Few things frustrate me more than domed cake layers with burnt edges. I make cakes QUITE often so you can imagine I like things to go smoothly especially since I’m usually filming and sharing the results. When I first started out my cakes had a very “home made” look about them, the corners were rounded and they often sagged at the edge or even drifted off to one side. The taste was good but appearances matter so I would have to trim the top off of my domed layers to get a flat top but then you end up with extra cake and lots of crumbs! Eventually I realized the problem wasn’t with the recipe but the bake itself.
How to Get Flat Cake Layers
Watch the video above for a full how-to!
When you bake cake layers the outside heats up and baked more quickly than the center, which is insulated by the rest of the batter surrounding it. So basically the outside of the cake layer bakes first; the inside of the cake layer has more time to rise and by the time the inside is set and baked through the outside is starting to dry out and burn. This is why you see so many cakes with dark edges which are not pillowy soft.
The solution to this problem is to cool and insulate the outside of the pan a bit with some water. You can do this by applying wet strips of cloth called cake strips to the vertical edge of the pans. You just soak them in water, wring them out a bit and slide onto the pans. You can totally make your own fabric versions if you’re crafty but they’re pretty inexpensive and last forever so I just bought a set.
If you want to give the cake strip thing a try before investing in them or if you just need them right now and can’t wait for shipping then you can make your own using some tin foil and paper towels. Really easy and you can reuse them five or so times before the tin foil started getting holes. All you do is Measure out how much paper you need for your pan size, wet the towels then wring them out so they aren’t soaking wet. Measure out tin foil that’s about an inch or so longer on each side than the paper and place the paper towel folded to a height of about two inches on the tin foil. Fold the foil around the towel then attach to the side of the pan and crimp the edges together.
When using cake strips you’ll often have to lengthen the baking time a bit as the water slows the baking. You’ll know when the cake is done as the centers will spring back the the touch and the edge will pull away from the pan. Keep a close eye on your layers a toward the end of the bake and don’t forget to move the pans around in the oven halfway through if your oven has hot spots like mine does.
Another tip for baking great layers is to weigh each pan after the batter is transferred. Move the batter around between the pans until they all weigh about the same. You want the same amount of batter in each pan for nice even cake layers and I’ll tell you it’s not easy to do by eye! Kitchen scales are a great gadget to have; it’s so much easier to weigh dry ingredients out than fluffing up your flour scooping it with a measuring cup and leveling it off.
How to Use Fabric Cake Strips
- Soak a fabric baking strip in a glass of water.
- Wring it out so that it’s damp.
- Adjust and fit around the cake pan.
How to Make Homemade Cake Strips
- Wrap a paper towel around a cake pan to find the circumference. (It doesn’t have to be exact). Wet the paper towel and wring out the excess water.
- Unfurl the paper towel and fold lengthwise to about 2-inches .
- Roll a sheet of tin foil so that it’s about 2-inches longer than the paper towel. Place the paper towel on the tin foil sheet and wrap. This will hold in the moisture of the paper towel in during baking.
- Place your pan sideways, wrap the tin foil around it, crimp the edge a few times so that it holds in place. Fold the edge underneath so that it’s in place and won’t slip off.
Click here for my moist vanilla cake that was featured in the YouTube video!
Your cakes are gorgeous! I’ve just bought a set of cake strips to try this out. Cookies and cream cake is on my list. I’d like to ask, where did you get the nifty little red and white swivel gadget that your cake stand rests on while you frost it? Specific brand? Also, do you use a frosting tip when adding the frosting or do you just snip the end of a piping bag (for basic frosting)? Thanks for your help!
Laura,
Thank you very much! My turntable brand is Fat Daddio! The wooden cake stand was a gift, but I bet you could find a similar one on etsy! When I pipe dollops, it depends on the cake and which tip works with the final design! I like using open star tips! Hope that helps!
John
Love this video! Very helpful and informative. What brand do you use for your pans? Any specific ones you love to use? Thanks!
Ashley,
Thanks a bunch! I’m glad you liked the video! I love Fat Daddios 6-inch cake pans!
John
wow think you so much. I will use youre lovely tips ❤
Abir,
You’re very welcome! Hope you enjoy!
John
I just recently got into baking and am loving all your posts 💜
Susie,
Thanks! What have you made?
John
Maybe not the right spot to post this question, but how do you get your cakes to not be too crumb-y? When I try the naked cake look, it is a disaster!!
MK,
If it’s a soft crumb (which is good!), refrigerate the cake to chill the layers before assembly! It’ll be more sturdy!
John
Hi, love the video! Just followed your link to Amazon for some cake strips (you should set up a deal with Amazon to get a cut of these sales!!) What I was writing about was that I followed the link at the end of your Youtube video here hoping that the recipe you used in the video would be here. Any chance that could be added here? Again thank, great job!
Ron,
The recipe is my basic vanilla cake that I always use! I added a link to my peony cake which is the basic vanilla at the end of the blog post. Check it out! You’re gonna love it!
John
Loved the video! I’m a big fan now and can’t wait to check out new videos with my subscription. In your vanilla cake recipe, how many eggs are substituted for the egg whites?
Pamela,
Use 3 egg whites in this recipe! Hope you love it!
John
Can you make red velvet cake pleas and thank you for the lovely things
Hend,
It’s on my list of cakes to bake this month! Thank you! <3
John
Wow! This is amazing!!!! It’s currently midnight out here and I was just itching to run and get some cake strips!! Thank you for so much for sharing this wonderful baking tip!!
So happy I could help!
John
I will definitely be going out to buy baking belts as a must have item! I have recently been starting to get more into baking and learning how to make buttercream light and fluffy which currently is a disaster and never holds a flower shape using a Russian piping nozzle kit. I will be trying out this recipe soon. Is all purpose flour plain flour? Could I use self-raising flour? How much batter goes into each of the baking tin? How much batter would I need if I am using 8inch baking tins?
Hope you can help?
Many thanks.
Danielle,
All purpose flour is the same as plain flour! I wouldn’t use self-raising flour in the plain vanilla cake though! Use a kitchen scale to even out your batter and double the recipe for 8-inch cake pans!
John
This is fantastic!!! Thank you so much. I will be trying the tinfoil version when I next bake 😊
How much batter do you put into each baking tin? How much would I need for an 8inch baking tin?
Danielle,
I don’t know the exact amount of batter that goes into each pan, but I use a kitchen scale to even them out! Double any recipe on my blog that uses 6-inch cake pans if you’re baking with 9-inch pans!
John
Hi John,
Do you recommend using a fan forced oven or no fan for even flat cakes?
Maria,
I don’t tend to use convection when I bake cakes!
John
You have rocked our world!!! My 8 year old daughter and I are new fans and subscribers! We made our first layer cake using this technique. We learned A LOT! We didn’t let the cake cool as long as we should have, so we had the icing issues, but what fun we had baking!
Adrienne,
Practice makes perfect! So excited that you got to learn a few new things!
John
So when you say to “reuse the tin foil strips” do I need to re-soak the paper towels each time?
Teresa,
Yes! Unfold them, re-soak the paper towels and assemble every time you use them!
John
This video was fabulous! I learned a lot and I can’t wait to go and bake a layer cake!
Rachel,
Thanks so much! I can’t wait for you to try one of my recipes!
John
hi hi thanks for the good advice i love it! I am so interested in your art
do you ask how many cm is your baking form?
Greetings from Holland!
Samira,
I use 6-inch cake pans, so 15.3cm! Hope you enjoy!
John