I’ve had my struggles with cake layers. They always come out domed and I always trim off less dome than they really need, which means slidey cake, drooping frosting, and all around MESS.
To remedy this, I’ve read about using cake strips (strips that wrap around the pan and magically create flat layers) or baking the cake at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. I think I’ve also heard something about baking soda. But I’ve never had the patience to wait EXTRA long for a cake to bake and I’ve never been willing to shell out $12 for two strips of metallic material. This is a good thing!
Because it turns out that you can make your own cake strips for FREE! And it’s so easy. Because here’s what cake strips do: they cool the outside of the pan so the cake bakes evenly. So all you really need is wet material wrapped around the pan.
Why Cake Strips Work
Let’s talk cake science for a sec: normally when cake layers bake, the outside of the cake bakes faster than the middle. By the time the middle starts to cook through, the batter has nowhere to go but up, which creates the dome. By putting moist material around the outside of the pan, you’re helping cool the outside, allowing the cake to bake more evenly.
What You’ll Need for DIY Cake Strips
- scrap material (an old T-shirt or kitchen towel will work fabulously)
- scissors
- safety pins
Cut the scrap material into a strips long enough to fit around your cake pan. I only used one strip, but you can use several—more coverage is not a bad thing. Safety pin the ends of the strip together. When you’re ready to bake the cake, run the material under water and squeeze out so that it’s as wet as possible without dripping. Replace the strip around the pan and bake!
Note: the first time I did this, I tied my band of cloth into a knot instead of cutting to the right length and safety-pinning the ends. I think this caused a dimple in the cake:
Not a huge deal, but if you want a perfect layer, don’t do that.
But Do They Really Work?
And now for some close ups for those of you thinking: does it really make a difference?
I also dropped my cake pans on the counter a few times before baking. This helps spread the batter evenly and get rid of air bubbles. And really annoy your neighbors. (By the way! I think I have new neighbors. In my apartment complex, my balcony faces the balcony on the opposite building. So the new couple were out having a cute dinner on their bench the other night while I spent the entire time crouching on my balcony 50 feet away photographing this cake. I’m embarrassing.)
But at least I got a cake that looked like this:
Which I would have shared.
They were just too far away.
Thank you to this lovely, humble blog for sharing this fabulous trick! I will be dismembering T-shirts and baking super flat cakes for decades to come.
Donna
Brilliant! And so much better than freezing domed layers and then slicing off the dome!
Tresna
Do you wash the bands after you have cooked the cake?
erika
Yes, I would recommend washing them at least every few uses!
4Graces
Yes, I know the wet wrap works on baking cakes. Actually, I did spend some money (not that much) on professionally manufactured cloth belts. My question, though, is will my wet wraps also work as a substitute water bath on custard dishes? I am about to try this with bread pudding to see for myself, but it would be helpful to hear your opinion/experience.
Christine
The wet wraps will not work as a substitute for a water bath because they will not provide the volume of steam required. Cake wraps simply keep the temperature of the walls of the pans lowered long enough for the cake to fully/evenly rise without restriction.
Rene'
Yep….works well on glass too !!
Rene'
Yep, a few years ago when I took a local bakery class, the lady told us to use a wet towel for this. Still use my dedicated baking wraps !
Kelvin
I use cake strips on layer cakes but cake u use them on tube cake pans also?
Beth
Are cake strips microwave convection oven safe?
Chetna
Thanks a lot for the tip. Will surely try it.
nancy Hale
Thank you for better ideas. Wont buy them. Does this work on muffins or cup cakes?
Siphokazi
I tried this and it changed the texture of my cake… also noticed a lot of steam coming out of the oven throughout the bake, what might have caused this problem?
I’m guessing the strips added too much moisture in the oven… like a water bath would?
Ps. I use an oil NOT butter based vanilla cake… (its light and crumbly usually, thus time it came out dense)
Please help
jaye
I’ve discovered that wrapping foil around the wet cloth avoids the steam issue
erika
Hi there–what kind of material did you use to wrap around the cake pan? I wonder if the thickness helped trap in too much moisture…I recommend a T-shirt weight for the cloth. And thanks Jaye for the excellent tip about using foil!
Esha
Hi Erika, I was wondering if this technique works on glass (instead of metal) baking tray as well?
erika
I’m sorry, I haven’t tried them on glass pans so I can’t say!
Dnyanada Adnaik
Will this work in a microwave too??
Marg Lumley
From my info about making Microwave Bowl Covers, 100% cotton is recommended. Probably same thing here!
SRB
Thank you!!
John Stephens
Some folks responding on this site wanted to use elastic headbands, and there were only modest reactions to safety…!!!
**Watch out** Most plastics begin to soften at around 300-350 degrees, and elastics may well soften/melt at lower temp than this, so I would NOT try this… !!! [it is easy enough to use pieces of old cotton Tee shirt material or towels]
ALSO: Regarding the possibility of the band sliding down as it gets hot and dry…do NOT bake on the bottom rack close to the heating element!!! Have plenty of room for the band to sag down and not come close to the glowing electric heater element [or the extra-hot bottom surface of a gas oven].
Cotton will not burn until it is well over 500 degrees F. …but….
—-hey – if it burns in your oven — just leave the door shut!! It will stink up your house but not be terrible… Shut off the oven, open a couple of windows and wait a while… [Let neighbors know things are OK… !!]
— There is mention that this could work for square or rectangular pans, but I think since the sides will not make decent contact, the hardening will only be improved near the corners …but it would help. It WILL likely droop down along the flat sides…so be sure to have it on the second rack up… –maybe with some Aluminum foil underneath… …or Alum foil all around to help snug it to the sides!!!
erika
Thank you for these helpful tips John!
christine holland
Hiya can theses strips be used on silicon pans tia
Deanna
I tried this today but I didn’t cut the towel so it was just folded and ended up being really thick. In fact, too thick I think, because the sides didn’t seem to finish baking all the way an the cake began to fall apart when I moved it. The top was flat, but the sides were almost undercooked even though I left it in the oven much longer than usual. Do you think I need to have less layers of the towel?
erika
Hi Deanna! Yes, I think the towel was probably too thick–I only use a single layer of a pretty thin piece of cloth (the thickness of a T-shirt or less) when I use these strips. Having too much insulation around the pan can cause, as you found, the sides to be undercooked. I’d recommend trying it again with a thinner cloth if you feel like trying it again!
Ruth
Thank you for your reply to my question Can anyone tell me if these DIY baking strips work for fruit cakes 1.5 hrs and over
Also would i need double thickness head band or is one enough
Ruth
Ruth
How thick (not wide) do the strips of towel need to be and would a towel headband be thick enough ?
erika
Hi Ruth–I cut my strips probably between 1.5-2″ thick so yes, a towel headband should be about thick enough I would think!
Lynet Witty
Amazing! I can’t wait to try this. I just recently found out about this method and my daughter’s bday is coming up.
Vinki Mathur
Its looking yummy and coco topping is just fantastic , cakes looks very catchy and willing to bake it soon, i would prefer vegetarian recipe
kcama
For all those a little squeamish about the fabric catching fire:
Paper’s autoignition temp (where it will catch fire without direct flame) is 218–246 °C (424–475 °F)
Cotton’s is 407 °C (765 °F) – don’t think many ovens get that hot unless they’re in self-cleaning mode.
Two caveats, however. Make sure your strip can’t drop down or touch the heating element and make sure your fabric is 100% cotton (even some toweling isn’t). Any polyester or other synthetic fabric can have much lower burning points.
erika
Thanks so much for the helpful tips!!
Sylvia
Will i obtain the same result if i use the mary bath?
erika
Would you be putting the cake pan in a water bath? I think that serves the same purpose as using the cake strips, so I probably wouldn’t do both…
Rene'
Don’t think that would be good AT ALLLL
Tiara
I never knew what bake strips are until I saw it online and read how it helps on baking until I read your site. Thank you for the info and the next time I bake I’ll definitely do this.
erika
Great, let me know how it works out for you! Thanks for the comment Tiara!
chris jolley
i use to bake and cook all the time, then the kids grew up and it was not the same. i worked on my other hobbies. sewing, quilting, crochet, scrapbook, ect ect. then my body started down hill real fast. i had a dream when retired to do all the things when ever i wanted to. body said no you will be house bound for the rest of your life sz my body and it has been that way for the last 10+ years. somehow i landed on a cooking show on youtube and they have teaching classes and every thing so i chose to get off the couch and start baking again. i made so many mistakes and could not remember how to make cakes or anything really. i am not sure why i and to share this. i found out about these strips last month after i tried to do a chocolate and white cake. they domed so i figured frost it anyway and what a mess. the top layer split in 2 and dropped down the sides. my hubby and son thought it was really funny. i put the remaining cakes in a large container and with my hands i took the butter frosting and dug in. we now call it crumble cake. everyone loves it but i still wanted to make a cake the right way. i started to find the strips and found several reviews. everyone hated the strips so i wanted to diy but hubby said the fabric would burn. thank you so much for telling me i could di all by myself. again, thanks so much for making it so simple cuz some of the ones i watched on youtube they took longer to make the fancy strips that bake 4 cakes and frost them. !!
Neli
Hi! Just wanna say thanks for posting this DIY, it literally saved me time and money trying to find a cake lever thingy to make a “perfect” cake. I will try this technique and hope for the best! 🙂
Angels
Hi quick question, would this idwa work with buying and using the cloth headbands or sweatbands???
erika
Hi Angels–as long as there’s no metal or elastic in the headbands that will melt or warp in the oven, I think that should be fine!
Rene'
Careful !!! Many of those items have rubber / elastic!!! Melt..burn….mess !
I use a towel or tea towel…finding them now @ Dollar Tree or Wal Mart for $ 1.00 or 2.00.
Longer lengths sometimes also.
Emily
A couple of tips
:
1 make them out of that old towel you have sitting in the cupboard that you can’t throw away
2 use a sewing machine to zigzag stitch the edges
3 if you cut a small hole in one end of the strip and the cut the other end in half length ways for a few inches you can slip one of the halves through the hole and tie it easier
erika
Great tips, thanks for sharing Emily!
grace
Hi erika would this method help as my cake is not even, it forms a dome and one side is more big than the other. Its not evenly baked. I would greatly appreciate your kind help.
erika
Hi Grace, so sorry for the delay in my response! It sounds like this could be a problem with the recipe you’re using (perhaps not mixing the leaveners thoroughly) or your oven (perhaps one side is hotter than the other). The cake strips may help, but I can’t be sure they’d completely solve your problem. Hope that helps!
GGBakes
Is your stove level? If what you bake is thicker on one side, that is the first thing I would check.
Also for my oven, I set the thermostat at 350 and after the timer beeps that the oven is ready, let it continue to heat for another 10 to 15 minutes. (I have a 30-year-old stove that needs replaced)
melissa
You put the cloth in the oven as the cake bakes?
erika
Yes, just wrap the wet cloth around the cake pan before you put it in the oven (make sure it is securely fastened!)
Mary Witkowicz
Hi and thank you for the article. My question is on a 14″ square cake do I still use baking nails and the strips? And is there a way to get the strips tight enough on a square cake pan? Thank you so much
erika
Hi Mary, so sorry for the delay in my response! The great thing about DIY strips is that you can make them however long or short as you need, and you should be able to safety pin them to fit snugly around any pan. I haven’t tried these on a square pan, but I assume the method would work just about as well as on a round pan. Happy baking!
Izzy
Hi.Do I use room temperature water or cold?
erika
Hi Izzy–it doesn’t matter! Either should work 🙂
Deborah Wilbur
I am making a 17 x 11 x 1 sheet cake should I use the baking strips and a heating core in the same pan to make sure it bakes evenly ?
erika
Hi Deborah–sorry, I’m not familiar with heating cores, but you can definitely try the baking strips to ensure even baking!
Debby Wilbur
Thank you I will use the baking strips. I actually don’t have a heating core but I was going to buy one I’ve heard a lot about it.
Dolly
we learned in a cake decorating class that instead of metal strips to pin a WET towel around our cakes to get that level cake top for those who may be skiddish of using fabric. The towel is usually mostly dry by the time the cake is baked. But it really work!!
erika
Yes, same idea! Love it!!
Judith Pieterse
I would like to know, would this work for fruitcakes that sink in the middle too? It’s not the fruit that sinks, the cake actually dents in in the middle.
Thank You
erika
Hi Judith–that sounds more like a case of a recipe that doesn’t have enough leavener to make it rise. This technique helps flatten the dome that usually forms when baking cakes; it won’t help lift up sunken middles, unfortunately!
Su Ling
Hi. I am going to try this tomorrow.
I have the same problem (the dome effect) when making cupcakes. Do the DIY baking strips work for cupcakes tray?
erika
Unfortunately, I’ve never tried so I can’t say for sure, but I assume it would have a similar effect, though most people generally want the dome when making cupcakes!
Safeena Islam
Hi I read the blog doesn’t the fabric around the tin burn when you put it in the oven?
erika
Hi Safeena–apologies for my late reply, but no, I’ve never had trouble with the fabric burning. Generally my cakes are in the oven for around 30-40 minutes, so I can’t speak for something that might bake for 1 hour+, but you shouldn’t have trouble with a typical cake layer!
Dawn
Hi, i have just used this method fo a 10″ round madeira that was in the oven for nearly 2 hrs and it worked wonderfully, perfectly flat sponge. I used an old teatowel cut in strips.
erika
Awesome!! Thanks for reporting back, Dawn–glad to hear this trick will work for as long as ~2 hours!
Michele Woodburn
Besides they’re wet so it wouldn’t burn.
Dena
I tried these for the first time last night and was so grateful to finally have flat cake layers! It was so easy too.
My only suggestion to everyone is to be careful about t-shirt fuzz. I grabbed a junk t shirt out of my drawer and cut it up. It was teal colored – I was making a white cake. I ended up picking teal fuzz out of my cake and my icing. It was quite a pain. Just something to keep in mind.
erika
Yay! So glad it worked well for you Dena, and thanks for sharing the helpful tip!
Nancy
Would this work for any size spring form pan as well
erika
Yes it should work! Just be careful about putting the material against the metal on the springform.
Heidi
Thank you so much but how can I keep the strips stand around the pan ? What do you mean by (safe pins) ? 🙂
erika
Hi Heidi! A safety pin looks like this: http://www.medixsupplies.com/images/Safety_Pin.jpg and that’s one way to keep the strips around the pan. Another way is to do what I did initially and tie the ends of your material into a knot (see picture 4). You could also try using a small ring of stretchy material (such as the edge of a small T-shirt) so that the material can stretch around the pan and not fall off. Hope that helps! 🙂
Heidi
Sure it helped,thank you soooooooooo much i tried it and the result is wow I can’t believe it
thank you again you are marvelous 🙂
erika
Excellent!! So happy to hear it!! :))
Elaine
Hi Erika, Well, I’ve been baking for over 40 years and I have NEVER heard of baking strips until I saw your blog today! Whenever I had baked layer cakes, I’ve always had to slice off the mound! You have saved the day! I went on google to find out the prices of cake strips and was dismayed at the prices! WOW! I will use your suggestions for DIY cake strips from now on! LOVE your blog! Keep up the good work! Elaine
erika
Elaine, I’m so glad to hear it! I hope these work out well for you. Happy baking and thanks so much for the kind words! 🙂
Linda
Would those stretchy thick terrycloth headbands work?
erika
Yes, they should be the perfect size! Just make sure there’s no elastic/funky stuff on the inside that will melt in the oven 🙂
Dawn
I used string
Sharon
How long can these cloth strips stay in the oven? I’m skittish about this and don’t want them to burn…
erika
Hi Sharon–that’s a great question! I usually use these to bake 8-9″ layer cakes, which takes ~35-45 minutes. I haven’t tested longer than that, but probably would not want to leave them in for longer than an hour. Hope that helps–let me know how they work out for you! 🙂
Tommy
We bake cheesecakes sitting in a larger pan (water bath) to prevent cracking – same principle is probably involved. So I wonder if we could just set our filled and ready cake pans in a larger pan with a water bath and get even layer baking; comments? Anyone tried it?
erika
Interesting thought! I’m definitely giving this a try the next time I make a cake–thanks Tommy!
stacy
Will these strips work on my 9 x 13” glass cake pan?
erika
Hi Stacy! I’ve never tried these on a 9×13, but the concept work similarly, though it may not be quite as effective given the different shape of the pan. If you can get the strips to stay (which may be tricky since the sides of my 9×13 are slanted vs. the straight sides of my round cake pans), go for it! Just take care that they won’t fall off.
Diana
you mean we can put this strip around the tin and into the oven and bake?
cheers
erika
Yes, exactly! Just make sure it’s tight enough so that it doesn’t fall off in the oven!
pl
doesn’t the fabric get “burnt” in the oven?
erika
Nope, it shouldn’t because it starts off damp. It will dry out a little in the oven, but it shouldn’t burn!
Tarah
I have a ton of those cloth headbands, they’re about 2″ thick and I never, ever wear them. After I read this post, I couldn’t imagine cutting up my clothing *gasp*… But those headbands came to mind! If you stretch them out, they fit beautifully around 8-9″ rounds! I’ll try it today and hopefully it’ll work, wish me luck! Thank you for your tip! My dad’s cake will be perfectly even!
erika
Tarah, that sounds like a brilliant use for them! Good luck–let me know how it goes (and tell me what kind of cake you end up making)!!
molly yeh
just did this and it worked marvelously!!!!!
beth sowell
holy cow! this did work beautifully. i actually had an old wife beater that i cut the bottom off of. i cut it into two strips and soaked those. i was able to wrap it twice around the pan tightly. my cakes are perfect! thank you so much.
erika
Awesome!!! So glad to hear it, Beth! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Amanda
This is great :] I was inspired by your post and instead of using t-shirts, I actually just used two of those fabric headbands, the ones that are super wide and never seem to stay your head anyway! They’ve been put to a much better use now instead of collecting dust in a drawer
Michal
Lovely!
Thanks
Estelle
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It worked 100% and I am so happy I want to sing and dance. I’ve been wasting so much cake and refuse to pay for bake even strips. My kids won’t like it because now they won’t get the cake I usually cut off. LOL 🙂
erika
Yay!!! So happy to hear that, Estelle! I always felt like those bake even strips are highway robbery 😉
Estelle
I totally agree. It was on my “buy when you have too much money to use” list but now it’s totally off. I am baking a Smurfs 2 cake and planned on using 3 layers for the stem but the cake is so high that I can use 2 layers. I am all smiles. 🙂
Jose
Will this work on a bundt cake? If not, any ideas on how to level one of those too?
erika
Oof that’s a good question. I honestly have no idea. You could certainly try wrapping some cake strips around the pan but make sure they’re fastened securely!
I just did a quick google search and it seems as though people do not recommend using cake strips on bundt cakes. Popular opinion on the best option seems to be trimming the bottom once it’s done baking (you can try using floss for this–I hear it works well).
Angel
Thanks for this I will definitely experiment and use your tips
christina @ smallkitchenchronicles
Huh! I never knew! What an awesome education, Erika, thank you! =) And what a super duper creative DIY idea — you better believe next time I make a cake, I’ll be doing it this way — thanks so much for sharing the knowledge, girl, you rock =)
xo
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen
This is a DIY that I can actually put into practice! It´s got to be the best tip for cakes, love it. And the cake is stunning too!
Alex @ Brain, Body, Because
hahaha!!!!
I actually never bake cakes, but this is still a really good tip! Those layers are IMPRESSIVE! The OCD in me loves the even thicknesses and straight lines 😀
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
Erika, this is the most brilliant thing I’ve read in a long time. You are amazing. Everyone keeps telling me to buy cake strips (I mean, are my layers really that hideous?! Hmm…yeah, sometimes they are!) but I’m way too cheap. I am totally going to do this…although I’m also really lazy so I might just keep baking on the way I bake, lol.
Lianna
this is brilliant, thank you for sharing this tip!! I’ve never heard of cake strips before, but I’m glad now I don’t have to shell out the extra couple of bucks to get perfect flat cake layers! haha I’m actually laughing picturing you on your balcony mid-photography session feet away from your new neighbours..i wonder what they must have thought! whatever, your photos turned out gorgeous so it was definitely worth it!
Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen
Thanks so much for sharing this, I can’t wait to give this a try and have perfect flat cake layers!!
skybunnies
Beautiful creation (as always) xxo P.S. LOVE what you’ve done with your website too!
Adri {Food-N-Thought}
Never heard of this before, very interesting tip and very useful DIY 🙂
Brandi
Awesome Erika! Such a great idea…this may sound silly, but my first thought was the shirt catching on fire, lol!! Really great side by side photos too! It obviously works!
Alexandra @ Confessions of a Bright-Eyed Baker
I love this DIY tip! I’ve heard about cake strips but it’s always been one of those things I need spur-of-the-moment. I also think that I’ve heard about wrapping wet paper towels around the cake or something, but I think a simple strip of fabric that can be re-used sounds way easier! I love the side-by-side photos too; if I had any doubt this worked before reading this post, that doubt is gone! I’ll definitely be doing this when I bake cakes from now on.
P.S. Glad to see you’re back in cake world, haha! And I do the cake banging thing too; it’s good for bundt cakes.
erika
Ah yay. Same here–I always put off buying cake strips, but then I never had them when I needed them. Problem solved! Glad this can help you out 🙂 And yes, definitely back in the cake world. I’ve been bitten by the cake bug!
yummychunklet
Thanks for sharing the tips!
Bubblybaker
Erika, this is AMAZING!
I always have problems with the centre of my cakes rising too much and me struggling to level it right. Thanks so much for this post – it’s so informative and you’ve explained it so well. I am definitely giving this a try next time I bake a layer cake. I’m so glad you found my blog through Irena, because it’s led me to your amazing blog! 😀
erika
Arg I responded to this a few days ago but I guess it never went through!! Thank you SO much, I’m so glad you hear you thought it was explained well–I was worried it would be confusing! Let me know how it goes for you the next time you try it! And you are too sweet–I’m glad I found YOUR blog!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
Ahhh such a great tip! Pinning!
erika
Yayy thanks girl 🙂
Bam's Kitchen
Thanks for the tips on baking strips great to know. That is one gorgeous cake.
Kristi @ My San Francisco Kitchen
Thank you so much for these tips!! I still struggle with cakes & layers…blahhh. Your pictures are making me drool!
Natasha @ The Cake Merchant
Thanks for sharing this. I always use cake strips, but have never seen the DIY kind. This will save me some $$$!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
GENIUS!!!!! I love this. I’m in the same club with you – no way I was going to shell out for the cake strips. But this wet rag trick is just the best. I love it and can’t wait to try it. You should totally make up t-shirts. Totally!
Leah
Erika, this is AWESOME! I’m taking my 2nd Wilton Cake Decorating class so as you can imagine, we have to bake a lot of cakes. The instructor told us about baking strips, but like you, I was not about to pay $12-$15 for them so I’ve been getting lots of poofy tops. I’m DEFINITELY going to give this a try! Thanks so much for sharing.
P.S. Your story about new neighbors and you crouching to take pictures is hilarious!
Kelly @ Hidden Fruits and Veggies
This is GREAT info to have! For some reason, domed cakes are my boyfriends pet peeve (though, he’s rarely the one putting in the effort to make the cake) 😉
Kelly @ Hidden Fruits and Veggies
P.S. LOVE your blog name. I’m pancake crazy
erika
Haha I kind of got that vibe from browsing your blog! I like your style 😉 Your pancakes look fabulous!
And haha–that is so funny about your boyfriend! Do you make cakes a lot? I can’t say my boyfriend has ever complained about that…but he almost never bakes!
Kym
genius. Again. I tried baking my frist cake last night but i couldnt get the batter to spread evenly, ill have to try your banging trick! 😛
erika
Haha yes! Cover your ears, it’s loud. But effective, I think. What kind of cake did you bake??
Barbara
Thank you Erika. I was telling someone today that my mom was a pastry cook and she used to tie a wet cup towel around her cake pans so the cakes would cook more evenly. I just looked it up on the Internet and found your explanations. Thank you for the explanations. Mama has been gone 12 years today, and I am finding I have questions for her that I never knew to ask.
erika
I’m so glad this explanation was helpful!