Baking Several Cakes At Once (2024)

FAQs

Baking Several Cakes At Once? ›

The cakes need to be on different racks to enhance the air flow and heat distribution in the oven. Put them off center but not too close to the sides. One of the cake on the middle rack and the second cake on the bottom rack of the oven. You can actually bake up to 4 or even 6 cakes at the same time in the oven.

If you need to cook three cakes at a time, place two on the bottom rack, spaced apart, and one on the rack above and in between the other two. Move the cakes twice during cooking so that each cake spends an equal amount of time in each position. TOP = PALE Cakes stacked above each other disrupt heat flow in the oven.

Ideally though, you should try to cook just one large cake or one tray of cakes at a time. Putting too many tins in the oven can affect the cooking times, as your oven will have to work a lot harder to cook multiple cakes, and so your bakes will take longer.

Any layer cake recipe that yields three 8" or 9" cakes will work in a half sheet pan with no adjustments needed. If the recipe yields two 8" to 9" cakes, I increase the recipe by 1.5 (if you measure by weight, rather than volume, this is a cinch). Grease the half-sheet pan and line it with parchment.

Yes, when baking two cakes at once, you may need to increase the baking time slightly. However, the increase in time might not be significant; usually, it's just a few minutes more than the recommended time for baking a single cake. Keep an eye on both cakes and check for doneness using a toothpick or cake tester.

Yes, you can bake 3 cake pans in a single oven at the same time.

It is hard to tell how much you will need to adjust the time by as this will depend on the size difference but for a larger pan start checking 10-15 minutes prior to the stated time, and for a smaller pan add time in 5-minute increments until it is baked.

We can stack basically any cake recipe, but we always want to work with cooled layers. A cake straight from the oven will not stack well. I like to chill my layers in the freezer for a bit to make them extra easy to work with- it helps keep all the crumbs stuck to the cake instead of all over my spatula.

Even then, you need to make sure it is fully baked before removing it from the oven, otherwise the middle could dip. Some ovens have a massive variation between the temperature at the top and bottom. Bake your cake on the middle shelf, where the temperature is most likely to be consistent.

How to adjust baking time for different pan sizes? ›

If, for example, your recipe calls for an 8-inch cake pan and you only have a 9-inch, relax, no problem. Just increase the oven temp by 25 degrees F and decrease the bake time by a quarter. In this particular example, since your pan is 1 inch larger, more surface area will be exposed.

The center oven rack is ideal for baking cakes and other desserts.

For 3 layers, divide batter evenly between two 8-inch round cake pans and bake for 25 to 28 minutes. 9-inch round cake pans: For a two-layer cake, divide the batter evenly between two 9-inch rounds and bake for 20 to 22 minutes.

Too much air and your cake will collapse because it simply can't hold onto all that air. Overbeating can add too much additional air and/or large air bubbles which the cake can't support, causing it to collapse in the oven.

Now if the oven door is opened too early, this results in a rush of cold air into the oven and can cause the temperature to drop pretty drastically. As a result, this causes the cake to stop rising and set prematurely before the structure is strong enough to support the weight of the cake.

The exact impact on cooking times varies from dish to dish, but generally cooking multiple dishes at once can lead to longer cooking times. No matter how many dishes you plan to cook, be sure to leave at least 3 inches of space between each dish and the walls of the oven, or other dishes, to allow for proper airflow.

So here's what I do, I'll put the bigger cake on the bottom and the smaller one on top. If you can have one on one side and the other on the other side but on different racks your good. I've done it and it works. I used to waste so much time waiting for one to come out then baking the other.

Separate the trays and give them a swap

The easiest way to bake more cookies at a time is to separate the trays onto the top and the bottom racks of the oven, and switch them halfway through the bake. According to Taste of Home, this is because most ovens' heat comes from the bottom.