I'm having more trouble baking a simple cake than the decorating part of it. I've used the football mold and the soccer ball mold and by the time the center is done, the top 3rd of the cake is hard and almost burnt. I have an oven thermometer, and I have also tried reducing the temp by 25 degrees but that has not worked. THANKS!!

I'm not sure about the soccer ball moulds specifically but my husband is a chef and when things don't seem to be cooking in the middle when he checks them he puts a couple of layers of aluminium foil over the top of the tin. He has done this for a few cakes for me and it has worked.

Also works for chicken breasts

I usually find with the 3-D type cake pans that you need to use some sort of heating core to help distribute heat through the center of the cake. Most of the Wilton mold pans that I've used come with one...I THINK I've heard of people using what amounts to a tube of aluminum foil stuck in the middle of a pan (think column) but I've not tried that. Maybe someone else out there knows?

I know folks always talk about the heating cores for large cakes, but I don't like the way the heating core leaves a big hole in the cakes that I have to repair so I use aluminum strips that I fold myself in my larger cakes. I can make as many as I need and it doesn't cost me anything. For a 14 inch cake I would probably use at least 5. Just spray them with cooking spray before using and they slide out easily after you turn your cake over. Put them in the pan before pouring in your batter. The bottom flaps keep them from flipping over.

I know you specifically asked about the 3D pans, but I think you could adapt these strips to those pans. I just keep remembering the old baked potato rods my mother used to use to bake potatoes evenly!!

I haven't tried to reuse them but I don't see why you couldn't. Hope this helps! I also bake at 325 which seems to make a difference as well.

Valerie

I agree with the others and would use a flower nail, lower the temp and cover with foil. I had the same experience with the car pan.

I use the flower nail in most of my cakes too. Grease it first and you will have great results. My sheet cakes and larger rounds have really benefitted from this practice.

Do any of you have this problem with the top center of the 8 x 3 pan? I baked a devils food cake today and had to leave it in the oven at 325F for over an hour and a half. Even then the crown was all gooey in the middle. We haven't eaten it yet so I don't know whether the sides got overdone or not. What would you think about putting an aluminum strip down into the middle of the top?

Denise,
I have the same problem this weekend with the 8 X 3 pan. The whole center of the cake down about 2" was totally unbaked. I had kept it in the oven for almost an hour and kept checking it. The rest of the cake was perfectly done though, so I scooped out the center and filled the space with a cupcake that I had made from the batter that I hadn't needed. This happens alot to me with the 3" pans. I wish there were a fool proof way to get the centers to cook.

Karen

Hello-I dont know if this is going to work, I dont really know how to add a link to another post, but I just replied to another post which might answers some of your questions started by Karenelli.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-30025.html

See if that works.

Also, I dont know if I know what I am talking about, but I didn't think that aluminum was a very good conductor of heat? (in other words, not good for a heating core, but good to protect from heat on outside of cake) It's never that hot after I take it off the grill anyway . I just use an inverted flower nail in place of a heating core, no big holes to fill. Good luck all!

Thanks Merissa. I usually leave my 8x3 cakes in for 60 minutes at 325F ands that's about right. But devils food takes longer for some reason. The cake I was talking about took over an hour and a half. I was afraid it would be crispy around the sides, but I put it in Saran wrap as soon as I removed it from the pan, and it turned out delicious. I might try the flower nail with my next DF cake and just plan to leave it in longer. Karenelli, I loved your cupcake idea--I never would have thought of that.

I think there are some recipes that DO take a longer time to bake. I made one recently that took FOREVER, but when it came out it tasted great. I am not exactly sure which ingreadients or combination of ingredients make for a longer baking time, but I just started to note the approximate time it took me to bake a particular recipe so I would know for the next time

Lynsval, thanks for the tip. I have never had to make super big cakes but it is nice to know if I should ever have to. How tall do you make them ? It is hard to judge by the picture.