Making Cakes Rise Evenly

Have you ever spent an afternoon measuring, mixing, and baking a cake only to have it end up looking like an igloo? Doming is OK for cupcakes, but it causes all kinds of problems for cake. Doming happens because the outside edge of the cake cooks faster then the inside. This gives the middle more time to grow during the baking process and become taller then the edges. 

A cake that's domed on top can cause the following problems:

1. The center of the cake can crack.
2. The edges can over bake and become too brown.
3. The edges can turn hard.
4. The edges can also become dry.

Luckily there is a solution to this problem... baking strips. Cake baking strips insulate the pan so your cake bakes more evenly. You can buy several different brands, the most common is probably Wilton's Bake-Even Cake Strips. Have you tried them? They work well... the only problem is that they are expensive! Luckily you don't have to shell out $$ to buy them. You can make a simple substitute at home. It works just as well, plus it's cheap! All you need is an old towel.  :D

Cut an old towel into 2" strips.

Wet the towel in water. (DO NOT forget this step!!!!) It doesn't need to be dripping wet, but it needs to be quite wet. Wrap the towel around the outside edge of the pan. I just tie my strip and tuck in the edges, but you could also use pins or clips to hold the edges together. If you're baking a large cake, tie a couple of towel strips together and make it longer.

These two cakes were baked together at the same time. The cake on the left was baked in a pan alone. The cake on the right was baked using the homemade baking strips. Notice the differences... the cake on the left is domed in the center, it's edge is too dark and has a harder texture.

If using strips, you may need to add a few extra minutes to the total baking time. Give cake baking strips a try, I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the results!