Emergency Please Help

[Gottalovecake]

Ok, baked my first 12" cake, in preparation to also bake two 9", and a 6". This is my practice cake before the actual wedding cake. Wilton's site indicates a 35 to 40 minute bake time. Uh, no. I just took the cake out of the oven at 64 minutes (350 temp). The top of the cake looks like cellulite and it's browned. It is also starting to crack. What's with the cellulite? The amount of batter (it's a 3" pan) I used looked like I poured 1/2 way. Now that it is baked I measured the distance between the baked cake and the edge of the pan. It is 1/2 inch to the top. Did I put in too much batter? Oh, just remembered that I also used the upside down flower nail. I'm so upset. I'm waiting for your expert opinion. Thank you so much

[Amanda]

Ok, first throw out the wilton instructions. For that size cake I start my timer at 35 min, look in the window when it's up and add more time based on what I see. You can't trust someone else's cooking times because their oven may/may not be calibrated, and yours may be the opposite. They all cook differently...
Lower your oven temp, and use bake even strips or old towels (and your flower nail). That should help with the uneven baking. What brand of pan are you using?
As for the too much batter...I don't know. I use 2" pans, but I always overfill them so that my cakes are at least 2" tall. I can't imagine that the amount of batter you used would be too much.
Hope that helps! I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in and help too!!

[Gottalovecake]

Thank you, Amanda. It was good to hear someone say "throw out the Wilton times". I really think that is what I needed to hear. The cake is out of the oven, as I said, and now I've taken it out of the pan. It looks good, but I guess I won't know till we cut it. I do use the bake even strips, they help a lot with the leveling of the baked cake. My pans are the Wilton 16, 12, 8, 6 set. I probably should have invested in better pans!

I guess if the cake takes 64 minutes, it takes 64 minutes; I understand about all of us having differently calibrated ovens. I'm a panicker! Having this site is so helpful to someone like me.

[parrolet313]

I agree - I'm baking a 12" round right now that, according to the Wilton instructions should have been done a HALF HOUR AGO!!! I think it's get about another 10 minutes now.....but it'll be done when it's done!

[parrolet313]

Yup - just about DONE....and I think it's been about an hour....so THERE Wilton!

[Amanda]

Glad to help! I'm a paniker, too. Every time I try a new recipe and it doesn't go EXACTLY according to plan I feel the same way. For my cakes though I'm used to it and don't have to worry anymore. I try to wait until I see the edges start to pull away from the sides, then I poke it just to be sure.
Let us know how it turns out!!

[Captain Cocoa]

At the risk of sounding REALLY stupid, I have to ask . . . do you guys use the upside-down flower nail in lieu of the heating core?

[Amanda]

Yes, I believe it's one or the other. Usually, I don't use either because
1. I don't own a heating core, and
2. I never remember the flower nail until the cake has been in the oven for 10 minutes!

[2sdae]

I always use a flower nail for anything over a 10 inch and sometimes if it's a really dense cake I'll use one on smaller ones too.
I have like 5 heating cores....but I used them to make small cakes in.....not for what they were intended for...

[Captain Cocoa]

What a cool idea to use the nail!! I have a 12" cake coming up soon, so I'll give it a try. I HATE using that heating core.