Has anyone tried substituting two 9 inch round pans for the 10 cup bundt pan in the Golden Lemon Almond Cake? I am making the Golden Dream Wedding Cake- but only the two 12 inch tiers. I was worried that I may not have enough servings (for 30 to 40 people) and wanted to make two 9 inch round layers but I can not trust my math to scale down the wedding cake recipe… I noticed that the Golden Lemon Almond Cake is the same cake… Can I make my life easier (and avoid math) by using this recipe and baking it in two 9 in rounds or will this not work? Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and experience!

Not recommended.  You won’t have enough batter (the bundt cake is for a 10 cup pan, while two 9x2 rounds amount to more than 17 cups), and also the leavening and sour cream are different for the two recipes, which means that your layer cake may fall or have a center dip with the recipe meant for a tube pan.

Here’s mistake I made first time I made this recipe:  the buttercream makes only 7 cups, not 14- there is a note to make two batches. 

Check p.384 under extra sheet cakes, you’ll see that the batter for two 12x2 round layers or one 18x12x2 sheet serves around 80.  These are small servings, but even if you make them twice as big, you should be able to serve 40. 

You could make the bundt cake and leave it out of sight somehwere, bringing it out only if you run out when people want seconds. It will look very attractive if you pipe swirls of buttercream on top, like Hector did here:  http://myyellowkitchen.com/2010/04/22/golden-05-lemon-almond-cake-page-37-hilo-take/