Bumpity bump...

If you're going to be around for a Sunday, I think Sunspot on Cumberland has a great brunch--they incorporate traditional stuff (grits in particular) along with fancier dishes. There is always a seasonal pancake or French Toast, an omelet du jour, and another egg dish or two, plus a vegetarian dish. It's not traditional southern breakfast, but then again, for that in Knoxville I just stay home and cook ;)

Thanks Kelli, good to know I was on the right track. I too, still wind up taking a bit of the top off my cakes, but the situation is much better than it used to be now that I know the tricks! I agree, a good long serrated bread knife has always worked best for me when splitting layers--I've heard some people say they can't keep the cuts straight, but I just go slowly and rotate the cake and never seem to have problems. I'll have to remember Alton's guide next time to make sure my layers are even! Thanks for the tip!

Thanks, it's always good to have confirmation from a pro!

OH, and also, I know breakfast at Blue Heaven is considered the Gold Standard, but I prefer to breakfast at Pepe's and my all time favorite breakfast comes from the Banana Cafe, which *is* on Duval, near the Southern end.

I just finished up a cake class, and can tell you what they told me..
The hump in the middle is caused because the pan heats up more than the oven, and the cake batter nearer the edges cooks faster than that in the middle. Now, you can just deal with that by cutting off the hump as others have suggested, which works fine, except that you lose that much of the cake. In the future, though, you can either lower the temp by 25 degrees and test the cake for doneness with the toothpick test (knowing that it will take longer to bake than the package directions). I have baked cakes at as low as 300 degrees to eliminate the bump. Another option is to buy cooling strips designed to go around the cake pan. Wilton makes some I know, I'm not sure of other brands, and you can find them in most any kitchen supply store or craft stores that have cake decorating supplies. The other members of my class swear by these strips, I myself just lowered the oven temp.

Blue Heaven is my favorite KW haunt, but my most strident reccomendation is to GET OFF DUVAL! Go off the main drag to find the really great places, and definitely, don't be in a hurry for anything! My favorite place for cuban pork and plantains is actually a stand connected to the Southernmost Market, a little convenience store.

and I'm dreading all the chains! Any reccomendations for the area near the Gwinnett center? Unfortunately, we all just had chinese last night, but I may be able to talk everyone into sushi. Otherwise, we're wide open to suggestions. We're staying the night on Thursday, with plans to hit the cooks warehouse and Dekalb Farmers Market(my favorite place on earth!) on Friday. SO, lunch rec's welcome too, as well as any other hot spots we should visit before we head home Friday!