Do You Cut The 'crust' Off Your Cakes?
Decorating By zespri Updated 4 Jan 2011 , 7:41pm by Claire138
Never. I collar my cakes, so the parchment holds the moisture on the sides of the cake while cooling.
Theresa 
when you say 'collar', do you mean you line the cake tin with paper, and leave it on while the cake cools?
Never. I collar my cakes, so the parchment holds the moisture on the sides of the cake while cooling.
Theresa
Yes, I line both the bottom and sides of my tins. For those have any questions on how to do this, there's a tutorial in the articles section of CC.
Theresa
I don't cut the darker part around the outside off of my cake. When you say crust that makes me think of hard edges, if you have hard edges it sounds like you are over baking your cake just to get the middle done, you may want to lower your oven temp and bake for a longer time.
Yes. After the cake is assembled and before icing I take a long beautiful cake knife my son got me and I 'shave' the brown stuff off the edges of the cake--Put the filled cake on my turntable, put a sheet pan next to the turntable under the cake--shave downward in narrow strips.
I take as much of the 'brown' off the cake as I can. It also helps the icing slide on well too--well worth the extra effort in my book.
I found that my cakes were only darker using Fat Daddio or Wilton pans. My cakes baked in Magic Line pans are barely "browned". I had only bought a few FD because my local store had started carrying them, but as soon as I did a side by side comparison I got rid of them & I'll stick with ML. (side note, store only has ML now). I don't trim anything off, only cutting I do is to level. And I parchment the bottoms, but not the sides of my pans too.
Yes, I line both the bottom and sides of my tins. For those have any questions on how to do this, there's a tutorial in the articles section of CC.
Theresa
Theresa,
do you feel using the parchment collar protects your sides from browning/crusting differently that the insulating protection bake-easy strips provide on the outside of the pan?
thanks!
Diane
Never have, never need too - just like playingwithsugar - i line all my tins bottom and sides.
It only takes 1 minute to line a tin - and for that ammount of time - no bits to carve away. 
Bluehue
Yes, I line both the bottom and sides of my tins. For those have any questions on how to do this, there's a tutorial in the articles section of CC.
Theresa
When you bake a white cake, the outside edge is not white like the center it is a darker color--that's what I am referencing in my previous post. I am not refering to over baking or anything like that. I think this is what the op means.
The word 'crust' is being used to describe the outside of the cake. It is not about the cake needing to be fixed due to crustiness--it's not crusty. It's about making a prettier picture when it's sliced and served on the plate.
All the cakes I bake have an outside edge that's a little different in color and texture to the inside of the cake and I would describe that color as brown (chocolate cake being the exception--it's often the same color)
So that in the sliced cake you only see the inside of the cake and the icing and fillings no brown at all.
edited for typos & (hopefully) clarity.
When you bake a white cake, the outside edge is not white like the center it is a darker color--that's what I am referencing in my previous post. I am not refering to over baking or anything like that. I think this is what the op means.
The word 'crust' is being used to describe the outside of the cake. It is not about the cake needing to be fixed due to crustiness--it's not crusty. It's about making a prettier picture when it's sliced and served on the plate.
All the cakes I bake have an outside edge that's a little different in color and texture to the inside of the cake and I would describe that color as brown (chocolate cake being the exception--it's often the same color)
So that in the sliced cake you only see the inside of the cake and the icing and fillings no brown at all.
edited for typos & (hopefully) clarity....
gottcha K8
Bluehue.
Yes, I line both the bottom and sides of my tins. For those have any questions on how to do this, there's a tutorial in the articles section of CC.
Theresa
Theresa,
do you feel using the parchment collar protects your sides from browning/crusting differently that the insulating protection bake-easy strips provide on the outside of the pan?
thanks!
Diane
I tried those strips a couple of times, but found that, for me, they didn't merit the extra expense, as I bake in a 3" deep pan and at a 325F for a longer time. They dried out before the cake was done, therefore providing no insulation at about 3/4 of the baking time.
I leave the parchment on the cake as it is cooling, and that keeps the moisture from escaping through those areas, keeping the sides and bottom from drying.
Theresa
Thanks folks, as always it's interesting reading what you all do. As k8 said, I'm not talking about an overcooked bread-like crust, it was just the best word I could come up with to describe the browning on the outside.
I already line my pans on both the bottom and sides, and still get darker sides. But I would think it would be highly unusual if a basic cake came out exactly the same on the edges as it does on the inside, ovens are designed to cook things from the outside inwards, so unless it was done in a microwave (which does the opposite) then every cake would have a slightly more cooked outer I think.
I'm going to give it a try next time, thanks for the instructions k8!
I've seen people use a fine grater to take the outside browning away. I haven't had the need, but I think that's what I would do. I don't trust myself with a knife for that yet.
I've seen people use a fine grater to take the outside browning away. I haven't had the need, but I think that's what I would do. I don't trust myself with a knife for that yet.
That's brilliant, I'll try that next time!
Thanks for the idea
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