Do your cakes always annoyingly bake up domed? So you end up having to use the breadknife to try to level them, or just balance one on top of the other and fill the extra space with buttercream? So do mine, or at least they did until I recently learned about cake strips.
Cake strips are thick fabric strips soaked in a bowl of water, squeezed out and wrapped around the tin just before putting it in the oven.
The result is near perfectly flat cakes.
Here's the science. The metal of the cake tin heats up quickly in the hot oven, baking the outside rim of the cake faster than the inside. Once the outside is baked, it won't rise any further, while the centre bakes slower and continues to rise, resulting in a dome. So if we can insulate the metal from the heat of the oven, the cake can all bake at relatively the same rate.
Cake strips are available commercially, but they are easily homemade as well. I've used an old tea towel, folded over four times and sewn along the long edge. I added velcro tabs, but you can use a safety pin too. (Note: the glue of stick on velcro will melt in the oven, so be sure to sew the velcro on... this is experience speaking!) Final safety point, do not use in an oven hotter that 175C (350F).
Happy baking!
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