A Day Spent in the Kitchen

Have you ever seen these things?

(pic is from the Wilton site )

I was surfing a few weeks ago and came across a board where the bakers were extolling the virtues of these strips. They are supposed to make your cake bake evenly and have a nice flat top.

So I used my JoAnne 50% off coupon and bought a set.

Today I decided to see if they work.

I usually read directions and it's a good thing I did because it said they had to be soaked in water before using. So I filled a container and soaked them while I prepared the cake mix.

Getting them on was a bit of a chore. My pans were the maximum size they would fit - 9-inches and there was not much excess fabric to pin to. I didn't realize they had to be pinned on.
I guess I assumed they had something like Velcro to hold them. I finally got them on one pan. Then I decided to do a real test. I left the second pan without the strips and put them side by side in the oven.Here they are when they came out. Click to make it bigger so you can see better.

There is a difference. The one on the right without the strips has risen more toward the center, making a slight dome. The strip has helped to make the layer slightly flatter. To a home baker, like me, it's hardly worth the effort.

I am glad I only paid $4.50 instead of the regular price of $8.99.

I was baking most of the day today. I was trying to use up that nearly 5 lb. container of Maraschino cherries that I bought at Christmas. For the cake I used a mix,
but I used cherry juice instead of the water and I added about a cup of chopped cherries.
It made the prettiest color batter, don't you think? I can't tell you if it tasted good because I froze the cake to use for Valentine's Day.

I also made some cookies that are similar to the popular Santa's Whiskers cookies.
I used Maraschino instead of candied cherries. I omitted the coconut and nuts, but I rolled the edges in red/white sugar crystals.

They turned out pretty good. DH likes them so that's all that matters.

I did not mind spending the day in the kitchen. It was 100% better than this: You can't really see him unless you click to make the pic bigger, but my DH is out there in the middle of that white mist snow blowing the road! He did the driveway twice. There have been no snowplows done our road today, so he is blowing out the road near our driveway. I hope the plows come before I have to get to work tomorrow.