HELLO, I JUST STARTED CAKE CLASSES AND NEEDED TO BAKE A CAKE FOR CLASS TODAY. I BAKED 4 DIFFERENT CAKES LAST EVENING AND THE MIDDLE DIDN'T SEEM TO GET DONE. I BAKED LONGER THAN THE PAN SUGGESTED. ON MY LAST CAKE I USED THE SILVER STRIPS AND WETTED THEM AND PUT AROUND MY CAKE, DISASTER, THE CAKE GOT DONE IN THE MIDDLED BUT THE OUTSIDES DIDN'T EVEN BROWN AND WERE GOOEY. ANY SUGGESTIONS. I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM BAKING CAKES BEFORE, BUT SINCE I STARTED CAKE CLASS DISASTER. HELP

Have you tried the ol "flower nail" upside down in the center of the cake? That could help with the uneven heating in your oven. Just place it in the center of the cake flat side down pointy side up and the nail will conduct the heat to the center of your cake.

WOW! I can't imagine what happened with the strips. I used to use them all the time and even when they were very wet the edges of the cake still got done, maybe some water got inside?
I use the cake nail now after learning on this site!
Also, it seems my cakes take a lot longer when I overfill them, longer than I would even guess.
One more thing, a couple times I have added too much water to the mix and it seems they don't EVER get done!
Don't give up - good luck!

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE OL NAIL TRICK. TONIGHT IS MY FIRST DECORATING CLASS. I WENT AHEAD AND USED THE 6 INCH ROUND AND TURNED IT UPSIDE DOWN AND ICED IT. SINCE IT IS JUST PRACTICE WHAT THE HECK.

It might be an oven temperature thing. Cake strips have never failed me and btw, you do not want to use the strips on 6" cakes. Cakes 10" and above you should think about using a nail or plug.

It sounds like you need to check your oven temperature. Here are two tips;
1. buy a separate oven thermometer and test the oven temp with it.
2. buy one of those pizza stones and keep it in the very bottom of your oven. Pizza stones maintain heat and thus create an even balance of heat distribution in your oven so you don't get cold spots or hot spots as the case may be.

Hope that helps.

P/S Here is a good place to look for specific cake problems;
http://www.baking911.com/cakes/problems.htm

just bought a oven thermometer and my oven temp was ok. maybe just bad cake mixes. i did buy them all at the same time at the same place.

Rodneyck: why do you not want to use strips on the 6" pan? I haven't made a cake that small yet but am glad for the tip.

The 6inch pan is small enough to not need the bake even strips. I generally don't use them unless it is larger than a 10inch round.