I love my white cake recipe, but when I make it in the half sheet size the top of it gets gummy even though the rest of the cake is done. It tastes fine, but there is that one part that tastes kinda fudgy. I am wondering if using Bake Even strips would help. Anyone had any experience with this?

ADo you use the heating core in the middle of the pan?

I do not currently have one.

It sounds as if it is not baking in the center.  It might help to lower the oven temperature (I use 310 - 315 F convection for larger cakes),  use bake even strips around the outside of the pans to slow the cooking at the edges so they don't overcook by the time the center is cooked, and use heat cores.  This will increase the heat to the center of the cake and also promote more even baking.  I used to use the metal flower nails, with the base under the parchment, and the nail poking up through the parchment.  For a half sheet I would use 2.  The flower nails work, but they are not perfectly flat on the bottom, and tend to rust over time.  Ateco makes heat core nails that are perfectly flat and don't rust.  A few dollars for a pack of 4.  I highly recommend those.  It will also take longer to bake a larger cake of course, so just leave it in until the center is cooked.  Also, if possible, make several thinner layers rather than one thick layer to speed up the baking.  HTH

Thank you. I purchased some bake even strips this morning. I am planning to go out tomorrow for the heat core. I baked these at 325 for at least an hour. The toothpick test said they were done. I will try the strips and the core tomorrow when I have to bake my next cake. Thanks again!

Ok, I baked my cake using the heating core and trying to use the bake even strips. I had trouble with the bake even strips because they didn't want to stay up around the pan. The cake still turned out kinda gummy on the top, but the toothpick test says it's done. Any other ideas?

Just finished baking a 10" round cake and I used the bake even strips. It took a lot longer than I expected, but the top of the cake is still a bit gummy. Maybe I need to change my recipe?

AHave you had this problem before with smaller cakes? Or just recently? Maybe your oven isn't keeping an even temperature.

I am having the problem with just this recipe. My chocolate, red velvet, etc cakes all turn out just fine. I have narrowed it down to my white cake recipe. I have tried adapting it, but I think I just need to scrap it and start over. So does anyone have a good white cake recipe?

AI typically get the gumminess with WASC after it cools and is stored. Now I just scrape it off with bench scraper .

If it's just the very top of the cake in the middle of the top, try reducing the sugar just a little bit. I reduce the sugar when I make WASC and no more gummy tops.

I also use the WASC and always get sticky gooey tops.  I just have to trim it off.

ACheatize thanks for the tip!

Someone posted a reply with a white cake recipe that I wanted to try, but now it's gone. I wish I had copied it down.