After my third 14" cake came out of the oven with a posture problem, I finally figured out that it wasn't the pan itself, nor was it the rack inside...it's my stupid 100 year old house that doesn't have an even floor or right angle from it's cramped basment to it's leaky roof.
Arg.
Normally, I wouldn't notice it. I have to level cakes anyway to remove that dome thing that all cakes have when they come out of the oven.
But this time, I employed baking strips (long pieces of linen soaked in cool water and wrapped around the outside of my pan) to avoid the dome. This technique is amazing - it delivers a beautifully flat, ready to go cake every single time. That saves me from trimming - which also saves me from eating the part I trim off - and it makes sure all the batter turns into decoratable cake.
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| Oh so flat on top, oh so slightly uneven. |
Love the technique.
And now that my oven has been propped up by a couple of quarters in the front, I expect to see perfectly poised cakes from here on out!
But I gotta say...it's times like this that get me CRAZY for a level floor and a professional oven in my own, honest-to-goodness bakery.
tell me more about this soaked linen technique! would that work on my ordinary 8" cake pans? i hate trimming! is it just plain old linen i would get at a fabric store, just in cool water, just wrapped around the pan? it sounds just too easy!
ReplyDeleteYes it is! Old dish towels will work too. Anything you can fully saturate and pin into place. Wilton sells them in most craft stores, but it's silly to buy them when you can make use of the rag bag. You can pin any size towel to fit any size pan...just make sure the pins don't have a plastic head!
ReplyDeletethanks, amy! i've seen the wilton strips before, but never wanted to spend the $. i make cakes a lot(but i don't like cake, so trimming the top is just a waste!)and i always get the dome! i've been meaning to get some pics on my facebook page of some that i've made. r2-d2 and the pirate ship are still my favs!
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