the convection oven issue--I have one, but turn off the convection option when baking cakes. Just bake on one rack at a time.

I almost always bake 3" cakes at 350 degrees. If you are having trouble with the outside getting hard before the inside is done, there are several options to try.

First, you can use an inverted flower nail that has been greased and place it in the center of your cake. You can also use a greased baking core for larger cakes, say 10" and up. Second, I see a lot of people prefer to bake the larger cakes at 325 degrees. Give that a shot. I think much of that just depends on your oven. Lastly, you can try the Magi-Cake strips that wrap around the pans. I haven't used them, so can't attest to their success myself, but lots of CCers swear by them.

All of these suggestions should help even out the temperature of your batter from the center out to the cake's edges.

Good luck, and don't give up!

If the edges are hard and crusty, I would do either the bake-even strips or wet towels like PP said. The flower nail will help the center bake at a rate closer to that of the edges too.

First - there is not such thing as a stupid baking question. Baking is all about timing and measurements. Get a scale and weight out dry ingredients. Preheat your oven, use a oven thermometer to make sure your at the right temp. Make sure that you don't over mix the batter and when the batter is ready put in oven ASAP.

Do you live in high altitude? If so, adjust the temp.

Hope this helps.

You are right. There are NO stupid questions!

I know opinion is divided on the convection oven issue--I have one, but turn off the convection option when baking cakes. Just bake on one rack at a time.

I almost always bake 3" cakes at 350 degrees. If you are having trouble with the outside getting hard before the inside is done, there are several options to try.

First, you can use an inverted flower nail that has been greased and place it in the center of your cake. You can also use a greased baking core for larger cakes, say 10" and up. Second, I see a lot of people prefer to bake the larger cakes at 325 degrees. Give that a shot. I think much of that just depends on your oven. Lastly, you can try the Magi-Cake strips that wrap around the pans. I haven't used them, so can't attest to their success myself, but lots of CCers swear by them.

All of these suggestions should help even out the temperature of your batter from the center out to the cake's edges.

Good luck, and don't give up!

I also agree with Dizzymaiden...I was going to suggest getting an oven thermometer to make sure you are baking at the temperature your oven reads.

I used to have the same problems with 3" pans. I use the nailhead technique mentioned and the bake-even strips to keep it from doming, but found to get it from getting hard and crusty on the outside, I had to reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees.

I also have a convection oven and do not use it for cakes.

Thank you all so much! I am going to try all you great tips. Hopefully I will have some better success. Again I just love CC and how willing you all are to help out

Thanks for asking the question. I baked cakes last night and am debating on rebaking today because the edges were crusty and brown. I'll use these tips. Thanks everyone!

Here's my experience.

I ALWAYS use convection on cakes 14" and less in diameter. Primarily because that's what will fit in my small oven.

I NEVER use a flower nail or heating core. Never have.

I NEVER use the bake even strips any more.

I ALWAYS load as many pans as I can get into the oven and bake on two racks in the convection. I only bake on one rack in the regular oven.

I NEVER use 3" pans. In fact I gave them away. They were awful.

I bake anywhere from 300-325. Usually 315-320, depending on my mood at the time. The larger the cake in diameter, the lower the temp.