I cut/ripped an old towel into 4" strips. Just before popping the pans into the oven, I doused a strip in water, squeezed the excess out, wrapped it around the outside of the pan tucking the ends into itself and was mindful not to get any towel lint in the batter (you could also pin it or use binder clips to hold it onto the pan but I didn't find that necessary). Below are pics showing the results of layers (2 layers on top oven shelf) using the bake even strips and those without (both used parchment paper collars). I baked the layers using the same batch of batter and in the oven at the same time, on the same shelf. Needless to say, I'll be using my homemade 'towel' bake even strips from now on! One disadvantage...fewer cake crumbs for cake pops!
I didn't realize how uneven my cake layers have been in the past! I was always satisfied if the layer raised to the 2" height then I evened out the top using a cake leveler. The extra cake I whack off the tops go into a ziplock freezer bag and into the freezer for cake pops later anyway! When I read about making your own "bake even strips" on Cake Central, I had to try it. I saw the pictures of those "with strips" and "without strips" on other bakers' blogs but had to see it for myself! I could have bought some at Joann's for a bit less than $10 but I figure that $10 I saved can go toward a new Kitchenaid mixer (my 4.5 qt is well over 25 yrs old and still a workhorse)!! I made MANY strips from the towel so maybe I could even say I saved more than $30 (don't know how long the purchased strips are)! I cut/ripped an old towel into 4" strips. Just before popping the pans into the oven, I doused a strip in water, squeezed the excess out, wrapped it around the outside of the pan tucking the ends into itself and was mindful not to get any towel lint in the batter (you could also pin it or use binder clips to hold it onto the pan but I didn't find that necessary). Below are pics showing the results of layers (2 layers on top oven shelf) using the bake even strips and those without (both used parchment paper collars). I baked the layers using the same batch of batter and in the oven at the same time, on the same shelf. Needless to say, I'll be using my homemade 'towel' bake even strips from now on! One disadvantage...fewer cake crumbs for cake pops!
2 Comments
Karla
3/7/2014 02:47:03 am
Brenda, This is unbelievably cool. Do you know the science behind what makes the "bake even strips" work?
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Karla,
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AuthorFollower of The One, Wife to 1, Mother of 3, Mother in law to 2, Gramma to 3, teacher of many! Archives
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