Ive been dying to get some baking strips so i get a level cake top, but ive been unable to get hold of them.
I have a cake due on the weekend 10" square white choc. mud cake.
I was woundering if it is possible to make your own strips and if so how?
I was thinking i might be able to cut up an old towel and wet it and pin it to the sides of the pan but im not sure how this will go in the oven?

Sure! I have used cut strips of terrycloth towels in place of the Bake Even Strips.

i use wet towels all the time when i bake, no, the towels did not get burned, if that is your concern.
however, i've only baked at 325, so i'm not sure if they'll get burned if the temp is higher.

Thanks All... The mud cakes i bake are baked at very low temps so i think it should be fine if i give it a go!

I use towels too but do find that I need to bake the cake a little longer!

agree with banba, i normally add 15-20 more minutes to the specified baking time when following recipes, depending on how much the batter is or how big the pan is.

Hi -
I too use strips of towels and it works wonderfully!!
i bake at 350 F
or 180 C
So far no towel burning etc!!
Also find it needs a bit longer baking time!! But thats fine, for the flatter tops - lol

im new and maybe this was discussed a million times before so pardon but....what is a baking strip and how does it level a cake?

A baking strip is a strip of cloth that you soak on cold water and then pin around the outside of the cake pan. The wet baking strip slows down the transfer of heat into the cake pan, thus allowing the batter to bake more evenly. This slower baking produces a flatter top on our cakes, which results in less waste. As discussed here, you can make your own using cut strips of terrycloth towels, or you can buy sets of them. Wilton sells them and calls them Bake Even Strips, which you can find at crafts stores such as Michael's and Hobby Lobby. CK Products also sells them, as does Ateco.

thanks a lot!

I've used the towel baking strip method for a while now. I saw it done on a YouTube video and it works beautifully. No fires or scorched terrycloth yet!

This is great guys... Im so glad there are a few people that have tried and use hamemade ones, i think its straight to the linen cupboard for me!

ive made them using an old ironing board cover, the fabric was very similar to the bakeeven strips.