How do I use a flowernail in place of a heating core? I have to do a large cake and I don't have a heating core. None of the stores here in town carry them. What do I do?

I've used flower nails many times in my larger cakes. Place the flower nail flat-side down in the center of your cake pan. Then I spray the bottom and sides of the pan, as well as the flower nail, with baking spray that has flour in it. Then pour in the batter into the cake pan and bake as usual. For 14" and larger cake pans I use two flower nails just to be safe.

When the cake comes out of the oven I let it cool on a wire rack for several minutes, then flip it out onto the rack. When the pan is removed, you'll see the flat side of the flower nail in the top of the cake. You can slip a knife under it and it comes out very easily. It leaves a slight indention in the top of the cake, but it's covered up with the icing. This method has always worked for me.

Hope this helps!

How large is the cake you are wanting to bake?
For years I have bakes cakes up to 16" round w/o any heat core of any kind......
It doesn't hurt to use a flower nail, but I don't see where it is necessary.

In my oven, the flower nail/heating core helps the cakes bake more level.

I find using a flower nail helps my cake bake level without the hump and it also helps it bake faster. I line the bottom of my pans with parchment paper and put the nail on the bottom of the pan first then put the parchment down (pokes a hole in the parchment). Easy clean up of the flower nail.

HTH

Thak you all for the great advice. I'm doing a wedding cake that has 6", 10", 14", and 18" rounds. I've never done anything larger than the 10". I can't wait to try this method. And saving $8 doesn't hurt either.

Here's a visual tutorial about using the flower nail:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-612603.html

Hope you find it helpful

Thanks for the info on the use of the flower nail...would have never thought about that.

Kakeladi....do you agree that baking a large cake longer in the oven at a lower temperature helps cook the cake evenly, thus the need for a heating core is eliminated?

I've done 12" cakes without a heating core and i believe it's because of the lower temp, longer bake time and never had a problem. now, i've yet to do a 14 or 16, but i think they wouldn't need it either.

I'm using a half round for the 18" cake. It wouldn't fit in my oven either if it were full size.

........Kakeladi....do you agree that baking a large cake longer in the oven at a lower temperature helps cook the cake evenly, thus the need for a heating core is eliminated? .........

Definately For those bigger cakes I usually bake at 300 to 325 degrees F.; I don't remember now how long but I think around 1 hr, maybe up to 1 1/2 hrs. After one hr if it;'s not done I turn the temp up but not over 325.

I tried this for the first time 2 days ago. My cake was beautifully level but it broke (almost) into 2 pieces. It split across the middle, from the edge to the center as soon as I removed it from the pan and broke almost to the other edge when I moved it from the cooling rack to the cake board. I have NEVER had a cake break like this. I was afraid it might be something I did. The ONLY thing I did different was the flower nail. Should I have waited for the cake to cool completely before removing it?