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Heating core disaster help needed

post #1 of 18
5/12/12 at 4:03am
Thread Starter 
I've used the heating core successfully in the past but this time I accidentally overfilled my cake pan, well the cake grew and grew while it was baking and completely covered the heating core. When I dug it out of the cake I wasn't able to get the cake out of the core in one nice piece to plop back in the cake, it's just a broken yummy bit of cake pieces. icon_cry.gif So any thoughts on what I do with the big hole in the middle of my 12" round cake? This is the base for a 3 tier cake so it will be covered. This layer is going to be filled with mousse, do I just fill the hole with more mousse? Do I make a cake ball type dough and drop it in the hole?
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post #2 of 18
5/12/12 at 4:13am
That's what I would do. Just make a loose cake ball (not too gummy) and fill the hole.
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post #3 of 18
5/12/12 at 5:13am
I would definitely not fill it with a cake ball. Whoever cuts into the cake will notice immediately and think the cake was not thoroughly cooked! I would put extra mousse and cover that up with the cake pieces.
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post #4 of 18
5/12/12 at 6:13am
I would make a cupcake or smaller cake to fill, (cutting out the right size from the main cake to have clean neat alignment) or just rebake the whole thing which may be easier in the long run. I learned a trick on CC that may work for you in the future. This uses a metal flower nail as a heating care. Place it (pointed end up of course) in the middle of the pan. Place your parchment paper on top of it, poking the nail through the parchment paper and cook as usual. (I also always use magic strips too). after baking, turn out the cake, and remove the nail easily from the underside while removing the parchment. I'm sorry that doesn't help with the problem at hand, but may help in the future.
I'd rather be baking!
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I'd rather be baking!
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post #5 of 18
5/12/12 at 7:23am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the great tips....the delivery is for tonight so I won't have time to bake another cake with the other decorations and such I still have left to do. I'm definitely going to try the flower nail instead next time. I like the idea of a much smaller hole! Do you just use one flower nail regardless of size? Or would you put a few in?
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post #6 of 18
5/12/12 at 7:47am
So far, the largest cake I have made with the flower nail trick is 11" x 14". I have made at least a dozen in a variety of flavors and it always works great. I just used one nail. I think that 2 would probably work even better for larger cakes although I haven't tried it. I can't imagine that it would cause any problems.

One more hint- when taking the cake out of the pan place a cake cooling rack on top of the cake in the pan and flip the whole thing over. That way the nail can stick out between the grid. Remove the nail and parchment from the bottom of the cake which is now facing up. Then reinvert onto another rack or cardboard. If you first invert onto a solid surface the tip of the nail will be pushed sideways which makes a bigger hole on the top and bottom. HTH, (personal experience!)
I'd rather be baking!
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I'd rather be baking!
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post #7 of 18
5/12/12 at 9:28am
I've put broken cake into cake core holes before and had no problem. No one can tell when you cut the cake...really! Just dig it out of your core and stuff it in. Cover it with your frosting and you're good to go!

I've even used smushed cake as filler (and to raise corners) before. Seriously, you can not tell even when the cake is cut. I once watched a TV cake show and the decorator had to fill in a bunch of areas on a carved cake with filler cake and she laughed and said cake decorating had to sometimes use a lot of smoke and mirrors to get the final product right.
A closed mouth gathers no feet.
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A closed mouth gathers no feet.
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post #8 of 18
5/12/12 at 10:14am
why not just cut a couple of holes from your leveled cake top and place that inside the hole? then just make sure there's extra mousse in there to keep it together
It's not "just" cake...it's my life!
WI State Representative for Icing Smiles...start 'Baking a Difference" today!
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It's not "just" cake...it's my life!
WI State Representative for Icing Smiles...start 'Baking a Difference" today!
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post #9 of 18
5/12/12 at 1:33pm
I have baked 1,000s of cake - up to 16"ers w/o a heat core used. Really, I see no need for them. Your experience is one of the reasons icon_sad.gif
If one absoultly cannot bake w/o one - a flower nail is much better than a core!
If a cake is baked properly at a lower temp for a few minutes longer it will bake up nice and level and moist.
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post #10 of 18
5/13/12 at 12:12am
This is another option and sure beats re-baking. Why not just adjust the cake price by two servings and tell the client what happened. When she gets to the center, she will wonder about the smushed or filled big hole. This way, she knows what to look for and will not serve it.

Honesty has always worked for me.
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post #11 of 18
5/13/12 at 2:59am
I never use a heating core and my cakes bake just fine. I use baking strips and bake at 325. The largest round cakes I have made is a 14" with no heating core. Do you use baking strips?
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post #12 of 18
5/13/12 at 6:03pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for all the advice. The cake was actually a donation of my time for an event the military families of the HMCS Charlottetown was having. I ended up filling the middle with rice krispy treats and stuck my center support in it (thought it would seem more deliberate and who doesn't love rice Krispies) icon_biggrin.gif They loved it!
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post #13 of 18
5/13/12 at 6:24pm
I have used the flower nail for cakes up to14" , just 1 and they work great ! thumbs_up.gif
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post #14 of 18
5/16/12 at 7:17am
For next time, you could get a set of the flat heating cores out there now. I'm sure they're at other places, but here's what they look like. They come in a set of 4 and are a bit thicker than the flower nail.

http://www.pastrychef.com/HEATING-CORES_p_1992.html
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post #15 of 18
5/16/12 at 8:47am
I use two nails for a half-sheet, "dividing" the cake into thirds. This has worked well for me.
Linda
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Linda
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