Thanks, everyone!

FYI, I was playing around with one of my recipes today, and wanted to make a coffee-cake-type dessert in a tube-like form. Here's what I did: I took a 9" round cake pan, greased it with Pam, lined it with a circle of parchment. Sprayed Pam on the parchment. Placed an inverted ramekin in the middle. Sprayed that too. Then put in my coffee-cake-type dough and baked it. Came out pretty good!! Still tweaking.

Thanks, Sadassa_Ulna, for your vote of confidence, but you and Syronai hit the nail on the head before I could find the hammer!

I once had to make a Goodyear tire cake to serve 50, so I used a coffee can and a 16" round pan to shape it. I had a little leakage that had to be cut off, which probably could have been circumvented with a little bit more flour in the batter, but that was easier to deal with than cutting the center out of a solid cake and trying to keep all those loose crumbs out of the frosting.

Actually, the small pan with dried beans in it set in the center of a larger pan works quite well. That's how I did a giant ring for my wedding cake when I made it a few months ago! It works best if you thoroughly grease up the sides of the bean can as well as the rest of the pan. Parchment paper lining the bottom of the whole thing also helps, if you have it. Once you pour the batter around, just be gentle going near the center can and you won't be in danger of knocking it off-center. The beans will weigh it down plenty while baking.

I'm down with drbabs on this, I don't think you can jury rig unless you are trying to make an at home IED.

Sounds pretty risky to me, mrslarkin! I think I would just bake the cake in a regular cake pan (or two).

I think you need betteirene! I never tried it, but what if you took a clean empty can (like from beans or pumpkin puree) and filled it a little with dried beans. Place it in the center of a round pan or pot, use foil in the bottom and turn up the sides of the can, butter and flour the heck out of that seam? Good luck in whatever you come up with!

Or rather, a tube pan.