i'll be using a 12x2 round for the bottom tier, and i was wondering if i could use an empty can as a substitute for a heating core. if i'm able to, do i leave the bottom of the can on or should i remove both ends?

to make the cake more even, i plan on baking at 325 but i'm not sure how long i should bake it for. on Wilton's site, it says it'll take 35-40mins at 350 so would adding an extra 10mins to the baking time be appropriate?

the 2nd tier of the cake will only be 6" round, so would i have to use dowels for support? if i do, would using straws (since they're easier to cut) be sufficient?

lastly, i've been having issues when making MMF. even though i sift the powdered sugar, i'm still getting lots of little hard clumps of sugar throughout. are there any tricks or methods to prevent this?

thank you all in advanced!

First welcome to CC, you'll find a wealth of information here.

If you use a soup can, yes you'll want to remove both ends so you have a cylinder. Or you can use the metal flower nails instead as heating cores. Just place them flat side down in the pan (so the "nail" is sticking up) and grease well before pouring your batter in the pan. When you flip the cake out of the pan you can pull the nails out easily, and you'll have little holes in your cake instead of piecing together from the soup can.

You should bake the cake until it test done. Use the time on the wilton chart as a starting point and then keep checking to see if it's done.

If your first "tier" is really only 2" tall then you don't have to have a board and dowels under your 6", except for ease of serving (if your 6" is only going to be 2" tall too, if your 6" will be 4" tall then use the dowels and board). The rule of thumb is to use board and dowels every 4" of vertical cake you have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vip0802

lastly, i've been having issues when making MMF. even though i sift the powdered sugar, i'm still getting lots of little hard clumps of sugar throughout. are there any tricks or methods to prevent this?

thank you all in advanced!

Sorry can't help with the MMF issue, but i do know that i've seen this discussed in the forums before, you may wan tto do a search .

I had the same problems with my MMF. I made a batch this weekend that also had the powdered sugar lumps. I just kept kneading, seperating it into small portions and kneading some more. The bumps finally got worked out after about 15 minutes and now it's smooth. HTH

leily - thank you for all the info...it'll definitely help me. as far as using a flower nail, the only one i have is plastic but i should just pick up a metal one anyway.

Shumab02 - thank you! i hadn't thought about breaking it up in smaller portions before. the last time i made MMF, i used my KitchenAid mixer with the kneading hook which eliminated a lot of the lumps, but i still had some. this time around, i'll definitely hand knead it afterwards.