I’m not sure there will ever come a day when baking isn’t magical to me. I still get giddy when I turn on the oven light, peek through the glass to see biscuits doubling in size. Or when a waif of baking banana bread skips through the house and under my little nose. Baking is my magic.
I love the trust and faith we must have in a recipe, in the ratio and in the ingredients. We trust that those ingredients will interact, react and transform into something so beautifully delicious.
Having just whispered all those sweet words of nothing, I’ll admit I’m not really a cake-maker-type girl. I’m not sure if a single layered-cake even lives on this blog. I’m pretty sure it has everything to do with me being an impatient person and thinking cake decorating is a little tedious. But when I want cake inspo, I turn to Sara from Matchbox Kitchen. She makes some insanely pretty cakes. One thing I LOVE about her cakes is how they’re all perfectly cylinder. The tops are completely flat. Flat cake tops are all the rage in the cake world.
Cake layers usually dome on us, rising right in the center and then cracking. I think doming on a quick bread is beautiful. I love it. My friend and baker, Hourie, wouldn’t think to serve a quick bread that didn’t dome. Cakes are different, though. But not to worry because baking flat cake layers couldn’t be easier!
Just like my last how-to, I’m a little insecure about this post. Do you know this already? Is this obvious?
You could take a serrated knife or this cake slicer thing (that looks like a gigantic cheese slicer) and lop off the top of the cake. I’ve done this before. But sort of annoying.
OR you could buy these even baking strips that go around your cake pans. But sort of a waste of money, especially since this method uses an old towel and a few safety pins.
To start, you want to cut strips that fit the sides of your cake pan.
Fun side note: Use an old CLEAN towel, not an old dirty towel. I almost ended up using one that I used to clean the bathroom with. I can’t imagine cleaning solutions on towel strips and in the oven with your cake is a good combo.
Next, you want to dampen the towel strips and wring out any excess water.
Wrap them around the cake pans and secure them tightly with a few safety pins.
Repeat that whole process with the second cake pan.
Oh and be sure to butter your cake pans, line the bottoms with a round of parchment and dust them with flour. So important.
Add the cake batter to the pans and smack them down on the counter a few times. This will eliminate any air bubbles.
Put it in the oven and bake away.
What’s happening here is that the moisture from towel is helping the cake bake more evenly, resulting in an even rise and a cake with a flat top.
When they come out, they’ll be perfectly flat. Ta-daaaaa!!
Ingredients
- 1 old towel (but fluffy)
- 4 safety pins
- 1 batch of cake batter
Instructions
- Cut 3-inch wide strips that fit all the way around your cake pans. Make sure they fit around the cake pans!
- Soak the strips in water and squeeze out about half of the water from them. I like them to be very damp.
- Secure the wet towel strips around your prepared cake pans, pinning them using the safety pins. You'll want them to fit tightly.
- Add the cake batter to the pans and transfer to the oven and bake according to your recipe.
Totally did not work! It started off fairly flat but the end product was a big ‘ol domed cake!
i didn’t try it but right now i’m at school and when i get homme my parents are still at work and its there anniversary so its gonna be so cool and im gonna try it looks amassing.
I always filled the pans with batter half way up and would wrap tin foil flat across the top. I would take it off at the last 5-10 minutes to get the top golden brown and rose just a little. That always seemed to work to get a flat cake.
Definately going to try the towel method! Thanks for the tip. Just a quick question…. would this work on a fruit cake as well? Many Thanks, Debbie
Was not quite as perfect as the picture. I would recommend turning them halfway through baking. They did not rise evenly.
When you say turning them half way, do you mean revolving them? or do you mean turning them upside down?
Thanxx it worked
Hi, just came across your blog post. Do you think this would work with a fancy Nordic Ware loaf pan? I bought a fall load pan that has pumpkins and acorns on it that when turned over would be the top of my banana bread, but I have a beautiful dome on my bread. It will not sit flat at all when I finally turn it out of the pan to show off all the beautiful design.
Do I cook with them on the tin xx
yep!
Wow, Amazing tips, noting each and every point.
Yes, Binchotan Charcoal is nearly 100% carbon and called White Charcoal due to the white ash. I did read about it and the way you have told it is super easy to make the filtered water using this. Till now I just knew activated charcoal benefits and I was just checking something on filters and how to get filtered water. It feels good to come across this information. This is the best way to get safe drinking water.
This sounds really good. Definitely going to try using the strips around my cake pans and see how well it works. My mother always turned the cake pans 180° half way through the cooking, and we never had any lopsided cakes (that I can remember) while growing up!
Thanks and Bon appetit’
I did EXACTLY everything you said, and I still had my round cakes bake with one side higher than the other. Hmmmm. Any ideas as why, even using cake strips this happened? Any and all input is very much appreciated.
Me too
It’s likely the air circulation in your oven…a lot of ovens tend to cook u evenly because of this
If you are using 6 inch pans, Cut 2 inches off the sleeves of an old T-shirt . They fit perfectly and the material stretches enough to keep them in place without pins
Yummy very refreshing…. These look and sound amazing!!
Great advice. Does this only work with metal cake tins or will it also work on the silicone ones too? Thanks for any info!
this will work with metal cake tins only! it won’t penetrate the silicone ones! 🙂
I feel like this is a crucially important detail that should be mentioned in the main article!
Adrianna, it’s amazing! I just randomly found your blog looking for this recipe. Awesome! Good for you!