Baking – Will newspaper covering a cake pan catch fire in the oven

baking

I need my cakes to bake flat. I have been told to cover the cake tin with newspaper secured with sellotape, but wouldn't this catch on fire in the oven?

Best Answer

Cakes are not normally baked a temperature high enough to ignite paper, although the newspaper will probably singe and brown, and possibly produce an unpleasant odor--some of which may be transferred to the cake. If you are going to go this route, I would recommend using baking parchment, which is intended for the heat of the oven, not newspaper.

There are several more common methods for ensuring even cake layers:

  • Simply cut off any doming with a knife
  • Use an inverted flower nail at the center of the pan to better conduct the heat of the oven to the center of the cake
  • Use cake strips to cool the edge of the pan, again evening out the cooking

In truth, unless you have a very special application, cutting off any doming is often the simplest, most straight-forward solution.

Related Topic