This is an easy way to make DIY cake strips at home. You can use materials you already have lying around the house for this cost-effective method to bake level cakes!
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 minute: 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 well)
- 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 here’s what my final cake looked like!
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.
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.
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!!
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