I was desperate to try a silicone strip, so I just bought a 9” silicone cake pan and cut out the bottom, and voila, my homemade version of Rose’s strips!  So, if you can’t get them, you might want to try that.  I’ve also bought a silicone mat and cut it into strips and use Hector’s clip technique (And some staples) to hold them together.

That sounds like a GOOD idea!  Have you used it yet?  If it works well I will do the same, thanks for the idea!

They go on great…unfortunately, I just discovered my oven and an inaccurate thermometer were telling me my oven was 350F, only until I discovered it was 325F with a better DOT 2 thermometer…point being, my cake did not turn out great, but I think it was due to oven temp (especially if strips were used).  I have no reason to believe it would not work, though!

Out of curosity, what sized pans do you use your strips for and what types of cakes?  For instance, do you use strips on a 6” butter cake?  Genoise?  I’m still testing out which cakes and sizes to use the strips on.  Also, do you increase baking time or oven temperature?

Sherrie, I consider baking strips an absolute neecessity on butter cakes, and a good idea for genoise as well.  My nectarine/genoise cake, on the August Bake-Off, was baked with strips.  My oven seemed to be running a little cool this time, which, combined with the effect of the baking strips meant that the (unfrosted) sides were not as browned as I might like, but most of the time my cakes are not shaped as nicely or as high without them.

I use the strips on all my butter cakes no matter what size they are. I never use them on genoise cakes though.

Interesting…I was thinking it may be useful on the larger 10”+ genoise for even baking, but for the smaller ones, the heat helps get the “lift”?  As for oven temp and baking time, do you make any adjustments for the strips?

Sherrie - 17 August 2009 10:43 PM

the heat helps get the “lift”?  As for oven temp and baking time, do you make any adjustments for the strips?

The “lift” is the reason I don’t use the strips. I have no scientific backup on this though   My genoise cakes always bake flat and even.

I don’t adjust the temp when I use strips, although sometimes the cake needs about 5 extra minutes in the oven before it is done.

Thanks for the reply Rozanne, I’m working on getting my oven temperature right (sure hope my new thermometer is bang on!) so I just wanted to know what is working for the rest of you out there

Rose recommends strips for sponge cakes on p.119.  My last genoise didn’t seem to shrink away from the sides so much, so I gauged doneness by watching the top rise, peak and then flatten subtly.  Not sure if this was because I used strips or because I stabilized the egg foam with an extra two minutes beating on medium.  Hmmm.

I like using them on all my cakes.  I used strips of teri cloth that I soak and wring out a little ...fold it into a band and cover that with a band (layered) heavy duty foil.  I was using straight pins to hold but found those office metal clamps work well.  I think it helps me get a level cake and seems to bake more evenly….

I have a cake dvd that shows the baker using an old bath towel, cut into long strips.  I guess if you make sure the towel is sufficiently wet, you don’t have to worry about it burning.  I haven’t tried it yet, but maybe for my next large tier.

I’m still trying to figure out why the baking strips don’t work for me. My oven temperature is as acurate as it will ever be, but whenever I use the strips, the cake is highly under baked in the whole center by the time it “should” be finished. The sides are done..it looks beautiful…then I realize. the whole center is like unbaked batter!. I wet the strips and then slide my hand down them to get the excess water out. Do you think they’re still too wet?

Also, Patricia, you use a Rose Nail instead of the Baking Core, correct? I haven’t tested it yet in the 12 x2 inch pan. Do I plop it in after the batter is poured? Should I grease it? Thanks….I was calm…now I’m getting nervous again regarding the Wedding Cake.

By the way, have any of you received Rose’s Heavenly Cakes?  I got mine last week.

I think your strips may be too wet. I have the same problem when I don’t get all the excess water out. I actually squeeze it in the palm of my hand and that seems to work for me. Hope this helps.

Weighing in with my experience of using the strips. Bought them 11 years ago when making my first big wedding cake for my daughter. For that cake and ever since, have only used them on cakes 9” and larger. Even skip using them on the 9” many times, but always use them on a 12”. I follow that whether baking a butter cake or sponge-type.

Never had a problem. Until the luxury lemon cake I did for August 22nd wedding. I had exactly the result you describe. This time, I used magic strips on the 9” to be extra certain of a good result. Cake sides beautifully done, centre like batter by the time whole cake “should” be done. If I inserted a tester, centre sank like mud. Especially with the 6” and 9”. If I didn’t use a tester and just baked the suckers until the centres were clearly done, the sides were overdone. In the end, discovered that the culprit was the butter. It was one of those newish extra-rich butters, at 82.9% almost 3% higher in fat than my regular butter. Weakened the structure of the cake. Also affected the quality of the mousseline, which was looser than usual and hard to work with.

I apologize if you’ve already read about my experience in the other thread, and this is repetitious. But when I read your description, tofusalem, couldn’t help wondering if the butter is the culprit in your case, too. You’ve investigated all the other likely suspects (oven temp, etc.) Oh, one small method point to watch is to be sure you’re not over-filling the pans. Scale the batter into your pans by weight, using Rose’s recommendations on p 490 TCB.

Good luck! Keep us posted. Carol