I am making a wedding cake that has a 14” layer on the bottom.  I have successfully made a 12” without a heating core but I am not sure about the 14”.  Do I need a heating core or can I use the flower nail?

I don’t typically use either one for larger cakes but you will be fine using either a heating core or the nail.  If all you have is the nail, use that; don’t buy a heating core just for this unless you happen to be at a craft store and they have it; you don’t need to make a special trip for it.

Thanks! I was never keen on the heating cores and thought they were a bit of a money grab.  I think that I will make a trial cake this weekend to see if there is a different with and without a flower nail.

Hi, ModernCake, Please post your flower nail experiment results.  I am curious. 

I made the wedding cake and made one 14” with a flower nail and the other without.  They both took about the same time to cook and I actually think that the one without the flower nail was a bit higher.  So, we don’t need a flower nail!