Cake Strips like Bacon Strips for a sweet tooth

I am going to tell you about a simple baking trick that is going to BLOW.YOUR.MIND… When I first heard about this, I was incredibly sceptical about it. Like those exercise machines on TV shopping channels that promise you flat abs just by lying down on them. But when I gave it a try (the baking trick not the exercise machine) it actually changed my baking life. It’s just simply put amazing. You don’t even need to leave your house to buy anything for it… All you need is an old terry cloth or towel and safety pins. It works on almost all cakes and will just enhance your baking life. I sound like I’m introducing you to some cult, but fear not… the only thing I am introducing you to is a perfectly level cake. That’s right you heard me, a level cake. Perfect for stacking and decorating. When I first started baking cakes they would always turn out domed in the middle which meant I had to get my hatchet  cake leveller out and try to hack off the domed middle part, which nearly always led me to one of two outcomes.

All you need is an old terry cloth or towel and safety pins

I took off too much, or I took of too littler. Taking off too much meant that I ended up with an one inch tall cake, and the latter meant I still had a cake with drooping sides and the frosting would just slide right off. Then I discovered cake strips. No not a vanilla sponge up on the pole taking it all off… A strip of old towel dampened and wrapped around your cake tin fastened with a safety pin. But how does this sorcery equate to level cakes I hear you cry? Well the scientific answer (she says putting on her high power glasses) is as follows. When you usually bake a cake, as with most other things that require an oven or microwave, the outer layer bake quicker than the inner ones. In the example of a cake because the outsides have already baked the inside centre part of the cake only has space to rise, creating a domed middle. Cake strips alleviate this problem in a simple way, the way towel cools the outside of the pan ensuring that the cake bakes at an even pace all the way through. You can buy ready made cake strips but here’s how to make your own. WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

An old towel or terry cloth
Scissors
Safety pin

HOW TO:

1. Begin by cutting your towel to the width of your cake tin ensuring it goes all the way around with a little overlap.
2. Run the cut up strip under some water until sufficiently soaked the wring out the excess water
3. Wrap it around the cake tin and fasten it snuggly with a safety pin

Finally, put your cake in the oven and watch in awe as it produces a perfectly level cake when fully baked! Don’t worry about the strips catching on fire the water simply evaporates off and unless your cake is burnt because you left it in too long the cake strips should survive to be used again and again! Seriously this is such an easy trick to make beautiful and professional looking cakes and I thought it was about time to share it with everyone who didn’t already know! Happy baking! If you tried this out I’d love to see your cakes new lease of life! Tag me on instagram @cakesthebiscuit and hashtag #cakesthebiscuit or follow and tweet me @cakes_biscuit